Retirement Village Maintains Gold Standard with AERCO Solution

A high end retirement community just south of Miami, East Ridge Retirement Village has earned a Type A rating – the gold standard for senior living. So, when management began a 70-room expansion it needed to make sure that the project maintained the highest caliber lifestyle or risk losing its standing in the community. A total of 90 variable air volume (VAV) systems – one for each room and 20 for the common areas – were specified for the project. While space heating is often overlooked in southern Florida homes, in a retirement community such as this it is crucial that the rooms maintain a consistent temperature at all times to keep residents comfortable.

The heating system design for the expansion combined fan coils with electric heaters, heat pumps and standard gas-fired boilers. Integrated Cooling Systems (ICS) was contracted for the project, and upon reviewing the actual heat load calculations made the recommendation that the specified boilers be replaced by smaller AERCO solutions that had higher efficiency, were more reliable, and had greater redundancy. It proved to be a smart decision.

Two AM Series 750 boilers, which offer up to 98% efficiency, were selected for the project to provide greater fuel savings. Further shrinking operating costs was the fact that the boilers could run a much lower return water temperature than the original boilers specified for the project, allowing management to turn down the loop temperature and save further on operating costs. When this benefit was coupled with the heat pumps, a highly efficient system was created.

The compact size of the AM 750 boilers was also a key advantage for the retirement village project. Though the mechanical room was spacious, it included two large A/C units and an ample heat exchanger for the heat pump system. This left very little room for the boiler units. Taking advantage of the complete front maintenance access, the two boilers were installed with a minimum service distance between units, allowing the AM 750 units easily fit into the allocated space.

By utilizing an intelligent design that coupled the AM 750 boilers and heat pumps, a low-cost and environmentally friendly solution was installed. Additionally, by selecting the high efficiency AM 750 boilers, the AERCO-based system required fewer BTUs than the originally designed system, saving the village management money through lower operating costs and energy savings.