Wildcat Ranch

Location: Snowmass Village, CO

Description

Rader Engineering provided mechanical and geoexchange engineering services for this energy efficient ranch home in Wildcat Ranch. The project implements many sustainable and energy efficient technologies including Solar PV and GeoExchange. The geoexchange system consists of 4 stainless steel heat exchanger plates, set on 24” high elevated platform stands, set on the bottom of the onsite pond. The pond heat exchangers serve two ground source heat pumps (GSHP). Each GSHP is a 10-ton water-to-water unit that provides heating water to the radiant floors during the winter and chilled water to the fan coils during the summer. The heat pumps also serve limited exterior snowmelt, controlled on an automatic snowmelt sensor.

Due to the long horizontal piping length from the home to the pond, premium efficiency pumps and motors were used to circulate the closed loop geoexchange system. A methanol/ water solution was utilized for its superior heat transfer capabilities and low viscosity. Other energy efficient systems worth noting are the desuperheaters incorporated into the GSHPs which capture waste heat at the compressors and utilize this heat for domestic hot water preheating. Also, there is an energy recovery ventilator (ERV) for efficient and balanced delivery of fresh outdoor air to the home.

Red Sky Ranch

Location: Wolcott, CO

Project Description:

Rader Engineering provided mechanical engineering services for this high-end custom home in Red Sky Ranch. The project is pursuing a LEED Silver Certification. The highlight of the mechanical system is the GeoExchange system which consists of twelve 400 feet deep vertical boreholes which serve two ground source heat pumps (GSHP) and a wine room condensing unit. Each GSHP is a 10-ton water-to-water unit that provides heating water to the radiant floors and fan coils during the winter and chilled water to the fan coils during the summer. The year round heat rejection from the wine room condensing unitis dumped into the ground heat exchanger where it is indirectly re-used by the heating system. Due to the GSHP system, no exterior air conditioning units are required for this project. Other energy efficient systems worth noting are the desuperheaters incorporated into the GSHPs which capture waste heat at the compressors and utilize this heat for domestic hot water preheating. Also, there are numerous energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) for efficient and balanced delivery of fresh outdoor air to the home. All of the fan coils in the home are equipped with MERV 13 filters to obtain additional LEED points and to increase air filtration effectiveness. The temperature control system is an Uponor CCN Direct Digital Control system with remote access capabilities.

Eagle County Residence

Contractor: George Shaeffer Construction Co.

Project Description:

Rader Engineering was responsible for the design of the MEP systems for this extremely high-end home in Eagle County, which included a main house, pool house and caretaker house. The mechanical systems for the home include hydronic radiant floor heating and forced air heating/cooling throughout. All fan coils have VFD drives which allow for more precise temperature control in the rooms and electrical energy savings. Specific attention was paid to the custom integration of the continuous linear bar grilles into the architecture. Another design priority was minimizing all noise and vibration into the living spaces. This was achieved by mounting all fan coils to the floor of the crawl space with special mounting and by isolating piping and ductwork with commercial grade vibration isolators. The building’s core plant systems consist of two high efficiency boilers and three outdoor chillers. The HVAC systems are controlled by a sophisticated DDC system.
There is a natural gas generator for back-up power. Due to extremely low available water pressure, a dual pump VFD driven pumping system was designed and installed for domestic water service and fire protection.

Borders Road Residence

Location: Beaver Creek, CO

Project Description:

This 15,900 SF residence, located at 463 Borders Road in Beaver Creek was a full renovation. The home includes 7 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, a media room, massage room, exercise room, hearth room, great room, formal dining room, gourmet kitchen, recreation room and wine room. The home has two high efficiency boilers that provide hydronic in-floor radiant heating, forced air supplemental heating, domestic hot water and spa heating. Two additional high efficiency boilers provide 11,400 SF of snow melting to the driveway, multiple patios and decks. The home is air conditioned throughout. Other systems include humidification, a kitchen make-up air system for the kitchen hood and pizza oven exhaust, wine room cooling, multiple steam showers and an Energy Recovery Ventilator for increased indoor air quality. Construction was completed in July 2008.

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.

Bachelor Gulch Residence

Location: Beaver Creek, CO

Project Description:

Rader Engineering provided mechanical engineering services for this high-end custom home in Bachelor Gulch. The highlight of the mechanical system is the GeoExchange system which consists of a large horizontal slinky pit which serves two ground source heat pumps (GSHP). Each GSHP is a 12-ton water-to-water unit that provides heating water to the radiant floors and fan coils during the winter and chilled water to the fan coils during the summer. The year round heat rejection from the AV equipment room is dumped into the ground heat exchanger where it is indirectly re-used by the heating system. Due to the GSHP system, there are no exterior air conditioning units at all for this project. Other energy efficient systems worth noting are the desuperheaters incorporated into the GSHPs which capture waste heat at the compressors and utilize this heat for domestic hot water preheating. Also, there are numerous energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) for efficient and balanced delivery of fresh outdoor air to the home.