Retirement Facility Goes Geo
Geothermal Think Tank Takes on Extraordinary Job
G
eothermal energy gives new life to this retirement community. As a hedge against the certainty of increasing energy rates, managers of Merrimack
County Nursing Home (MCNH), in Boscawen, N.H. invested deeply in geothermal technology. Today, they and hundreds of residents there celebrate substantial sav- ings and new levels of comfort and air quality. It was back in 2005 when Hampstead, N.H.-based
Water Energy Distributors, Inc. was hired as a subcon- tractor by the engineering firm, McFarland-Johnson, to design an all-geothermal mechanical system for MCNH. Work on the system — installed in several stages as the facility went through various construction phases — was just completed. The 235,000-sq.-ft. facility has a staff of 425, and 290
beds with luxury accommodations for elderly residents. Merrimack’s über-green mechanical system incorporates 16 standing column wells and 326 ClimateMaster water-to- air heat pumps for a total of 615 tons of capacity.
Looking back Success of the facility’s job ties to early development of
an energy-tapping technique developed by the founder of Water Energy Distributors. Carl Orio spearheaded devel-
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opment of the standing-column geo-exchange well almost 35 years ago. Today the company he founded in 1981 is recognized as a global leader in geothermal design and distribution. The standing column well is now regarded as offering
one the highest efficiencies of any geo-exchange system. Three years after Carl Orio incorporated Water Energy Systems, he brought his daughter Christina into the busi- ness as general manager. In 2000, she became president of the firm. All along, the focus has been the sale and design of sustainable, renewable energy systems. So, as one generation encourages involvement of the
next, mechanical challenges like this one benefit from decades-old vision and expertise, and the latest technology.
No job too big “At MCNH, the first order of business was to closely
study the area’s hydrogeology to determine the best loca- tion for the well field. Water Energy was instrumental in determining optimal well spacing and number of wells within the identified area as being most suitable for geo- exchange,” said Fred Mock, vice president of Binghamton, N.Y.-based McFarland-Johnson.
Continued on page 54 March 2011
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