RMF Engineering

The vision for a new 18,000 SF greenhouse at the main U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) campus in Houma, Louisiana, is taking shape as the project moves into construction. The Sugarcane Research Unit leads sustainable sugarcane research and variety development, using breeding and genomics to improve production and combat diseases, insects, and weeds.

RMF partnered with Merrick & Company and Greenhouse Design LLC to deliver the planning and design, with construction being carried out by JJR Construction.

Replacing major steam plant equipment can be challenging. Doing so within the footprint of a decades-old facility while maintaining critical utility infrastructure requires a strategically coordinated design and engineering approach.

At Buffalo State University, RMF helped replace decades-old steam plant equipment while working entirely within the constraints of the existing facility. To accommodate the installation of three new boilers, a substantial portion of the roof was removed and reconstructed, allowing large equipment components to be safely removed and lowered into the existing facility. The new equipment was installed within the original boiler room and a 1965 addition, maximizing the use of existing infrastructure while extending the plant's operational life.

The upgrade replaced two original boilers with new 62,500 PPH packaged watertube boilers and a summer boiler with a new 27,500 PPH firetube boiler, resulting in a total installed steam generating capacity of 152,500 PPH. Each boiler features 10:1 turndown capability on natural gas, low-NOx burners, feedwater economizers, and advanced controls designed to improve efficiency, operational flexibility, and emissions performance.

Completed through multiple phases, the modernization included not only the replacement of the boilers but nearly all the plant's ancillary balance-of-plant (BOP) infrastructure, including the deaerator, condensate tanks, pumps, and associated support systems essential to reliable steam generation and plant operation.

The project also included a comprehensive controls modernization, featuring an Allen-Bradley PLC-based combustion control system (CCS) and microprocessor-based burner management system (BMS) integrated with new SCADA and historian platforms, as well as a new PLC-based Balance of Plant (BOP) control system with redundant controllers to enhance system resiliency, monitoring, and long-term reliability.

RMF provided controls engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and civil engineering.

Projects like this demonstrate how thoughtful engineering can transform aging utility infrastructure into modern, high-performing systems that support facility operations for decades to come.

Big lifts. New name. Major progress.

A significant milestone was recently achieved at the new University of South Carolina School of Medicine and Research Facility as critical air handling units (AHUs) were crane-lifted into place, advancing construction toward enclosing the building.

The AHUs were installed in three sections each, requiring six lifts to assemble two 30,000 CFM units serving the building’s second- and third-floor wet laboratory spaces. Over the course of a week, a total of eight air handling units, providing 213,000 CFM, were lifted into the penthouse. Two additional 37,500 CFM laboratory units were installed in the ground-level mechanical room. The campus is served by a new central energy plant also designed by the RMF team.

When complete, this 300,000 SF state-of-the-art facility will support the University of South Carolina School of Medicine with advanced research, medical education, and future growth space. The building will include approximately 125,000 SF of wet labs and support space, along with education, faculty, student, and collaboration areas designed to support the next generation of healthcare innovation.

With the unveiling of its new name too, the University of South Carolina Floyd School of Medicine reflects both a legacy of leadership and its future as a hub for innovation in healthcare and education.