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Union Tower - Leading The Westward Expansion

Unique ... State-of-the-Art ... Technologically Advanced ...

These are just a few of the words that immediately come to mind when asked to describe one of Chicago's newest buildings, Union Tower.

Union Tower, highlighted at center bottom, moves the boundaries of Chicago's Loop further west.

Located at 550 W. VanBuren, this 17-story, 368,000 square foot building offers appealing features and prime location to a number of notable tenants, including TD Waterhouse, Ticketmaster, Participate.com, Foundation Health Systems, XOR and E-Loyalty.

Situated in a rapidly expanding area of the west loop, Union Tower is the first building to be built on speculation since 1991 in the downtown area. While building on speculation can be considered a financial risk, Union Tower offered close proximity to two major rail stations with a daily passenger load of approximately 100,000 people and a choice location to benefit from the expansion of businesses located in the Wacker Drive corridor. It wasn't long before the tenant list began to grow.

Built with visions of the future in the minds of the developer, Development Resources Inc. (D.R.I.), and designers OWP&P Architects, Environmental System Design, and Brininstool & Lynch, Ltd., Union Tower offers business executives the amenities that they expect from prime real estate. Union Tower is managed by U.S. Equities Asset Management Inc.

As innovative as its striking architecture, the internal building systems are at a level far beyond that of the conventional office building. Union Tower's "super-functional" design was created to serve the needs of businesses well into the 21st century. One of the most notable features of the building is its column free floor span. A typical floor plan consists of 20,000 square feet of space. Lack of columns within this area gives tenants the flexibility to maximize floor space. Cubicles, instead of whole rooms, can be built at a much lower cost. Tenants want lower occupancy costs and the ability to make every square foot count, and Union Tower found the way to do it.

(Left to Right) Jim Simpson, Matt McManus. Jim was project superintendant from Power Construction Company during the construction of Union Tower. He has an extensive background going back over 25 years. Jim has been involved with the construction of over 50 major buildings. His expertise enabled the building operation to go smooth and on time. Matt said he was a real pro and it was a joy working with him. Matt came on board approximately six months prior to the completion..

With the word efficiency in mind, a Johnson Metasys building automation system was installed. Through this system the building's environmental, energy, fire and security concerns can be managed as well as the heating, ventilation and air conditioning. Approximately thirty variable air volume (VAV) boxes are located in the ceiling of each floor and monitored by the Johnson system. Linked to the computer via a central hub, the engineer can monitor how fast any particular motor is spinning, whether the VAV is in the heating or cooling stage, the temperature and the setpoint of that box. Necessary adjustments can be made to settings and individual VAV boxes are re-set by way of the Metasys system. This makes it possible for each office space to control their own temperature for individual comfort zones. Making the engineer's job even more efficient, the Johnson system can also be monitored from a palm pilot through any thermostat in the building. Providing there is no mechanical failure, all VAV boxes can be adjusted or balanced in this method. Laptop computers are also utilized so that all building systems can be monitored off-site. In the event of an alarm, Chief Engineer Matt McManus can dial in to the computer system to determine what the emergency might be and the best way to handle it. And while all this technology makes for smooth day-to-day operations, nothing beats the old stand-by method of one-to-one communication. Matt relates, "talking to the staff and security on a daily basis is a necessary part of the job. That's the way to find out how things are really going."

Housed on the 18th floor is the Baltimore Cooling Tower with 3 cooling wells. One cooling well is provided for year round cooling of the computer rooms, switching gear and all of the high tech equipment. The other two wells are for environmental cooling as needed. The inset illustrates the necessary apparatus for the winter modulation valve...

In keeping with the clean look of the building, two 517-ton York chillers, providing the building's cooling needs, are located on the 18th floor and cooling towers are recessed on the rooftop so as not to be seen from the street. Air circulated through the building as well as air taken in from outside is cooled by chilled water coils. From there it enters the fan room where 91 box filters with 91 cell filters in front are in line to provide the highest air quality control available. The box filters are changed every 30-40 days. Two fans, each operated by a separate 100 HP motor, move 64,000 cfm respectively. Two systems actually run in conjunction providing over 200,000 cfm to service the entire building. The fans are frequency driven. The computer is pre-programmed with hours of building occupancy. When a non-occupied status is called for the fans will ramp down. Should cooling be called for during non-operating hours, the fans will work to cool only that space calling for it. This reduces electrical consumption making after hours cooling achievable at a reasonable rate.

Union Tower was built as a low temperature spec building. Typically a building system will run at 42-43 degrees. Keeping energy efficiency concerns as a high priority, Union Tower can operate as low as 38 degrees, thus providing a lower discharge air temperature. For that reason every VAV box has electric reheat. Due to the plenum ceiling, discharge air temp diffusers would condensate if this were not done. Because the advanced technology of this building is one of its primary features, one circuit on the BAC must be provided for year round operation of cooling the computer rooms. Since the unit is located outside, E.S.D. has made sure that this single circuit is heat traced to protect it from freezing in the winter months.

Supply fans are also frequency driven. This enables the system to run slower and save a considerable amount of electrical consumption.

