Schools and universities are a prime candidate for moisture-related problems. Fresh air requirements for classrooms have changed dramatically in the past few years. Where 5 cfm of fresh air per student was once allowed and was adequately conditioned by packaged systems, today's 15 cfm of fresh air per student poses an uneconomical and almost impossible challenge for these same systems. Like classrooms, 15 cfm of fresh air per student is also required to be brought into university dormitories. This fresh air requirement generates a substantial moisture load and a potential for IAQ problems if not properly conditioned.
Floyd County faced a unique set of challenges when tasked with the design of a climate control system for the 274,952-sq-ft Highland Hills Middle School in Floyds Knobs, IN. The county had a limited budget, no access to natural gas, and only 1,540 sq ft had been dedicated to the facilities mechanical room. To overcome these obstacles, a hydronic two-pipe system operated on a propane-fired AERCO KC1000 boiler plant was implemented.
The Earth Rangers Centre in Woodbridge, ON, Canada, functions as a wildlife refuge and hospital and as an education center for children. The 60,000-sq-ft facility, which opened in October 2004, houses a world-class veterinarian research and training hospital, interactive educational displays for the public, and will soon include one of Canada's only oil spill response units dedicated to wildlife.
"We operate Barclay Friends Senior Living Community under the principles and traditions of the Religious Society of Friends or ‘Quakers,' so that our actions contribute to a welcoming, family-like community," said executive director Carol Hanson.
The Joint School District #2 of Meridian, ID, serves over 30,000 students and is one of the largest and fastest growing school districts in Idaho. When the district was in the process of designing its newest elementary school - Hunter Elementary - it was looking to stretch its heating dollars as far as it could.
The steam systems at two Church of Saint Mary schools in Manhasset, NY were in need of a serious overhaul. High fuel cost and inadequate comfort presented officials at both the high school and elementary school with a quandary.
Located in Hickory, NC, Maple Springs Laundry is one of the largest independent laundry businesses in the Southeast. Ever since the business was launched in 1972, founder Bob Daughtry has focused on efficient resource management.
Buffalo Grove High School, in Buffalo Grove, IL, has been transformed from an "energy hog" to a model of energy efficiency and savings. Students are learning in a comfortable and safe environment while taxpayers reap the savings following the installation of a new BAS. The improvements are the result of a district-wide system upgrade undertaken by the Township High School District 214.
The first thing students attending the new Twenhofel Middle School in Independence, KY, do when they arrive at school each day is watch TV. But the programming broadcast on the 42-in. plasma screen TV at the school's main entrance lobby isn't be the usual teenage fare. In-stead, students eagerly interact with a touchscreen menu to call up "Vital Signs" screens to see which grade is winning the ongoing monthly energy conservation contest. Or they might monitor the effects the previous night's rainfall had on replenishing the school's rainwater collection system. Or they might call up a "Vital Signs" screen that shows the dollar savings in energy and the pounds of power plant CO2 emissions that the school has saved through its innovative daylighting and solar PV systems.
For Marvin Richer of Brock Equipment, it was clear they were "throwing good money after bad" by continually spending time and money on their old, deteriorating galvanized metal-lined cooling tower that supports the facil-ity's HVAC equipment installed in 1950.
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