Fairfax County, Virginia/ Dewberry Fairfax County Heliport

The LEED Silver Certified project involved the demolition of the 10,000 sqft building and redevelopment of the existing site to include the new building, concrete helipad and approach, parking, maintenance and operations bays, flight training area, general training area, ready room, offices, locker room, and an exercise area.

The HVAC system consisted of a Variable Air Volume (VAV) Rooftop Unit (RTU) to serve all administrative and regularly occupied spaces. VAV boxes serving perimeter spaces utilized series fan-powered units with hot water reheat coils and shut off boxes serving the interior. The system used to deliver code required outside air for ventilation. A key innovation was the incorporation of a decoupled Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV), which used exhaust air from shower and locker areas to precondition outside air for ventilation. The preconditioned air from the ERV was then introduced into the return air of the VAV Rooftop Unit to save energy and reduce the overall size of the RTU.

GPI also designed the site lighting and integrated a diesel generator capable of providing 96-hour backup power for heliport operations. This project involved collaboration with multiple consultants for IT, security, heavy equipment, lighting, and other elements needed for the heliport. GPI coordinated with these consultants to incorporate the detailed design elements without delaying our own design schedule.