Photo of Ash Mountain Administrative Building.

Rehab of Ash Mnt. Admin and Warehouse Building HVAC System and Improve Admin Building Envelope

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks » Rehab of Ash Mnt. Admin and Warehouse Building HVAC System and Improve Admin Building Envelope » Document List

The National Park Service (NPS) has approved a project to replace the aging heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system for the Ash Mountain Headquarters Complex, including the Administration, Visitor Center, and Supply Center/Warehouse buildings to optimize system efficiencies and allow for zone temperature control.

The HVAC system for these buildings is inefficient and was designed using outdated technology. Throughout these buildings there are intolerable hot and cold spots and "dead zones" with stagnant air. Office windows and doors are often left open during occupancy due to employee discomfort caused by poor air distribution from the HVAC system, which increases the system inefficiencies. A new modern high efficiency HVAC system is needed to meet current and future occupancy uses of the facilities.

The second component of this project is to upgrade the Administrative building envelope with a new exterior wall with aluminum composite paneling, new insulation, new double glazed windows, and insulated doors. This would change the "R-value" of the building from its current rating of 1.486 to 16.32, which amounts to a savings of 8,800 kilowatt hours of electricity annually, and a fuel savings of 6,850 gallons of propane per year.

The visitor center and administrative offices at Ash Mountain are Mission 66 structures that have been determined eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, therefore, a memorandum of understanding has been developed between the NPS and the California State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) to mitigate these adverse effects.

More information on the project can be found in the newsletter posted on this site under "Document List."

Contact Information

Chris Carpenter, Park Engineer
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks
Attn: Ash Mountain HVAC Project
47050 Generals Highway
Three Rivers, CA 93271

(559) 565-3770