PETOSKEY, MI -- A multi-million dollar project in Petoskey is nearing completion and 7&4 got a sneak peak inside.
We checked out the new John and Marnie Demmer Wellness Pavilion and Dialysis Center which is scheduled to open in july.
Northern Michigan Regional Health Systems will operate the building.
Inside, there will be more chairs for dialysis and better wellness facilities.
The building is also environmentally friendly, starting with the new geo-thermal heating and cooling system.
“To have one of these types of systems in Petoskey is just incredible. To have this type of building, 38,000 square feet and have that type of system to use the environment to heat and cool the building is just fantastic and that's really going to be the big saver," said NMRH’s Service Line Director Ken Horrom.
"We look at everything that we do from a sustainability impact. We’ve won the Practice Green Health Leadership Award for the third year and a row, and that's based on recycling at least 25 percent of the items we take into the organization," said Linda Ward in NMRH's hospitality services.
Linda Ward says the health system received an award for green leadership and she says this new pavilion is just an addition to the health system's goal of becoming more efficient.
Below is a complete list of "green" initiatives the new building has met and exceeded.
Building Envelope
- Building exterior walls are constructed utilizing a combination of exterior rigid insulation, interior closed-cell foam and fiberglass batt insulation achieving an average R-37 thermal resistance wall construction. This is achieving over 150% greater wall thermal efficiency than the code minimum requirement.
- Building attic will be filled with a combination of batt insulation and blown cellulous achieving a minimum of R-45 thermal resistance. This is achieving 50% greater attic thermal efficiency than the code minimum requirement.
- The building windows are low-E argon gas filled windows with wood framed construction exceeding the code minimum requirements by 45%.
Ventilation Air
- All occupant ventilation air is delivered from a central heat pump air handling unit utilizing a desiccant energy recovery wheel. This energy recovery heat pump air handling system reduces the ventilation air cooling energy by 40% and the heating energy by 60%.
HVAC and Lighting
- A closed-loop geoexchange heat pump system utilizes the ground as the heat exchange medium for the building heating and cooling system. The heat pump system does not use ground water rather it is a closed piping system that utilizes the earth’s natural temperatures as the driver for energy transfer. The geo-exchange system utilizes thirty six (36) 300’ deep grouted bores beneath the parking lot and is connected to twenty eight (28) water source heat pumps located within the building. Water is circulated within the closed-loop via two system pumps controlled by variable frequency drives, thus enabling them to operate at lower speeds to match current building loads.
- The largest energy use in the building is the dialysis water system. The primary energy source for the dialysis water heating system is also the geoexhange system providing a 400% improvement in water heating efficiency over burning natural gas. The back-up heating source is two 90%+ high efficiency natural gas boilers. Either energy source can be utilized depending on current utility rates.
- Building lighting consist of LED and T-8 fluorescent lamp technology. All building lighting has automatic shut-off through use of a low voltage control system and occupancy sensors.
Storm Water
- Storm water detention basins are being utilized and will minimize the water run-off impact.
Potable Water Use
- Toilets using dual-flush hands-free flushometers will reduce water usage by up to 30% per flush.
- Low flow sensor faucets for public use will reduce water consumption by 65% for each hand washing fixture.
Energy Usage and Management
- A building wide direct digital control (DDC) energy management system is being installed and will allow for real-time monitoring of building equipment operation and historical trending. The energy management system will be networked through the Health System’s intranet.
The geo-exchange system, energy recovery, high efficiency boilers, and good envelope construction offer the building some of the highest operational efficiencies commercially available and exceeding the baseline energy standards by more than 20%.
