CASE STUDIESCustom HVAC Configurations for Custom Spaces
As a well-known HVAC contractor in Michigan’s Ann Arbor region, Andy Bobo, co-owner, CMR Mechanical, Dexter, always provides his customers with effective solutions to efficiently cool and heat their homes. However, when it came to installing a cooling and heating system in his vacation home called AshKay Island—a 100 percent off-grid, 1,700-square-foot cottage located on an eight-acre island off Iron Mill Pond in Manchester, Michigan—Bobo faced a new, yet exciting challenge.
Located 25 miles southwest of downtown Portland, Orego, on 35 lush acres in Willamette Valley wine country, the Allison Inn and Spa (Allison) is the only member of Preferred Hotels® & Resorts in the state of Oregon and one of only 22 hotels in the world with LEED® Gold certification, according to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). In 2010, the USGBC also recognized Allison as one of the top “notable newly certified projects” in the U.S.
Opened in January 2004, Brentwood is a 35,100-square-foot, 29-unit Residential Care Apartment Complex (RCAC) located in Rice Lake, Wisconsin (pop. 8,500). Founded in 1864 on the site of a Menomonie Indian village and a wild rice bed, Rice Lake is the largest primarily retail community between Eau Claire (60 miles south), Superior/Duluth (100 miles north), and Minneapolis/St.
The Hollis Montessori School (Hollis Montessori), Hollis, New Hampshire, is the first independent school in the country to receive Passive House certification. This certification denotes the school’s extreme energy efficiency and means the facility has met rigorous energy-saving standards. The certification also hints at the thoughtful education taking place inside the classroom walls. For example, students are welcome to interact with the facility’s various energy-saving systems.
At Fairmont State University, Fairmont, West Virginia, teaching and learning matters and students are first priority. When the only on-campus, apartment-living complex—The College Park apartments—approached the end of its lifespan, the need for new student housing became apparent. After several years of research, planning and design, the University Terrace project took shape in 2015 and was completed in October 2016. The new 110,000-square-foot facility is comprised of two four-story buildings and one three-story building housing a total of 345 students.
Kansas’ Dodge City Unified School District provides education to 7,000 students. As the district’s ten schools have gotten older and their noisy HVAC systems have impacted the students’ classroom experience, the district has set out to renovate the schools with sustainable HVAC technology. So far, three schools have been renovated; two schools have paired Water-source Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) from Mitsubishi Electric with geothermal technology.
Recognized around the world, the name needs little introduction. In 1996, at age 25 Lance Armstrong exploded onto the world stage winning a world championship, the Tour de Pont and multiple Tour de France stages. Only months following these victories, he was diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer which spread to his abdomen, lungs and brain. In early 1997 he founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) to improve the lives of the 28 million people around the globe living with cancer. Six years later, in 2003 LIVESTRONG.org was launched as an online resource for cancer survivors.
Since 1984, The Bicycle Casino has been a gaming destination in Los Angeles. With the addition of a new, 118,000-square-foot hotel, The Bicycle Hotel & Casino (Bicycle) is now a high-end, boutique resort destination not just for patrons of the casino, but for anyone looking for a comfortable place to gather professionally or recreationally. The project team wanted a quiet and reliable HVAC system with a contemporary look to contribute to that overall feel. The selected system would also have to meet the varying needs of the hotel’s many guest rooms and amenities.
The Élan Hotel (Élan), a part of the Greystone Hotel family, is consistently ranked as one of the top five hotels in Los Angeles. Guests rave about its personal touches and modern look, as well as the comfort they experience relaxing after a long day of shopping in all of the nearby stores. For years, though, the hotel experienced comfort issues that challenged its ability to provide a truly extraordinary stay for every guest.
The Domsey Project represents a new era of HVAC in Brooklyn, New York. The first big development in the Williamsburg area, this 280,000-square-foot condo development houses 159 families across eight buildings. It’s high-end and high-efficiency, attracting a lot of attention. Its success is due in part to Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) systems from Mitsubishi Electric which have offered true zoning and comfort control to the development’s many families.