New HVAC System Enhances Renovation

  • 11/01/15
HVAC System

Energy efficiency and ease-of-installation sealed the deal for Mitsubishi Electric when it came time to renovate St. Ignatius Loyola School in Cincinnati.

St. Ignatius Loyola School, Cincinnati, is the largest private school in Ohio, serving over 1,000 K-8 students. Many of the classrooms in the school’s original three-story building, which dates back to 1950, didn’t have air conditioning. That created a big problem on hot days. On cold days, the low-pressure boiler consumed a lot of expensive gas — another big problem.

The need for a renovation started with a need for comfort. “This is a building with thick, concrete walls, and some of the classrooms face south. On the third floor, during certain times of the summer when it was over 100 degrees.

For Tim Schweikert, the school’s physical plant manager, “the selected system had to be efficient, cost-effective and do a good job.” It was also important to have a certain aesthetic — what Schweikert called a clean look. “We wanted something that would be unobtrusive, so you wouldn’t see pipes running down the walls.

“When we went out to the Mitsubishi Electric training center in Kentucky, we saw how the units were displayed and we were impressed by their quietness and efficiencies. Ultimately, we thought Mitsubishi Electric was the better unit,” adds Schweikert.

Installation took place over the summer when the students were on break.

Rick Weidner, PE, project engineer, EQS Mechanical says, “It went really well. We ran condensate to existing closets and stayed above the drop ceiling to keep everything concealed. Aesthetically, they had a real clean look when we were finished.”

The school has appreciates the system’s cost savings, thanks to the units’ efficiencies and the school’s practices. There are no thermostats in the individual classrooms, so the centralized controls have “saved us quite a bit of money – perhaps $11,000 a year. You figure, $300 a classroom for 37 classrooms,” Schweikert concludes.

www.mehvac.com

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • University of Kansas Opens $400M Football Stadium Reconstruction

    The University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan., recently announced that the $400-million reconstruction of David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium is complete in time for the 2025 football season, according to a news release. The university partnered with Turner Construction Company on the project.

  • California Boarding School Opens New Inquiry Collaborative Facility

    Cate School, a boarding school in Carpinteria, Calif., for students grades 9–12, recently announced that it has finished renovating a historic dining hall into a new academic hub, according to a news release. The school partnered with Blackbird Architects and Tangram Interiors on the two-story, 16,000-square-foot Inquiry Collaborative.

  • How One School Reimagined Learning Spaces—and What Others Can Learn

    When Collegedale Academy, a PreK–8 school outside Chattanooga, Tenn., needed a new elementary building, we faced the choice that many school leaders eventually confront: repair an aging facility or reimagine what learning spaces could be. Our historic elementary school held decades of memories for families, including some who had once walked its halls as children themselves. But years of wear and the need for costly repairs made it clear that investing in the old building would only patch the problems rather than solve them.

  • Longwood University Selects Builder for $73M Performing Arts Center

    Longwood University in Farmville, Va., recently announced that it has selected Swedish construction company Skanska as the builder of its new performing arts center, according to online news. The project involves the demolition of the current building and constructing a new, 64,500-square-foot facility.