While air quality is a priority for the building engineer, water treatment concerns run a close second. Of prime concern in today's real estate management companies are liability issues. To eliminate liability as much as possible Union Tower employed Nalco Chemical to install its Trasar system to treat condenser water for algae, bacteria and contaminants. Nalco provides cylinders containing the needed chemicals for water treatment. The Trasar system decides appropriate levels to be maintained, takes readings on a scheduled basis, and then turns pumps on or off to dispense chemicals according to the need. With this technologically advanced system the time needed for engineer Ken Botta to take daily readings is reduced.

Located in the pump room, fire pumps rated at 1,000 gallons per minute are standing ready if called to service. In the event of a pump failure, a Siamese connection provides public access to pumps to supply water. In a building where energy conservation is of utmost concern, domestic house pumps are also frequency driven. One hundred percent pump backup is provided in the event one should fail.

Six Fujitech passenger elevators move tenants between floors. Adorned with anigre wood panels, stainless steel trim, illuminated glass ceiling panels and carpeted floors, the last thing passengers think about is the sophistication of the system used to operate this mode of transportation. Each car is rated at 4,000 pounds and moves through the elevator shaft at a rate of 450 feet per minute. Operated by a 50 HP motor, these traction machines must be kept in balance by counterweights located on the backside of the cable used to move the car. In keeping with city safety requirements, a governor overspeed system has also been installed. Should failure occur and the elevator begin to drop at a speed exceeding 400 feet per minute clamps will automatically be engaged and bolts underneath the car will be released to stop the elevator from falling. All elevators are monitored by ADT. When the phone located inside the cab is picked up a pre-recorded message will alert ADT as to the car number and exact location. ADT in turn alerts Fujitech that a service call is needed. In keeping with the safety issue Matt felt communication with the people inside the elevator car was mandatory. He had building phones installed in each car providing communication with "live" building personnel in the event of an emergency. Rounding out the elevators is a dedicated freight cab rated at 4,500 lbs.

The building is fully ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant, with all entrances, door and bathrooms providing handicapped accessibility. Floors one, five, ten, fifteen and eighteen have emergency phones located in both stairwells. Should an emergency occur, once the phone is picked up an alarm will ring. Panels located in the lobby will tell the security staff exactly where the trouble is located. The building is fully sprinklered. In the event of a fire both audible and visual alarms are located throughout the building.

One more unique feature of the building is the Prime Rite devices. This method was put in to eliminate odors from the building. Problems tended to occur on floors that were vacant or if the water evaporated from the system. Union Tower installed sensors to monitor the water pressure on every floor. If a fluctuation in water pressure occurs, water is automatically released into the trap to prevent it from drying out. This eliminates the odor build-up. This system has also been incorporated into every washroom located in the building.

Besides cooling towers, smoke shafts and a BAC on the roof, lightning protection is located on every column and on every corner. These are grounded to the earth to prevent power surges due to weather. A striking feature of the building visible from the street below is 109 light fixtures surrounding the 18th floor. Used at night to illuminate the building, the staff reigns in each holiday season by coordinating lighting colors with the colors of the holiday. In approximately 5-1/2 hours each fixture can be changed to house the appropriate color, spreading seasonal joy to all as they pass by.

While we have explored the truly amazing mechanical aspects of this building, we saved the best for last. With keen insight into the future, Union Tower boasts of the flexibility to provide for future technological upgrades while providing a highly advanced technological infrastructure to meet the needs of today's businesses.

Union Tower provides future riser capacity as a marketing strongpoint for tenants. Located on each floor and stacked identically above one other is a closet space, approximately 100 square foot in diameter, to allow for additional chilled water equipment, condenser water, telecommunictions and generator power expansion.

The most secure yet sophisticated room in the building is the fiber optic telephone room. Currently 600 copper pairs of wire come in to the building from two sources, Clinton and VanBuren streets and provides central diversified routing. If the incoming service should be damaged outside the building it is automatically rerouted through the other office ensuring that the building will never lose service. Added to this is a battery back up uninterrupted power source to again assure continuous service. Due to increasing demands for telephone communications, copper wiring is no longer a viable option due to space constraints. Today all telephone lines are of fiber optic technology.

When the building was erected, Ameritech provided Union Tower with a Litespan system 2012. This system provides 2012 circuits capable of handling T1, T3 and DSL lines from narrow band @ low speed to broad band @ high speed for all applications. Within the communication system is a unique feature called a Fujitsu Sonet Ring. Ticketmaster was the first tenant to expand the Sonet Ring technology up to their suite. Providing fiber optic communications from two stations ? Wabash and Roosevelt ?- 2 fiber lines enter the building in 2 different pipes. If either of these lines is damaged within the building, it is rerouted through a central switching station and enters the building through the other line. Another added insurance that service will not be interrupted.

Beyond the Litespan system are two 1800 pair cables running through the telephone data closets on each floor. One pair goes directly to the 8th floor. From this 200 pairs are spliced off for each floor. The second pair services floors 13 to 17 in the same manner. One express 50 pair cable goes directly to the elevator equipment room, and four spare conduits have been put in place for future usage.

