Mechanical design for various projects in two buildings at the Monterey Bay Aquarium: Main Exhibit Building, which opened in 1984 and the Outer Bay Wing, which opened in 1996. The defining feature of the Main Exhibit Building is the 335,000-gallon kelp forest exhibit, which was the first of its type in the world. The Main Exhibit Building also contains a theatre, auditorium, restaurant, bookstore, classrooms, aviary, large entry lobby and support spaces. The main feature of the 70,000sf Outer Bay Wing is the Outer Bay Waters exhibit, the one million-gallon tank – at the time having the largest viewing window in the world - containing tuna, sharks and sea turtles.

Our scope of work for the Outer Bay Wing included expansion and upgrade of the central heat pump system, providing for energy efficiency in both cooling and heating requirements. Additional work included expansion and upgrade of the central plant, including the addition of a natural gas engine-driven chiller with heat recovery, providing for energy efficiency in both cooling and heating modes. Seawater discharged after use in the exhibits is used both for rejection of heat in the cooling mode and as a source of energy in the heating mode.