The State of New Hampshire selected McFarland Johnson to evaluate alternatives and subsequently provide designs to upgrade comfort heating systems for nine existing State-owned buildings, located at the State Office Park South (SOPS), which was necessitated by the closing of a local district steam plant.

It was determined that developing a new a central steam plant was not feasible due to budgetary and spacing constraints. Alternatives included using smaller, individual heating plants for groups of buildings, within the existing building’s footprint. The buildings were grouped into categories, ranked by distance to each other and the complexity of each building’s heating systems. In the end, most buildings utilized a steam heating source, while some were converted to hydronic heating (high efficiency condensing boilers). The State also required heating some of the buildings with an alternative fuel source. This was met by providing a biomass (wood pellet) fired boiler plant.

Building height limitations necessitated lowering the existing floors to accommodate the new boilers and associated piping. Extensive coordination with the contractor was required because there were no existing building structural drawings.

In addition to space height limitations, another challenge was finding a suitable solution for venting the new boilers without disturbing the existing spaces and functions on the floors above. In maintaining the historic appearance of the buildings, and satisfying the NH Division of Historical Resources requirements, brick chimney facades were provided that enclosed the boiler flues running up the side of the buildings.

Temporary heat was provided for the duration of the project that spanned over two heating seasons. Commissioning, start-up and training was completed for all nine buildings. The project encompassed a combined 645,000 ft2 of building stock, among the nine buildings. MJ also provided construction support services for the duration of the construction period.