New Mexico State University - Garcia Facility Assessment

Client: New Mexico State University

Prepared by: Page 400 W. Cesar Chavez, Suite 500, Austin, TX 78701 Tel 512.472.6721

Consultant Team: Page MEP Page Civil Bohannan - Huston Fire Protection Page

Submittal Date December 24, 2018

Project Number Page 118059

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3 Table of Contents

Chapter/Section Page 1. Executive Summary...... 5 2. Life Safety and Fire Protection...... 7 Observations ...... 7 Life Safety ...... 7 Fire Protection Systems ...... 10 Fire Detection and Alarm Systems...... 14 3. Civil ...... 17 Utilities...... 17 Site Grading ...... 17 Drainage...... 18 4. Architectural...... 20 General...... 20 Observations ...... 21 ...... 37 Abatement ...... 39 Student Life & Student Success...... 40 5. Mechanical Scope Narrative ...... 46 Observation: ...... 46 IAQ and Thermal Comfort ...... 46 Mechanical Equipment ...... 48 Conclusion...... 48 6. Electrical Scope Narrative ...... 56 Observations ...... 56 Recommendations ...... 57 7. Room Design...... 62 8. Renovation Phasing ...... 64 9. Estimate of Probable Cost ...... 66 10. Cost Model Summary ...... 68 11. Whole Demolition Cost ...... 77

4 1. Executive Summary

Project Overview

On September 19, 2018 the Page design team visited New Mexico State University to conduct an Existing Facility Assessment of Garcia Hall. Civil, Architectural, Mechanical, Electrical, Fire Alarm and Fire Protection disciplines were represented at the walk and escorted by the Assistant Director, Project Development & Engineering. The goal of the team was to review the existing conditions and create a facility assessment in the form of a written report with photo documentation showing areas of concern of the aging facility. Specifically, the summary of needs:

1. Complete a for Garcia Hall improvements to facility exterior, , landscaping and room finishes. 2. Evaluate opportunity for flexible room types, ability to shifting between double and singles units based on enrollment. 3. Consider replacement needs for infrastructure to the building and utilities within the building. Study to include the MEP, Structural and hazardous material management. 4. Provide a cost estimate for a complete renovation to be used for future funding options and project budgeting. 5. Provide a cost estimate to abate and demolish Garcia Hall to be used for future funding options and project budgeting. 6. Provide recommendations on the building conditions, renovation and demolition options to assist NMSU in planning for current and future student needs for housing.

In general, recommendations on the building conditions, renovation and demolition options to assist NMSU in planning for current and future student needs for housing should be identified. Building code, life safety and ADA violations have been noted as well as mechanical and electrical equipment that is beyond useful service life. The administration at NMSU has expressed interest in growing enrollment of the University and that plan will need to address on-campus housing for students. Garcia Hall offers the ability to many freshman and sophomores in double units, and upper classroom in single . Overall, Garcia Hall represents a significant number of beds available to be offered for student living on campus. The following report is based on the site visit and our understanding of the Record/As-Built Documents provided by the University.

Garcia Hall is a Student Housing building constructed in 1966 with approximately 183,000 S.F. The three-story dormitory is created by 5 wings off a spine of support function, service and circulation needs. From these wings 4 areas are created (A, B, C & D) giving generous light to most sleeping units, but limited light to some of the support and common areas such as laundry. A 20,000 square foot. Two-story entry hall contains student amenities on the first and class room spaces on the second level. Access to the dorms is form open walkways that line the court yards. The building structure is a type IIB metal frame composed structural and a combination of W shaped beams and open web joist with a composite floor and a metal roof. The exterior are composed of precast concrete panels on the outside of the building with storefront and stucco walls facing the court yards. There is an existing low sloped tar roof that has been top coated to extend its life. The building was most recently remodeled in 1999 to update some dormitory restrooms to comply with ADA and various some mechanical and electrical system maintenance. Subsequent refresh including repainting and flooring repairs on individual sleeping units has occurred over summer breaks, with Patio A finished in 2018. There has been no significant full-scale building renovation of the building to holistically address ADA and Life Safety issues. Architecturally, the building does not meet some of the student life needs for wellness and student success other peer institutions are providing. However, the building does have a unique character and solid structural frame that could be improved with thoughtful design solutions. If a full-scale phased building renovation is engaged in the future reprograming some square footage to address these student life needs should be considered. Including additional student meeting spaces, maker spaces, social cooking and study areas. A social Café opening to the campus

5 and one of the with small retail may be implemented to create additional hub of activity. Conveniences like amazon lockers, swap racks, ride share parking and bike storage could be programmed as well. Outdoor spaces within the courtyards provide a real opportunity not yet realized for community gathering and activities.

