Plumbing and heating contractor Le Duc and Dexter installed a wood fired solar assisted HVAC system in a Russian River hilltop retreat in the Sonoma wine country area of Cazadero, CA. This compact mechanical system feaures the innovative and digital controlled Climate Right System.  Abe Stallcup, P.E. of Monterey Energy Group, specified the Climate Right System in the original design of the project, which was featured in the June edition of Green Mechanical Contractor. Read the full featured article here.

Frontal view of The Climate Right System

SDPM’s Climate Right Systems, the all-in-one hydronic heating and cooling package, was recently installed in a luxury home in Pacific Palisades and is the subject of a feature in the Spring, 2012 issue of  Radiant Living Magazine.

In the article, SDPM’s CEO and founder, Bill Shady, P.E. discusses how his “plug and play” appliance arrived at the job site already built and tested at the factory with no need to fabricate onsite and he explains that the “Right” in Climate Right Systems stands for “renewable, integrated, gas hybrid thermal systems.”

To read more about the installation in this 8500 sq. ft. concrete and timber framed home overlooking the Santa Monica Bay, view the online edition here and scroll to page 16. You may also visit the project page on our website to view more photos and a video of the delivery of The Climate Right Systems.

To benefit from a West Coast perspective, I talked with Bill Shady, P.E., owner of Sustainable Design and Product Management, a Santa Cruz-based consulting engineering and product development firm. Bill’s primary market covers the entire state of California, but he has projects all over North America, as well as international commissions. “2011 was a recovery year for everybody,” said Shady. “The economy and construction industry contracted so quickly, it took people by surprise. We look for 2012 to be a year of positive growth.”

Bill certainly has a positive outlook. He’s rolling out a brand new, innovative product called the Climate Right System, a packaged mechanical and control system that I plan to cover in greater detail in a future column. The product is in growth mode, with nine systems on order.

“My market is full of young, wealthy, stock-laden Internet and software entrepreneurs,” says Shady. “I foresee the high-end custom estate home market picking up.”

Bill also forecasts growth in the hydronics market for the multi-family high-rise commercial market. The owners of these projects are looking for mechanical systems with a small footprint that are economical to operate and allow for sub-metering, according to Bill. So it sounds like this is a good time to be in the hydronics business in California. 

Click here to read the rest of this article.

“I’ve had some time to look at the SDPM appliances for integrating and controlling multiple energy sources for hybrid HVAC systems. For a long time I’ve been a big fan of the appliance principle and specifically for systems which incorporate hydronics as the integrating medium. The SDPM product line developed by Bill Shady, P.E., and his team enables the merging of renewable systems into a form that facilitates function by overcoming the complex challenges of custom on site fabricated systems. With this product line, Bill has applied his engineering skills with his passion for conservation in demonstrating that even the most complex energy management system can be standardized by simple recognized shapes. It looks like an appliance, has the same parts as an appliance and its very coolness is elevated by how effectively it conserves time and energy in the world of engineering, contracting and sustainability.”

Robert Bean, R.E.T., P.L.(Eng.)

Energy and IEQ Strategist

Healthyheating.com

8000 square foot modern architecture by world renowned architect Ricardo Legoretta. Features high ceilings, sharp rectangular lines and an abundance of light. The entire building is heated with embedded radiant hydronic tubing through insulated PEX distribution to manifolds by zone controls with slab sensors and air sensors.

Controlled by the digital energy management system, the unique features of the mechanical system include de-humidification, whole house ventilation with variable speed exhaust fan and filtered outside air make-up. Multiple fan coils provide zone controls with dampers.

The Climate Right System specified for this project includes a 199,000 Btuh high efficiency boiler by Lochinvar, two Triangle Tube SME 60 160 gallon storage tanks with 120 gallons of stored domestic water, and 200 gallons of heating system fluid generated by a stationary hydrogen fuel cell by ClearEdge Power. Excess heat generated by the combined heat and power system is sent to the swimming pool floor and walls where tubing was embedded to create a radiant pool shell.

An additional solar thermal collection feature is installed where the pool deck is embedded with  tubing and a sensor that pumps pool water into the pool deck, either heating the pool by cooling the deck or cooling the pool at night by heating the deck.

The digital control system includes graphical user interfaces on a touch pad PC and provides visual indications, as well as animated equipment while the HVAC and energy systems are working. Any alarms generated by the control system are sent to the service contractor and home owner so problems can be diagnosed before a service call is required.