As equally impressive as the telephone communications room is the computer room for the data center. Because of the rapidly changing needs of technology easy access to all wiring and cables was mandatory. To achieve this a raised floor system was incorporated. All wiring is located within the floor and a simple lifting of a floor panel allows work to be completed effortlessly. An uninterruped power service battery backup system is in place in the event of a power failure. This system will support all equipment running in the room for 15 minutes including the air conditioning system. Because power is so critical to Ticketmaster's operation, they required redundancy power to be supplied. In addition to ComEd, Ticketmaster uses a 150 kV generator stored in the garage to supply power in the event of an emergency. They also have a conditioner for their power to filter it before usage assuring that spikes or surges do not cause damage to the computer equipment.

In meeting the City of Chicago requirements that a building be fully sprinklered, including computer rooms, Union Tower installed a FM 200 powder system. Flooding the room immediately and depleting the oxygen supply in the event of a fire, this system will not damage computer equipment. To back this up should it not completely eliminate the threat of fire, a water sprinkler system was also installed.

Kinetically charged and rated at a temperature between 185 and 210, the water sprinklers will not be discharged until this level is reached. Should that happen, the situation is then viewed as a life saving event and water is used, thus damaging anything in the room.

In addition to the generator located in the garage put to use by Ticketmaster, there is also room for generators to be installed for future tenant and building needs.

So what does the chief engineer in a new, sophisticated, fully electric building do all day? According to Chief Engineer, Matt McManus, plenty. A typical day at Union Tower can begin as early as 2 or 3 am. While tenants are still busy moving in and several floors are still being built out, deliveries are a big part of a hectic day. The City of Chicago requires that the alleyways not be blocked, necessitating all deliveries to be completed by early morning hours. The delivery company also requires dedicated freight car time so that they can complete their job without interruption. To better facilitate this frenzy of activity, the management team developed a freight log. Each company must now schedule their delivery time in advance. They must note the company name, time of delivery, products or materials being delivered and to what floor they will be going. A copy of the log is posted in the engineer's office as well as in the freight elevators on a monthly basis and updated as needed. This enables the staff and tenants to know who is in the building at a quick glance. One of the most important aspects of coordinating deliveries is making sure that insurance certificates are in order and up to date. Each and every delivery company that shows up at the building is required to carry an insurance certificate or they will be denied access to the building. According to Matt, "Ask any engineer about insurance certificates. They can all relate to them."

As tenant floors are being finished the chief engineer is then responsible for installing key cores in all the doors and to furnish keys for those doors to the tenants. To maintain anonymity, a key set code was established. This ensures that should a key be lost there is no indication as to which floor, which door, or for that matter, which building it belongs to. Adding additional security, the building is also card keyed and monitored for after hours access. A five person staff monitors 16 closed circuit security cameras that operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Videotapes are kept of all persons entering and leaving the building in the event of an emergency.

Another important job for the chief engineer is monitoring the progress of the sprinklers being installed. Matt needs to coordinate the installation company, his staff and the staff at ADT when work is being done. The sprinkler system must be shut down which means that fire pumps are disabled. This could be critical to the building. As soon as work is completed and the sprinklers are filled, ADT is notified again to reactivate fire electronic monitoring protection. Because this is such a busy time for Matt, he developed a log to be used each time work is being completed. This will ensure that the system will be fully functional as soon as possible. Not to be outdone by internal systems, the interior design of the building matches the sophistication of the mechanical design.

High performance tinted window systems with five-foot-wide panel modules feature internal draining and custom color metallic paint. Floor-to-ceiling windows in the southeast corner of each floor offer a striking view of the central business district. The lobby design provides the first hint that this building is exquisite as well as functional. The reception desk, constructed in granite, Anigre wood and stainless steel, complements black granite wall panels, a sculptured custom lighting fixture of stainless steel and translucent glass and concealed cove and accent lighting fixtures. Potted plants located in the lobby add an air of artistic elegance to an already elegant space.

And to top all that, Matt must make sure that all this runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Building owners are now in the development stages of a new building to partner Union Tower. Located at 525 W. VanBuren, this new building will house 525,000 square feet of space, with a unique 20,000 square foot mezzanine level with no windows. Construction time is estimated at 15 months.

Matt McManus is chief engineer of Union Tower. Hired in May of 1999, McManus made a "jump from across the street" from his former position as chief engineer of Union Station where he worked for six years. Prior to that he served as chief at 220 S. State.

Matt would not have been as successful with this new building start-up if it weren't for his right and left hand man, Ken Botta. Ken resides in the Mount Greenwood area and was recently married to his lovely wife Tracy. Ken and Tracy enjoy spending weekends working on their new house and spending time with friends playing softball and football.

McManus and his wife, Randi, reside in the Morgan Park neighborhood with their two boys Matt, Jr and Thomas. For fun, Matt says he and his family enjoy water sports and spend most summer weekends on his boat. "We try not to miss a weekend," he says. In the winter wse are busy being the bus drivers for our two boys to their hockey games and Scout meetings.

While we envision George Jetson zooming around and wonder what the future holds in store for us all, one thing is sure. Whatever the future brings, Union Tower will stand proud and be ready to face any technological challenge thrown its way.

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