Evaporative Cooling

The Alexander Dawson School Innovation Center represents a comprehensive approach to K-12 science education, featuring specialized learning environments designed to support the school’s innovative curriculum. The 24,000-square-foot, three-story building houses science classrooms and laboratories, as well as a shared makerspace with associated wood and metal shops and storage areas.

The Innovation Center serves as both an educational hub and campus welcome center, creating the first destination for visitors and prospective students. The facility incorporates four high school-level laboratories, three middle school-level laboratories, one K-5-level laboratory, computer labs, and specialized workshop spaces. The building design emphasizes visual connections to the outdoors and campus features while putting internal activities on display through intentional transparency.

The facility achieved LEED Gold certification, reflecting the project’s commitment to sustainable design principles. The building functions are integrated into the campus landscape, creating a cohesive educational environment that aligns facilities with the school’s divisions and departments.

As the project’s mechanical and electrical engineer, RMH provided mechanical and electrical design services, including AV/IT/security systems, and bid and construction-phase services. The design emphasized low energy use by evaluating multiple HVAC system options to optimize performance and efficiency for specialized laboratory and educational spaces.

RMH modernized the mechanical and electrical systems at the historic St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver, Colorado. Initially built in 1907, with additional buildings constructed during the Depression era, the seminary required thoughtful upgrades to improve energy performance and occupant comfort while preserving its architectural heritage.

RMH designed the upgraded lighting systems to meet current life safety and energy codes, enhance illumination, and simplify maintenance. Our team selected energy-efficient lamps and custom historic-style fixtures to maintain the campus’s character.

To install a large air handling unit in the chapel tower, RMH designed a lightweight, all-aluminum vertical unit. The unit was assembled and field-erected on site by lowering components through the bell tower to avoid exceeding structural load limits.

Because new ductwork would compromise interior aesthetics, RMH engineered a hydronic heating and cooling system. This approach minimized wall and ceiling penetrations while delivering high energy transfer efficiency.

In the library, which houses rare and historic books, the team was required to maintain strict temperature and humidity levels using evaporative cooling with chilled water backup. Leveraging Denver’s dry climate, the refectory kitchen and chapel use evaporative cooling. At night, the chapel is flushed with cool outdoor air to reduce daytime cooling loads.

Our design improved lighting efficiency by specifying LED and fluorescent fixtures, installing occupancy sensors, and using photocells to reduce energy use during daylight hours.

RMH provided mechanical, electrical, and lighting design services for the expansive Philip S. Miller Park and Miller Activity Complex.. Nestled among the area’s scenic geological formations, this 320-acre park delivers a wide range of indoor and outdoor recreational experiences for residents and visitors.

RMH designed systems to support the park’s diverse amenities, including a synthetic turf athletic field, zip line courses, and a 2,500-seat amphitheater for concerts and live events. The 2,850-square-foot Millhouse offers flexible indoor and outdoor spaces for weddings, family gatherings, and special events. Visitors enjoy picnic pavilions, an outdoor fireplace, and water features such as two ponds fed by a recirculating creek and a splash pad for children.

Inside the Miller Activity Complex, RMH engineered systems for full-sized and half-sized turf fields, a 3,000-square-foot play area, a 5,000-square-foot trampoline zone, batting cages, and an 18-hole golf simulator. The indoor aquatics center features a lap pool, a leisure pool with a winding water slide, and a vortex whirlpool that simulates rushing currents.

Our team delivered energy-efficient, code-compliant solutions that enhance comfort, safety, and functionality across the entire site.

Breckenridge Brewery, at the time, Colorado’s fifth-largest craft brewer, unveiled a new $35-million brewery campus in response to growing demand and community engagement. Located in Littleton, the 79,150-square-foot, three-building complex blends rustic farmhouse aesthetics with modern brewing innovation and sustainable design. The campus includes:

Brewhouse Building: Featuring brewing and malt handling areas, a hops cooler, boiler plant, offices, conference room, and a tasting room.
Production Building: Home to fermentation, bottling, barrel aging, canning, kegging, dry goods storage, and a quality control lab.
Restaurant Building: A full-service restaurant with indoor seating, a lounge, a kitchen, and a gift shop.

Designed for scalability, the facility starts with a brewing capacity of 70,000 barrels annually, with potential to reach 300,000 barrels.
Sustainability was central to the design. Energy-efficient evaporative cooling supports process areas and the kitchen. Natural ventilation in the Brewhouse enhances indoor air quality. Destratification fans improve seasonal comfort, while 95%-efficient condensing boilers provide heating. A water reuse system captures and filters wastewater for landscape irrigation.

The Student Success Building is the first structure in the Metro State “neighborhood” on the Auraria Higher Education Campus, designated exclusively for use by Metro State students and faculty. Metro State shares the Auraria campus with two other institutions: the University of Colorado Denver and the Community College of Denver. This new facility encompasses approximately 145,000 square feet and includes functional spaces for classrooms, offices, critical support services, the Office of the President, as well as special programs and departments.

Metro State is dedicated to reducing carbon emissions associated with campus operations; therefore, sustainability was a key requirement for this building. As the mechanical and electrical design engineer for the project, RMH implemented high-performance building systems, which feature efficient heating and cooling systems, low-water-use fixtures, and reliable power supplies.

The Avondale Aquatic Center is a modern, energy-efficient facility designed for comfort, safety, and community engagement. It features locker rooms, showers, restrooms, staff offices, a nurse station, a lifeguard office, and a food truck/snack area.

Mechanical systems include split system heat pumps and evaporative cooling with natural gas heating. Ventilation and exhaust systems support indoor air quality in high-fume areas. Plumbing uses lead-free materials, low-flow fixtures, and efficient water heating. Fire protection meets NFPA 13 standards.

RMH upgraded the electrical system to include an 800A service, installed LED lighting with smart controls, and set up infrastructure for solar and EV charging. In addition, the design enhances security with access control, surveillance cameras, and fire alarms. RMH designed site lighting to minimize light pollution and created durable, comfortable interior lighting.

This facility reflects a commitment to sustainability, functionality, and user experience.

RMH provided comprehensive electrical, mechanical, and plumbing engineering services for a new 43,000-square-foot, two-story facility supporting global scientific field missions. The building, more than twice the size of its 1970s predecessor, includes offices, electronic and wet laboratories, an ITAR-controlled warehouse, and connects to two existing aircraft hangars.

Both hangars support NCAR’s Gulfstream V and C-130 research aircraft. RMH’s electrical design scope included:

Upgrading Hangar A’s electrical service from 120/208V to 277/480V
Power and lighting design for a new locker room in Hangar B
Integrated lighting and controls design throughout the facility

This facility enhances NCAR’s ability to support airborne research and innovation worldwide.

RMH Group provided MEP engineering services for renovating and expanding the University of Colorado at Boulder’s recreation center. The project involved updating the 215,000-square-foot facility and adding 93,000 square feet of new space. The enhanced recreation center now offers expanded weight and cardio areas, a new ice rink with stadium seating and LED lighting, a three-story rock-climbing gym with a bouldering wall, an outdoor aquatics facility, an indoor turf gym, four lighted rooftop tennis courts, a new entrance and lobby, and renovated pools, gyms, and locker rooms.

Focusing on energy efficiency and sustainability goals, the project incorporates innovative heating and cooling systems that significantly reduce energy consumption. Features such as a heat recovery loop, which transfers excess heat to areas like the swimming pools and domestic hot water system, along with evaporative cooling, thermal displacement ventilation, radiant slab heating, and daylight harvesting, all contribute to the building’s energy profile. This recreation center earned LEED Platinum certification upon completion.