Comfort Solution for RMH Patients

Historic Home: The Blakeslee Mansion (1890-1940)
Located at 501 George Street, New Haven, Conn., the Ronald McDonald House was built in 1873 and purchased in 1890 by the Lt. Governor of Connecticut, Dennis Albert Blakeslee, for his family of six children. Known simply as “The Blakeslee Mansion,” this 8,000-square-foot, 4-story, 8-bedroom residence was home to generations of the Blakeslee family for the next 50 years.

Ronald McDonald House of Connecticut: 20^th Anniversary
Searching for a suitable location close to New Haven’s healthcare facilities (Children’s Hospital, the Yale-New Haven Hospital and the Hospital of St. Raphael, Bridgeport), the Ronald McDonald House organization purchased the Blakeslee Mansion at the corner of Dwight and George Streets in 1982. Vacant for over 10 years and in very poor condition, The Ronald McDonald House of Connecticut (RMH) underwent a 3-year total reconstruction and officially opened its doors in May of 1985.

RMH Mission
Today, the RMH host 12 guest rooms where families can stay at no cost if unable to pay, or reside for a modest sum while a child is being treated at a nearby health facility. In the past 20 years, RMH has provided comfort, care and shelter for thousands of children and families from the U.S. and 36 countries. Handicap accessible, RMH provides comfortable bedrooms, convenient kitchen and laundry facilities, living, play, family and sunrooms, library, telephones, television, Internet access and, most importantly, the companionship of other families dealing with similar crises.

RMH HVAC History
The 1982-85 Blakeslee Mansion restoration included a then state-of-the-art, ducted system for the entire 8,000-square-feet, which met the household needs for the next 14 years. Needing more space in 1999, RMH enclosed the front porch and added another 1,000 square feet with a new kitchen, dining room, playroom and development office.

By the year 2000, complaints began to surface regarding inadequate ventilation and temperature. Compounding the HVAC dilemma were the issues experienced by children with special medical conditions and those undergoing radiation treatments. There were constant complaints from the guests about the temperature being either too hot or too cold. The air-conditioning system was impossible to regulate. The RMH Board decided to act.

The House Operations Committee searched for an air-conditioning solution for 18 months. Their goal was to find an HVAC system that would deliver innovation in four vital areas: individual room controls, energy efficiency, cost savings and improved Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). A detailed HVAC study was commissioned from a local HVAC company, but the RMH Board found it to be insufficient.

Discovering the Genius of Mitsubishi Electric
Logical answers finally arrived from EMCOR Service/Tucker Mechanical, Meriden, Conn., a subsidiary of EMCOR Group, Norwalk. An RMH board member, on the board of nearby prep school Hamden Hall, had been introduced to a new technology, Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) zoning systems from Mitsubishi Electric Cooling and Heating Solutions, Suwanee, Ga. This board member asked Tucker’s field service coordinator, Dave Hamilton, to investigate.

Mitsubishi Electric’s VRF zoning systems take advantage of INVERTER technology by varying the compressor speed of the outdoor unit to meet the changing load requirements in the indoor zones.  VRF zoning systems offer maximum individual comfort and energy savings because only the zones that need cooling or heating receive it. Each zone of the system has its own indoor unit or group of indoor units that precisely control the indoor temperature while operating at the most optimum energy usage.

Hamilton, a 33-year HVAC veteran, had been thinking of recommending a competitive system for the RMH, but was struck by Mitsubishi Electric’s ability to fulfill each one of the HVAC goals established by the operations committee. He especially liked the advanced controls network that would allow individual control of each indoor unit from a central location or inside each zone. This was critical because of the medical needs of each occupant, as well as the diverse environments and climates they were accustomed to from all over the world.

Hamilton liked the fact that this was a modular system, easy to install in an historic home, and that Mitsubishi Electric’s solution uses VRF zoning technology, which would provide simultaneous cooling and heating from one bedroom to the next. Because of the advanced controls network, outdoor units were engaged only when called upon, providing effective energy usage and cost efficiencies for RMH.

The Mitsubishi Electric R2-Series
The R2-Series is made up of an outdoor unit, a Branch Circuit (BC) Controller, indoor air handlers and local zone controllers. A centralized controller provides operational control for many VRF zoning systems for up to 50 zones. To simultaneously cool and heat, the BC Controller acts as the heart of the system, managing refrigerant gas and liquid and directing it to and from the air handlers calling for cooling or heating. Essentially, the system recovers heat energy from one space and sends it to another. This innovation results in virtually no energy wasted by being expelled outdoors when 50 percent of indoor units are cooling and 50 percent are heating. This special function results in optimum energy usage.

The R2-Series outdoor unit uses INVERTER-driven compressor technology to provide highly-responsive cooling and heating performance. By responding to indoor and outdoor temperature fluctuations, the system varies power consumption by adjusting the compressor speed to optimize energy usage. The variable-capacity indoor units are controlled by electronic expansion valves. The expansion valves allow only the precise amount of refrigerant needed to condition the space into the air handler.

The system offers a variety of ductless or ducted air handlers such as ceiling-recessed, ceiling-concealed, floor-standing exposed and concealed, and wall-mounted models. One simply mixes and matches the air handlers to support the needs of each unique zone to meet the design criteria of an entire building.

“I could see that this heat recovery system was so superior,” Hamilton said, “that it would qualify for energy efficient rebates from New Haven’s electric utility provider, United Illuminating, giving back much-needed dollars to the RMH non-profit charity.”

Mitsubishi Electric Installation Proves Successful
Hamilton recommended the purchase of the Mitsubishi Electric Building Comfort Solution to the board in fall 2004. He then traveled to Atlanta for intense hands-on Mitsubishi Electric training. Actual work began in the winter of 2004-05. The two R2-Series outdoor units were installed on the mansion’s roof because of limited space on the ground, and because the condensing units from the old system had worked well there.

There was an open attic and easy access to the bedrooms on the third (top) floor. Pipes were then dropped down a chase wall containing the sprinkler system to a drop ceiling on the second floor. With the exception of a single wall-mounted unit in a tiny bedroom on the second floor, Hamilton specified the PMFY-10NBMU 1-way ceiling-recessed cassette air-handler units, and the PLFY12NAMU 4-way ceiling-recessed cassette air-handler units for each bedroom because of the gravity feed of the condensation down the existing drain lines to the main drain in the basement. The nine PLFY units were needed for their superior deflection due to heavy solar gain in nine of the bedrooms.

Stunned by the Quiet Operation
EMCOR Service finished the RMH installation in time for a tremendously hot and humid summer in 2005. “The installation went off without a hitch,” Hamilton said. “It was very straightforward and easy on the 132-year-old mansion. This system is great for historic buildings, but the thing that really impressed me was the quiet! When I first hit the switch, I was stunned by the silence! In all my 33 years, I have never installed a system that runs so quietly.”

Proof is in the Pudding: Zero Complaints
“Too good to be true?” Hamilton wondered.  However, after a full summer of operation, he reports that the systems have performed flawlessly, and there has not been a single complaint.