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Case Studies

Carrier Safeguards Papers at Mount Vernon

The Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington was built in 2010-2013 to extend education about Washington’s life. The designers anticipated that the library would require a state of the art HVAC system in order to protect the thousands of eighteenth and nineteenth century books and papers in the collection. Carrier provided a solution.

Case Study

Company:

Library

Location:

Mount Vernon, VA, USA

Objective:

The Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington was built in 2010-2013 to extend education about Washington’s life, achievements and character. The designers anticipated that the library would require a state of the art HVAC system in order to protect the thousands of eighteenth and nineteenth century books and papers in the collection. The designers also sought the most efficient solution that would meet the diverse needs of different areas of the new library.

Solution:

Carrier was selected to assist in the development of the HVAC system. The system includes a Carrier AquaSnap® 30MPW heat recovery chiller and three Carrier Aero® 39MN air handlers. The AquaSnap chiller operates in conjunction with a dry cooler to capture and re-purpose heat from the refrigerant coils in order to provide economical heating during those times of year when cold weather demands heating in some areas of the building, yet occupancy produces sufficient humidity to require simultaneous cooling.

Results:

The air handlers were well suited to the project. Joe Sliger, Vice President, Operations & Maintenance at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, said, “We are very pleased with our Carrier equipment. The reheat chiller in the library complex was a new concept for us, but we have been amazed by its great performance and efficiency.”

The Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington, located at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, was built in 2010-2013 to extend education about Washington’s life, achievements and character to the whole world. The 45,000 square foot library safeguards Washington’s books, manuscripts and related papers, and provides educational outreach and scholarly residency programs. The facility contains spaces – such as the Reading Room, Rare Books Vault, Rubenstein Leadership Hall and DeVos House Scholars’ Residence, as well as classrooms and supporting offices – all with differing indoor air quality needs. During the design process, the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, a private non-profit organization that owns and operates the historic property, anticipated that the Washington Library would require a state-of-the-art heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system in order to protect the approximately 1,500 eighteenth century books and thousands of nineteenth century documents in the collection. Naturally, the Association also sought the most efficient solution that would meet the various needs of the different areas in the new library.

Carrier has specialized installation experience with heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) projects in historic buildings. Due to this, coupled with their technical expertise, the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association selected Carrier to assist in the development of the HVAC system for the new library. The Washington Library HVAC system features a 45-ton Carrier AquaSnap® 30MPW heat recovery chiller and three Carrier Aero® 39MN air handlers.

The AquaSnap 30MPW water-cooled package chiller has a compact design that makes it highly adaptable in both retrofit and new construction projects. The 30MPW is a high-efficiency scroll chiller with a built-in energy management module to minimize energy consumption. The AquaSnap 30MPW chiller at the Washington Library serves multiple functions. First, it operates in conjunction with a dry cooler to capture and re-purpose heat from the refrigerant coils in order to provide economical heating during those times of year when cold weather demands heating in some areas of the building, yet occupancy produces sufficient humidity to require simultaneous cooling. In addition, the 30MPW chiller offers emergency back-up cooling for the priceless artifacts in the Rare Books Room and can also provide efficient cooling during low-load conditions, such as overnight hours.

Vincent Gusmano, Senior Sales Engineer at Carrier, said, “The AquaSnap 30MPW chiller enhances energy efficiency and lowers utility costs by redirecting heat from the dry cooler to the facility’s heating loop. When it’s winter outside, yet indoor occupancy conditions demand air conditioning for humidity control, the AquaSnap chiller captures the waste heat from the cooling system to deliver economical occupant comfort.”

The 39MN air handlers were an indoor installation, a necessity for historic properties where maintaining original exterior appearance is essential. They are ideally suited to special installations because they can be customized with several filtration options and ultraviolet B and C germicidal lamps according to specific facility requirements. One of the 39MN air handlers at the Washington Library integrated carbon filters to remove any gases that might damage the rare books, while standard filtration units cool common areas of the library, such as the classrooms and lecture hall. The 39MN air handlers were also well suited to this project because of their reliability, quiet operation and ease of maintenance.

Joe Sliger, Vice President, Operations & Maintenance at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, said, “We are very pleased with our Carrier equipment. The reheat chiller in the library complex was a new concept for us, but we have been amazed by its great performance and efficiency.”