The Project

PepsiCo needs no introduction. With products sold in over 200 countries and a supply chain operation as finely tuned as any in the world, their facilities demand the same level of precision and reliability they apply to everything else they do. When a new facility in Lisbon, Wisconsin required a complete HVAC system — designed, installed, and commissioned from the ground up — H&H Mechanical Contractors was brought in to deliver it.

This was a new construction project, which allowed H&H's team to work alongside the broader construction schedule and engineer the mechanical system for long-term performance from the start — rather than working around an existing footprint. That's where H&H's position as both a designing and installing contractor provides a distinct advantage: the team responsible for the installation is the same team that understands the engineering intent behind every design decision.

The Challenge: Two Very Different Spaces, One Coordinated System

The PepsiCo Lisbon facility presented a conditioning challenge common to mixed-use commercial properties: the need to serve both open production space and subdivided office areas under a single coordinated HVAC system — with meaningfully different load profiles, ventilation requirements, and occupancy patterns in each.

Production environments generate significant internal heat loads from equipment and occupancy. They require robust ventilation to maintain air quality and manage exhaust from operational processes. Office areas, by contrast, need precise zone-level temperature control — the ability to maintain different setpoints in different spaces simultaneously, responding quickly to changes in occupancy and solar load.

Conditioning both spaces with a single integrated system — rather than two independent systems that would require separate maintenance and controls infrastructure — demanded careful engineering and a controls strategy that could coordinate multiple pieces of equipment intelligently.

The Scope of Work

H&H Mechanical's scope on the PepsiCo Lisbon project covered the full mechanical HVAC installation — equipment procurement, structural support, ductwork fabrication and installation, gas piping, controls wiring, and commissioning. Here's what was installed:

System Design: VAV Distribution and Zone Control

The core of the PepsiCo Lisbon HVAC system is a Variable Air Volume (VAV) distribution strategy — a design approach well-suited to mixed-use facilities where different zones have genuinely different conditioning demands throughout the day.

Each of the four rooftop units serves a defined section of the building, providing conditioned supply air to a distribution network of VAV terminal units. The VAV boxes modulate airflow to each zone independently based on real-time temperature feedback — delivering more conditioned air when a zone needs it and throttling back when demand drops. This produces both better comfort and meaningfully lower energy consumption compared to constant-volume systems that deliver the same airflow regardless of demand.

The 17 VAV terminal units in the office area were installed with pressure-independent control dampers and factory-calibrated airflow sensors. Minimum ventilation airflow setpoints were programmed for each zone to ensure code-compliant outside air delivery under all operating conditions. Maximum cooling airflow and occupied/unoccupied setpoints were configured to match the facility's operating schedule — keeping zones conditioned when occupied and managing energy during off-hours.

The production area presented a different conditioning challenge. Rather than precise zone control, the production floor required reliable ventilation, robust air movement, and effective exhaust coordination. The make-up air unit — interlocked with the exhaust system and equipped with CO/NO₂ monitoring — ensures that as exhaust removes air from the production environment, fresh conditioned air is introduced in a controlled, balanced manner. The CO/NO₂ sensors provide both a safety function and a ventilation efficiency function: outside air rates are matched to actual air quality conditions rather than running at maximum continuously.

BAS Integration: Carrier BACnet i-Vu from Day One

All mechanical systems on the PepsiCo project were integrated into a Carrier BACnet i-Vu Building Automation System from the start of controls design — not added as an afterthought. This distinction matters significantly for system performance.

When BAS integration is planned from the beginning, control sequences can be engineered to match how the building actually operates. RTUs and VAV boxes are programmed to communicate and respond to each other as a coordinated system — not as independent pieces of equipment with a supervisory layer bolted on top. The result is tighter temperature control, better energy management, and a system that behaves predictably under varying load conditions.

On the PepsiCo project, the i-Vu system provides facility staff with real-time visibility into HVAC performance across both office and production areas, alarm monitoring for equipment faults, occupancy scheduling for after-hours setback, and remote access from any device. H&H Mechanical's BACnet-certified controls technicians handled the full controls scope — wiring, programming, calibration, and commissioning — as an integrated part of the mechanical installation rather than a separate subcontracted scope. Learn more about our building automation systems services.

Installation: SMACNA Standards and Structured Commissioning

H&H Mechanical operates a fully functioning union sheet metal shop — meaning every piece of ductwork on the PepsiCo project was fabricated in-house and installed by H&H's own crews. All supply, return, relief, and outside air ductwork was sealed to SMACNA Class standards — the industry benchmark for duct construction and leakage that ensures the system delivers the airflow it was designed to deliver without energy losses from leaking ductwork.

Rooftop unit installation involved crane-setting and anchoring each RTU on its roof curb in accordance with structural and manufacturer requirements. Vibration isolation, weather integrity, and level verification were confirmed before any mechanical or electrical connections were made. Each unit's electrical power, disconnects, and controls wiring were terminated and tested per specifications prior to startup.

Commissioning was performed systematically across every component of the system. Each RTU underwent startup verification — fan rotation, VFD operation, belt alignment, motor amperage, and economizer calibration. Supply duct static pressure control was tuned to maintain design setpoints across varying load conditions. Cooling and heating capacities were verified against submittal data.

Comprehensive testing, adjusting, and balancing (TAB) was completed for all airside systems, confirming compliance with design airflow rates, static pressures, and temperature control tolerances. Functional performance testing validated proper system sequencing, stable operation under part-load and peak conditions, and reliable energy-efficient delivery of conditioned air throughout the facility.

End Result

The completed HVAC system at PepsiCo's Lisbon, Wisconsin facility delivers what a facility of this profile requires: reliable, efficient conditioning across two distinct occupancy types, coordinated through a single intelligent control platform, with the documentation and commissioning verification to confirm performance at handover.

From the first crane-lift to final TAB sign-off, H&H Mechanical managed the full mechanical scope — engineering, fabrication, installation, controls integration, and commissioning — without hand-offs to separate subcontractors. That single point of accountability is the practical value of working with a contractor that designs and installs under one roof.

H&H Mechanical: Wisconsin's Design-Build HVAC Contractor Since 1982

H&H Mechanical is a local, family-owned contractor that has been designing and installing commercial HVAC systems across Wisconsin since 1982. We are a Carrier partner with BACnet-certified controls technicians on staff, and we operate a fully functioning union sheet metal shop for in-house duct fabrication on every project.

Our team includes in-house engineers and CAD drafters, which means we bring genuine design capability to every project — not just installation labor. Whether you're planning new construction, a major system replacement, or a controls upgrade, our approach is the same: understand the building, engineer the right system, install it correctly, and commission it to perform as designed.