The Akron Art Museum is a community facility encompassing several usage types, including exhibits, training, an auditorium, and corporate gatherings. Maintaining critical temperature and humidity control in the facility is important to both the occupants and the artwork.

While bringing the new system online, we were presented with many challenges.  Restrictive sensor and device locations and converting old pneumatic actuators to direct digital control actuators were just some of the hurdles overcome.

CCO replaced Johnson Controls technology on the museum's existing HVAC system with Reliable Controls® networked hardware. The new technology includes a MACH-ProWeb as a front-end device with MACH-Pro1™ and MACH-Pro2™ controllers serving the air handling units (AHUs).  SMART-Sensor™ LCD devices are installed for all zone temperature/humidity sensors.

MACH-ProAir™ controllers serve critical art storage zones and MACH-ProZone™ controllers serve all radiant floor loops and snow melt zones.

Mechanical equipment integrated includes: two chillers, two boilers, 12 AHUs with chilled water, hot water, reheat, outside air flow monitoring, and variable frequencing drives (VFDs) on all fans.

Two of the AHUs are VAV style with VAV boxes downstream. These units serve critical art storage areas.

The facility is currently a 24/7 operation. Critical environment control is of utmost importance for this community facility, and the Reliable Controls® MACH-System has done an excellent job achieving this goal.

The Akron Art Museum is a metropolitan art and cultural center, as well as an educational facility. Spanning three centuries, the Akron Art Museum combines a late nineteenth-century brick and limestone building with the twenty-first century John S. and James L. Knight Building, a soaring glass and steel structure by the celebrated Viennese architectural firm Coop Himmelb(l)au.