Historic Building Renovation

posted on Tuesday, October 8, 2024 in VRF Case Studies

Project Overview

Historic multi-story building located in downtown Dover, DE consisting of a large full-length basement (offices), 1st floor offices, conference rooms, libraries and 2nd floor offices for a total of 9,800 SF.

The original building was built in 1850 as a residence with a more recent renovation of a basement with current construction standards. The spacing for mechanical equipment was very limited for installing ductwork which made the GHP & VRF systems a great fit.

Reason for Choosing Yanmar

Schmittinger & Rodriguez’s (S&R) existing HVAC system was a 4-pipe hydronic system with boilers and chiller. The equipment was failing after 10 years of use. Diamond Mechanical was approached to provide a design/build HVAC replacement project. The client was interested in going another direction and was disappointed with the previous system. We entertained the YANMAR GHP systems to them for comfort cooling/heating with a big potential for energy savings.

The existing boiler/chiller system had very little control of the heating and cooling and often times ran much longer than necessary. The building temperatures and humidity were a constant issue with the systems fighting each other throughout the year. The S&R team did not want to sink anymore funds into their current system. Diamond Mechanical worked with S&R towards a YANMAR GHP design that fit the client and building’s needs.

Additionally, there were electrical/power challenges within the building and had a small single phase electrical service.. The existing chiller had required a Roto-Phase transformer. A gas heat pump system allowed Diamond Mechanical to re-use their existing electrical infrastructure and avoid an upgrade to their electrical service allowing for significant cost savings. 

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