Commercial Architecture December 2017 - 35

PROJECT

hvac

nation to retrofit the systems at both the Castle

Here, the existing piping gets messy, with a num-

and the Carriage House."

ber of zone valves scattered around, feeding tiny

He toured the facilities and drew up a plan for

fin-tube baseboard zones.

both retrofits and submitted a proposal. The Castle

Because the zones are very different, and with

Preservation Society eagerly accepted.

the challenge of pipe running through unconditioned space, Rickards wanted a flexible pumping

CASTLE GETS ITS DUE

solution. "At some point, I hope to get rid of all

Prior to the retrofit, Eastern Propane & Oil installed

the baseboard and straighten out the office pip-

two, 1,000-gal. underground propane tanks on the

ing, but for right now, it's what we had to work

property. Nearby Ambrose Bros. Inc. donated the

with," he explained. "I put in two Taco VR3452

time and manpower to dig the holes for the two

light-commercial pumps because I can use the

new tanks. Ed Ambrose, owner of the excavating

same circulator, in different settings, on both

company, is a member of the board of directors at

zones."

Castle in the Clouds. When it came time to retrofit
the Castle's mechanical room, all of the components were in place.
"It was still early spring when we started on the

To reduce the risk of freezing in the zone that
runs below the old horse stalls, Rickards set the

Above. The old boiler had to remain operational during installation, making the boiler room
a tight fit for Eastern Propane & Oil workers as they installed the new boilers donated by
the company.

circulator in constant-circulation mode. It's
turned off during warm-weather shutdown. On

main building, so we needed to leave the giant existing boiler in operation until the new units were
up and running," stated Rickards. "All of the new

the loop that supplies water for two air handlers,
Below. Redundancy, efficiency, and much-improved indoor air quality resulted from installation of the two NeoTherm condensing boilers.

he set the circulator in proportionate-pressure
mode to ensure the right amount of supply water

boiler piping was replaced, including pumps, sys-

to both fan coils, regardless of whether one or

tem feeders, valves, and air separation."

both are calling for heat.

Instead of one larger unit, Eastern chose two,

The Taco VR3452 has four modes of opera-

285 MBH NeoTherm condensing boilers from

tion, allowing it to fit nearly any application in its

Laars Heating Systems Co., Rochester, NH. This

performance range. An optional communication

provided some redundancy and doubled the turn-

module provides Ethernet communication,

down ratio.

Modbus RTU communication, and allows for

"We've used the NeoTherms before on residen-

simple twin-pump installation if redundancy is

tial and commercial jobs without any trouble," said

needed.

Rickards. "Aside from that, one of the main reasons we selected them for this job is that I don't

FINISHING TOUCHES

need a third party control to stage the two units.

Future plans include installing a fan-coil system

The onboard Laars control allows me to put them

in place of the messy baseboard installation in

in a lead-lag configuration very easily."

the office areas. Also in the Castle, a few castriage House. In much the same way that Eastern tech-

iron radiators should be replaced and a few oth-

and piped primary/secondary. A Neptune system feeder

nicians allowed the big boiler in the Castle to remain

ers, sandblasted at Eastern's shop, repainted, and put back

was added for easy application of glycol and corrosion-in-

online, the oil boiler in the smaller building would too.

into use. In the meanwhile, management at the estate can

hibiting chemicals.

But this time, the existing unit would run for more than

look forward to lower energy bills and a more sustainable

a few days.

future.

The 95% AFUE boilers are ground-mounted

The size of old boiler made working in the room very
difficult, but since uninterrupted heat was a requirement

"The building has two, 330-gallon oil tanks that were

"These new systems are a capstone to the list of urgent

of the job, it had to stay in place. When switchover day

nearly full when we started the project," said Rickards.

projects we've been juggling over the past decade," said

came, the 2.5-in. copper main was cut and drained. A

"So we installed the new system and left the tie-in and

Clark. "It brings us into a new phase of renovation work

large Taco (Taco Comfort Solutions, Cranston, RI) air

fire-up for next fall. Luckily the Carriage House mechan-

where we'll be looking to minimize our carbon footprint

separator and four Watts (North Andover, MA) isolation

ical room is bigger and the oil boiler is smaller, so it wasn't

and become the best stewards of this special place for

valves were installed, and the system was tied into the

a continuous game of Twister like it was in the Castle."

generations to come. CA

2-in. copper coming from the Laars boilers. "The boiler

While the system in the Carriage House is smaller, it

room and wiring is simpler that you'd think because the

was definitely more complex. The basement area is un-

entire building is heated by one giant zone of cast-iron

conditioned, with half of it used for storage and half a

radiators," said Rickards. "Just as soon as the system was

crawl space for mechanicals.

purged and the new units were fired, we started tearing

Above, the conditioned space is a mix of offices,

apart the existing boiler. The building went without heat

restaurant seating in the former horse stalls, the exhibit

for only half a day."

gallery, and a large reception and meeting area.
There are two main zones coming off the boiler sys-

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CARRIAGE HOUSE LESS OF A TWISTER

tem. One goes directly to two air handlers, each with a

Specifics on the Laars NeoTherm condensing boiler.

While one crew was working on the Castle, another was

zone valve. The other zone passes through an insulated

Information on Taco in-line air separators.

installing two, 210,000 Btu NeoTherm boilers in the Car-

chase, across the basement, and up to the office areas.
commercialarchitecturemagazine.com

DECEMBER 2017

COMMERCI A L A RCHI T EC T URE

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