The home is targeted to be net zero electric consumption with the grid tied fuel cell while using the waste heat generated 24 hours per day for domestic hot water, space heating through radiant floors and the swimming pool shell.

Design Architect: Legoretta + Legoretta, Mexico City, Mexico

Executive Architect: Bernstein and Zubietta, Venice, CA

Mechanical Engineer: SDPM

Plumbing Engineer: SDPM

General Contractor: RJC Builders, Los Angeles, CA

Mechanical Contractor: Yantzer Brothers Air

CHP: ClearEdge Power

Expected completion: Spring 2012

Single family home supported by renewable and energy efficient systems.

Deltanor Climate Right System digital web enabled controls.

Heating: Pellet boiler provides heat source to solar thermal assisted storage tanks. Heating provided by multizone dampers from two air handlers for the entire house. Domestic water provided from the two tanks and high efficiency boiler as back up.

Air conditioning: Whole house cooling using cool outside air in the absense of refrigerated cooling, building pressurization and variable speed air handlers provide high level of comfort and controls.

Solar thermal energy systems include: two arrays of three Velux U12 collectors with an additional 119, pre-heat domestic hot water tank for high gain and low demand.

Mechanical Engineer: Monterey Energy Group

Plumbing Engineer: Monterey Energy Group

General Contractor: Leff Construction

Mechanical Contractor: Simpson Sheet Metal

Plumbing Contractor: Le Duc and Dexter, Inc.

Solar Thermal: Le Duc and Dexter, Inc.

The Climate Right System (CRS) installed in this country home remodel in Atherton, CA was specified by Monterey Energy Group, Pacific Grove, CA. It was purchased by the general contractor, Canyon Construction, on behalf of the homeowner. The CRS provides hot water to a radiant floor heating system installed by Westhaven Construction, and distributes chilled water and heating hot water to hydronic fan coils.

A Clear Edge Power CE5 stationary hydrogen fuel cell combined heat and power system provides 5KW of grid connected electrical power 24 hours a day as well as 20,000 Btuh of 150°F waste heat. The CRS manages distribution of this continuous supply of hot water by storing it in a 160 gallon storage tank manufactured by Triangle Tube and a second 119 gallon storage tank by Heat Transfer Products.

The controls for the CRS manage and maintain all HVAC set points, storage tank temperatures, domestic hot water recirculation and when the storage tanks reach their high limit the controls shift to heating the swimming pool through a shell and tube heat exchanger.

The digital controls include a web enabled graphical user interface that displays all system operating parameters, actual temperatures and keeps trend logs for commissioning and continual high efficiency operation.

Alarms are sent by text and email message to authorized service persons and the building owner to assure prompt and efficient diagnosis and repair if necessary.

4400 SF, 4 bedroom, 4 bath modern architecture designed for maximum view area of Pacific Ocean, Bolinas Bay and Coastal Mountains by Washington, D.C. architects,  Wnuk Spurlock and constructed by Jim Allen Construction.

Heating: Domestic hot water solar assisted by two 119 gallon Heat Transfer Products Double Coil SSC-119SB tanks with HTP MC-120 condensing boiler back-up, 1″ service with domestic hot water recirculation.

Space Heating: Embedded topping slab in all conditioned space with slab sensors for minimum and maximum slab temperature control. Solar thermal injection for radiant heating when tanks are above return water to boiler.

Cooling and Ventilation: Coastal Northern California cool summer temperatures allow for no air conditioning where cool breezes and morning fog keep average ambient temperatures comfortable.

Continuous multi-speed bathroom exhaust ventilation provides fresh air by limited air changes in all seasons by infiltration.

Renewable Energy Systems

Solar Thermal: Sunda Seido 2 evacuated tube flow through collectors selected for low intensity ambient solar gain, rotated for low incident angle winter gain and installed flat to respect the architectural lines below parapet wall sight viewpoint.

During summer when no radiant heating is required once solar thermal assisted domestic hot water tanks are heat saturated, the solar controller enables the solar fluid to heat the swimming pool through PEX tubing embedded in the swimming pool shell. Half-inch PEX is tied to the steel rebar and gunnited and finished.

The high thermal mass allows pool heating from the bottom up and minimizes  need to allow collectors to stagnate.

Estimated completion date: June, 2012.