The assessment has documented significant Fire Alarm and Fire Sprinkler life safety issues to be addressed in a whole building renovation project. Maintenance and upkeep on these items may be required as temporary measures for the interim or as part of regular inspection and testing. Additionally, substantial MEP system replacements have been identified that support a whole building project as well. Many building systems are well beyond the useful service life (1966) and could fail which would cause a bed shortage for housing students on-campus. Repair of these MEP systems is best accomplished by complete replacement. Garcia Hall is designed in a way that a phased renovation to address these needs could be accomplished since it is a residence open year around. A diagram of this phased approach is shown in subsequent sections for reference.

In summary, Garcia Hall has a useful structural frame of steel and concrete that can extend its service life another 30-40 years with a thoughtful renovation. The façade has qualities of the era it was designed that add character to the campus. Total project costs for a whole building renovation is approximately $35,000,000. In comparison, current new construction for on-campus housing averages around $75,000 per bed. If Garcia Hall was to undertake a whole building project renovation the per bed cost average of $38,736 is one-half the capital construction costs against similar new construction. Garcia Hall is in a prime location to the master plan goals building a residential district and pedestrian walk. The 884 beds in existing service can be renovated while saving expenditures of a full replacement. If whole demolition was desired the make ready cost of approximately $6,000,000 would be expended.

6 2. Life Safety and Fire Protection

Observations The Garcia Hall dormitory is three-story residential dormitory serving New Mexico State University at Las Cruces. The building was surveyed for existing deficiencies in life safety, fire protection, and fire detection and alarm systems through a site visit on 19 Sept 2018. The existing equipment and components of each system were additionally evaluated for remaining lifespan. The following report includes the system and component evaluations for Garcia Hall with respect to current building code.

Codes and Standards: . IBC (2015) . IFC (2015) . NFPA 13 (2013) . NFPA 14 (2013) . NFPA 25 (2014) . NFPA 72 (2013)

Exclusions: . Storage rooms were unable to be accessed during site visit. Adequate sprinkler coverage or fire alarm coverage not evaluated . Level one RA apartments were unable to be accessed during site visit. Adequate sprinkler coverage or fire alarm coverage not evaluated . Current existing drawings for fire protection system not provided . Current existing drawings for fire alarm system not provided . Current existing drawings for life safety design not provided . Current evacuation plan / sequence of operations not provided . Information on gravity tank for fire protection water supply not provided

Life Safety Garcia Hall consists of Type IIB construction per IBC. The building includes a sprinkler system but, does not meet the requirements of a fully sprinklered building due to the deficiencies in coverage. Therefore, the existing building is considered ‘non- sprinklered.’

The building is currently a mixed use, non-separated occupancy consisting of R-2 and A-3 occupancies. R-2 is the main occupancy of the building. The laundry rooms located on levels 2 and 3 are considered incidental use rooms. The existing area per level is as follows, per existing construction drawings: . Level 1: 74,924 ft2 total (~63,000 ft2 for R-2, ~11,924 ft2 for A-3) . Level 2: 71,972 ft2 total (~61,475 ft2 for R-2, ~10,497 ft2 for A-3) . Level 3: 71,972 ft2 total (~61,475 ft2 for R-2, ~10,497 ft2 for A-3)

