The National Aviation Research and Technology Park in Egg Harbor Township, Atlantic County, New Jersey is a 69,375 square foot aviation research and technology facility home to tenants including General Dynamics, the FAA, NASA, and Applied Research Associates. It is the first of seven planned buildings in a 58-acre campus that, at full buildout, will exceed 400,000 square feet of research and laboratory space dedicated to aviation and aerospace innovation.
The mechanical systems supporting a facility like this do not leave room for error. FabPro Systems was brought in to solve a specific problem the project team needed to resolve before the building could operate as designed.
The challenge: a pump system that could not go in the basement
The project required a pump system to support a rooftop dry cooler installation. The engineer’s preference was to keep the basement mechanical room clear of this equipment, which meant the pump system needed to live on the roof alongside the dry cooler it was serving.
That constraint changed everything about what the system needed to be. A standard pump package designed for a conditioned mechanical room is not built for outdoor rooftop conditions. It needs weather protection. It needs to handle temperature extremes. It needs to be fully enclosed without sacrificing service access. And it needs to arrive on site as a complete, tested package that can be installed directly on the roof without requiring significant field assembly at elevation.
The FabPro solution
FabPro designed and fabricated a custom enclosed pump package engineered specifically for rooftop installation. The system was paired with an Evapco dry cooler and designed using project data provided by Energy Transfer Solutions and the consulting engineer. Pumps were selected and sized to meet the system’s flow and head requirements. The enclosure was designed for outdoor conditions, integrated the complete piping layout, and was fabricated as a single packaged unit to minimize field assembly.
“The packaged approach allowed the project team to meet both the design intent and the installation requirements without compromising either.”
FabPro coordinated directly with the engineer, the contractor, and the other project stakeholders throughout fabrication and provided startup support after installation. The goal was a system that arrived complete, connected cleanly to the dry cooler, and operated reliably in an exposed rooftop environment.
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Application | Rooftop HVAC cooling system |
| System type | Enclosed pump package for dry cooler support |
| Pump configuration | Centrifugal pump system sized to project flow and head requirements |
| Paired equipment | Evapco dry cooler |
| Fabrication scope | Pump package, outdoor enclosure, integrated piping |
| Installation location | Rooftop, outdoor conditions |
| Project stakeholders | Energy Transfer Solutions, consulting engineer, general contractor |
| FabPro role | Design, fabrication, coordination, startup support |
What happened after installation
After the system was installed, a leak was identified in the enclosure roof. FabPro responded immediately, sending technicians to the site, inspecting the enclosure, and completing the repairs on site. The issue was resolved quickly and with minimal disruption to the project.
This is worth mentioning because it is part of what the relationship between a fabricator and a project team actually looks like over the life of a job. Problems surface. The question is how the fabricator responds when they do. FabPro did not wait to be asked twice. The team was on site, the issue was assessed, and it was fixed.
The outcome
The completed system delivered a fully operational rooftop pump package properly integrated with the dry cooler, eliminated the need for basement mechanical room space, and simplified installation by arriving as a complete packaged unit. The project team met both the design intent and the installation requirements without compromising either.
The NARTP is now one of the premier aviation research facilities in the country, with a second building recently completed and a full campus buildout underway. FabPro’s contribution to the first building was a single system in a large and complex project. It worked because the approach was right from the start: understand the constraint, design to it, build it correctly, and stand behind it.
The full case study including project drawings is available here.
Have a project with an unusual installation constraint?
FabPro Systems designs and fabricates custom pump assemblies, skid packages, and mechanical system enclosures for commercial and industrial applications across the country. If your project requires a solution that does not fit a standard catalog answer, we want to hear about it early.
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