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Union Pacific Headquarters

Union Pacific Corporation is one of America’s leading transportation
companies. Its principal operating company, Union Pacific Railroad, is
the largest railroad in North America, covering 23 states from
California to Illinois. The company’s new $260 million corporate
headquarters building in Omaha, Nebraska, the Union Pacific Center, is
a beautiful 20-story, 1.3 million square foot, glass exterior structure. In
fact, it’s the largest office building in the state! The property, which
was designed by Gensler and developed by Hines, was ready for
occupancy in the summer of 2004.
With a focus on employee productivity, Union Pacific strives to provide
a healthy and comfortable environment for its 4,000+ employees with
amenities such as a fitness/wellness center, a state-of-the-art
employee training center, and a 660-seat restaurant. Special attention
is also given to ensure the workplace offers not only proper interior
lighting and climate control, but also peace-of-mind in an area of the
country where tornadoes are a concern. Behind the scenes, many
building systems in the Union Pacific Center come together to make
this happen.

One Facility Management Systems Ties it All Together

In a remarkable display of total building integration, this new
corporate headquarters features a single Tour Andover Controls
Continuum® facility management system that not only provides precise
indoor climate control, but also centralized monitoring and control of
the building’s 12 mechanical and electric subsystems from the
following manufacturers:

“We promoted the benefits of a single, integrated system,” notes John Hatcher P.E., C.P.P. president of HMA Consulting, the DDC controls consultant who wrote the Division 17 BMCS specification for the Union Pacific Center project. “The Continuum
facility management system communicates with the building’s numerous subsystems using either a software driver or direct hard-wired connection.” Union Pacific’s chillers, CRAC units, PDUs, UPS units, VFDs, fire alarm system, fuel oil levels, electrical system, and generators all communicate with Continuum using a Modbus driver; the Lithonia lighting system uses a BACnet I/P driver; and the storm shutters and window shades are controlled via a direct hard-wired connection.

According to Bob Danielson of Controls Services, Inc. the Omaha-based Tour Andover Controls Partner responsible for the installation, “ Continuum’s CyberStation front-end software package provides Union Pacific the transparent ‘look and feel’ they wanted — equipment alarms and status graphics from the 12 subsystems display on a single workstation. Additional hardware costs and the need to train operators on multiple proprietary front-ends are greatly reduced,” adds Danielson. The Continuum system includes 17 network controllers, 955 Infinet field controllers, and four CyberStation front-end workstations operating on an Ethernet LAN network. A redundant Ethernet network was installed for the company’s Mission Critical Center and
Data Center to insure that these two areas remain up and running 24/7/365.
CyberStation wireless laptops, which are used by technicians to troubleshoot equipment
throughout the building, round out this powerful control system. In addition, the built-in
web server capabilities in the Continuum network controllers allow the building
occupants and facilities staff to initiate after-hours HVAC requests using a standard web
browser on their home or work PCs.

Under-floor Cooling System

A typical floor at Union Pacific’s Headquarters uses an under-floor VAV system for
cooling with four air handling units on each floor. Nailor “swirl” diffusers, installed every ten feet in the floor,
provide employees the ability to adjust the ventilation manually to meet their individual comfort levels.

Heat and supplemental cooling is supplied by perimeter fan coil units located in the ceiling, which supply air to offset warm/cold window temperatures. Continuum also controls the amount of conditioned outside air introduced into each floor based on carbon dioxide level sensors.

Shade Control Facilitates “Daylighting”

The new Union Pacific Center features a 19-story glass atrium that allows every floor to
receive maximum natural light. In addition, the building’s Mechoshade window shade control
system facilitates effective “daylighting”, an important concept as Corporate America seeks
solutions to increase worker productivity and decrease energy consumption through building
design. Glare on CRTs, for example, has been cited as a cause for reducing the percentage of
man-hours worked, lowering employee efficiency and response time, and raising worker
stress and healthcare costs. In addition, according to the California Institute for Energy
Efficiency and the U.S. Department of Energy, 77,000,000MWh of electricity are consumed in
the United States each year for lighting buildings’ perimeter zones where daylight is already
present. Daylighting using a window shade management system can reduce energy
consumption and peak demand costs and reduce CRT glare, increasing comfort levels and
thus worker productivity.
According to Danielson, Control Services is in the process of automating the window shades
through the use of Tour Andover Plain English® programs that will operate the window shades based on timeof-
day or interior ambient light levels.

Storm Shutter Control Provides a “Safe Haven” for Employees

Rollac motorized aluminum storm shutters are installed on the northwest corner of the building atrium, and are likewise controlled by the Continuum system. If a tornado is imminent, the CyberStation operator can click a button on the screen to roll down the shutters and block the glass, providing a “safe haven” for the employees on each floor. Data from the wind speed and wind direction sensors installed on the roof of the building is displayed on the CyberStation. If necessary, the workstation will send an alarm to the facilities staff of a potential threat.