Construction and Fire Resistance

A separation of occupancies is not currently met with existing walls. A 1-hour rated fire barrier is required between the R-2 and A-3 occupancies to achieve separation accordance with IBC Table 508.4. As a non-separated occupancy, the area per level of the existing building exceeds all allowable areas for R-2 and A-3 occupancies, even if a fully sprinklered building and frontage allowance of 70% are applied. The frontage increase was calculated using a perimeter on public way to total perimeter ratio of 95% and a public way width of 30 ft, yielding a frontage increase of 70% using equation (5-5) in accordance with IBC 506.3.3. However, even when applying this calculation, the perimeter of these exterior walls is not in compliance with IBC definition of public way. It should be noted that the intent of the frontage increase is that the perimeter accounted for is accessible to the responding fire department. The exterior walls of Garcia Hall that surround the courtyards are not accessible to fire departments, as fire fighters must

7 enter through a single locked within the exterior in order to gain entrance and move equipment to the location. This would need to be discussed with the AHJ. The most restrictive allowable area for the non-separated building, in accordance with IBC 508.3.2, is 9,500 ft2 for a building without full sprinkler coverage. With sprinkler and frontage allowances, this maximum becomes 35,150 ft2. Both are significantly exceeded by the existing area of ~71,972 ft2 to ~74,924 ft2 per level. The requirements for both R-2 and A-3 occupancy areas are to be applied to the corresponding areas within the building. The results are shown in Tables 1 and 2 below. The existing building area exceeds the allowable area considerably. A fully sprinklered building and frontage increase of 70% using equation (5-5) was again applied. The existing building still exceeds the allowed value. Additionally, the full exterior of the building was used in this perimeter calculation, including the exterior walls surrounding the courtyards.

R-2, Fully Sprinklered: Allowable building height = 75 ft Actual building height = 30 ft Allowable stories above grade = 5 Actual stories above grade = 3 Allowable area per level = 48,000 ft2 Actual area per level = ~63,000 ft2 maximum for R- With frontage increase = 60,000 ft2 2 Table 1

A-3, Fully Sprinklered: Allowable building height = 75 ft Actual building height = 30 ft Allowable stories above grade = 3 Actual stories above grade = 3 Allowable area per level = 28,500 ft2 Actual area per level = ~11,924 ft2 maximum for A-3 With frontage increase = 35,150 ft2 Table 2

The walls around the dorm units do not extend past ; the compartment above the dorm units for each wing is completely open. There is no rated separation between the units, and all air is shared. IBC 420.2 requires fire partitions between sleeping or dwelling units and the surrounding areas. Fire partitions must extend from floor to slab or deck. In Garcia Hall, they are required to be 1- hour rated, whereas ½ hour is required for fully sprinklered . The open cavity creates a large risk to students, as no general notification is provided to alert them of a fire in the wing. The only notification comes from in-unit smoke alarms, despite the units not being properly separated from each other.

Shared open cavity above dorm rooms

8 Rooms housing electrical, IT, and telecom equipment are unsprinklered and contain with unrated wood board walls. Penetrations into these rooms are unprotected.

Unprotected conduit penetrations to and from an unsprinklered level 2 IT room.

In addition, the enclosed stairwells serving as exits to both the R-2 and A-3 are not rated and include non-rated glass walls and on the plan east side. There is no separation from the building for any interior exit . Separations consisting of fire partitions, fire barriers, fire walls, or shaft enclosures will require fire dampers. Separations consisting of smoke barriers, smoke partition, or horizontal assemblies will require smoke dampers. Any smoke damper or combination fire/smoke damper will require a connection back to the main Fire Alarm Control Panel (FACP).

Egress

Because the interior stairwell is not separated, measured travel distance cannot terminate at the entrance to the stairwell; travel distance must extend all the way to the actual exit to the public way. By IBC Table 1017.2, the existing non-sprinklered building would have a travel distance of 200 ft, while installing a full coverage sprinkler system would allow 250 ft. The travel distance of 200 ft is exceeded for all occupants using the interior stairway, and for occupants on level 3 using the exterior stairways to the plan west doors. If the stairway were to be properly enclosed in compliance with IBC requirements, minimum travel distance would be met.

Accessibility

The exterior stair handrails are below the required minimum of 34 inches above tread per IBC 1014.2, at a current 32 ½” above tread. The exterior stairs are missing their 42” high guard rail per IBI 1015.3 currently missing.

Egress door hardware mounted above reach ranges. Multiple issues with the doors at the East and West ends of the east/west corridor of the housing section o