Altura has led several engagements with Mark IV Capital, a privately-held real estate investment firm based in Southern California. In addition to leading commissioning for new construction projects for Mark IV, Altura has advised Mark IV on multiple capital retrofit projects and strategic acquisitions, evaluating the scope, cost, and potential return on investment for major projects concerning energy efficiency.

Altura has led implementation of building automation system retrofits and custom controls programs, including facilities such as 4450 MacArthur in Newport Beach, CA and 24331 El Toro Road in Laguna Woods, CA. These projects each called for a customized scope of work to maximize the efficiency and useful life of existing equipment, while delivering a high degree of control to building operators.

4450 MacArthur Boulevard – this facility in Newport Beach serves as the corporate headquarters for Mark IV in addition to other tenant spaces. The facility utilizes an advanced mixed-mode natural ventilation design with automated operable windows and advanced building controls. The building also has a rooftop solar system, extensive sub-metering and on-site electric vehicle charging. Completed in 2015, the facility is targeting LEED Platinum status.

Altura developed a unique approach to commissioning and controls for the new building leveraging SkySpark along with the FinStack control and graphics platform. The combination of these systems has enabled new approaches to demand-based control for the mixed mode natural ventilation building, supporting advanced demand management strategies and overall building optimization through on-going fault detection and diagnostics and demand management.

Altura wrote automated measurement and verification functionality (IPMVP Option-C compliant) into SkySpark and Finstack, leveraging weather and occupancy normalized modeled building energy use to help manage and verify actual building energy consumption in real time.

24331 El Toro Road – Altura is providing, installing, and commissioning all of the components to deliver a turnkey retrofit of the building automation system at this medical office building in Laguna Woods, CA. Altura initially completed an assessment of the rooftop HVAC equipment, which led to the development of a customized plan to upgrade the facility’s existing pneumatic HVAC automation system with a new fully digital system, while also utilizing as much existing equipment as possible.

The challenge was bringing the facility up to a fully-digital standard with older equipment which wasn’t easily compatible with digital equipment. To keep existing rooftop units yet deliver a fully-integrated system, Altura is providing a custom controls solution which allows the existing Trane packaged rooftop units to be controlled with the new digital system. This solution avoided a $250k expense for new equipment, and eliminated the need for a costly and disruptive renovation, saving Mark IV an estimated 94% on equipment alone.