Bachelor Gulch Residence
Location: Beaver Creek, CO
Project Description:
Rader Engineering was responsible for the mechanical engineering for this project, including the design of the large-scale solar thermal system. This system consists of 24 solar thermal panels as wells as 3 large volume underground concrete storage tanks for thermal storage. The tanks total more than 11,000 gallons of total volume and are super-insulated with closed cell spray foam insulation to maximize system efficiency. The system is designed to capture solar energy and use it to heat domestic hot water, space heating and exterior driveway and patio snowmelt. The estimated annual energy savings is about 192,000,000 Btu’s, which equates to a annual natural gas cost savings of around $2,800. The house also has multiple high efficiency condensing boilers and a solar PV system. The solar PV system consists of 20 panels. Both the PV and the thermal panels are flush mounted into the roof for optimal aesthetics.
