Pneumatic To Modern
5505 Blue Lagoon Drive, formerly the Burger King World Headquarters
Project Overview
5505 Blue Lagoon Drive is a prominent building facing Miami International Airport, built in the late 90s with outdated pneumatic technology. Formerly occupied by Burger King Corporation, the building required modernization to attract new tenants seeking modern interiors and advanced technologies. Colliers International engaged Mechanical Air Concepts (MAC) to upgrade the unsupported Trane Tracer Summit system, which combined DDC and Electro-Pneumatic Controls. MAC's winning solution involved retro-commissioning the old pneumatic system for smoke evacuation while modernizing the VAV, Unit, and Condenser Water System controls to a fully native BACnet DDC System from Automated Logic.
Challenges & Requirements
Colliers required a web-based building automation solution that would free them from a single-source vendor for parts and service. The key challenge was preserving the essential pneumatic smoke evacuation system while upgrading the tenant-facing controls. Upon inspection, MAC discovered several failed pneumatic devices and legacy Trane equipment requiring proprietary communication (COMM4) integration.
Solution
MAC engineered and installed Automated Logic’s WebCTRL software, successfully integrating with the legacy Trane equipment. The pneumatic systems were repaired, and new DDC-controlled VAV boxes with spring-return actuators were installed, preserving the critical smoke evacuation interlocks. The entire system was balanced and retro-commissioned, providing the engineering team with the flexibility to modify heat loads for new tenants. The new system modernized the interface with new AHU and VAV graphics, dynamic data visualization, and interactive floorplans with thermal graphics and time-lapse playback.
WebCTRL System Benefits
- Optimum start
- Thermal graphics
- Comfort index
- Email alarming
- Built in reporting
- Unlimited user logins and advanced security
- Elimination of pneumatics in tenant space and adoption of DDC open BACnet controls
- Complete graphics, engineering and system software fully owned by owner