City of Billings Law and Justice and City Hall

The City of Billings Law and Justice Center and City Hall engineering project involved design of new electrical systems on all floors of the building, with a limited remodel on the third floor. A building-wide lighting design was completed, but at a high level in specific, highlighted areas that Cushing Terrell worked through with JLG Architects, who served as the main partner for the client on the building.

Cushing Terrell evaluated the existing power bus duct, installed when the building was originally constructed, to determine if it could continue to serve the building during and beyond the remodel. Through third-party testing, jurisdiction meetings, research, and some component changes, the team was able to help the client retain the bus duct distribution, which created significant cost savings for the City.

A second task was the installation of a “new” generator that would provide power backup for the entire building. The City had identified an existing generator that was made available from a water treatment plant project that was open for use. Cushing Terrell worked with the City, architect, mechanical engineers, and the generator manufacturer to overcome the building’s constraints and get the generator installed in the basement. To make it fit, the fuel tank was removed from the base of the generator and installed remotely.

To further minimize cost and power outages, Cushing Terrell and Ace Electric worked with Underwriters Laboratory (UL) on a modification: splitting the main bus within the existing main switchboard, which simplified the overall design. This creative solution involved configuring the bus work inside the main switchboard, which required inspection and relabeling after the modification was complete.