This award-winning project consisted of a newly constructed 25,000 square foot boathouse on the Charles River.  The building contains boat storage space, a boat repair area, multi-purpose rooms, exercise/weight training rooms, classrooms, conference rooms, offices, lockers and showers.  The project was completed in 2008 with a construction cost of approximately $11.5 million.

The building was provided with a geothermal heating/cooling system utilizing a 1,500 ft deep standing column well, circulating pumps with premium efficiency motors and variable frequency drives, and high efficiency water-source heat pumps with waterside economizers.  A 92% efficient gas-fired hot water boiler was installed for supplemental heat and backup to the geothermal system.  Dedicated outside air energy recovery units utilizing enthalpy wheels were provided to pre-condition the outside ventilation air from the energy recovered from the toilet/shower exhaust.  A natural ventilation system was designed to provide relief of heat build-up in the summer time for the unconditioned boat storage area, as well as to provide free cooling for the large assembly areas on nice summer days.  All systems and equipment were connected to the building energy management system.  The plumbing system consisted of water conserving plumbing fixtures and instantaneous gas-fired domestic water heaters to save on the operating cost of maintaining the hot water temperature in the storage tanks.  Energy efficient lighting fixtures were provided in all spaces with occupancy sensors and lighting controls.

Photo: RWS