The City of Brockton, Massachusetts, is using a $7 million energy savings performance contract with Ameresco to implement comprehensive upgrades and preservation measures to two of its most historically significant buildings, the company announced in March.
Through the collaboration, Ameresco and the city aim to improve the energy efficiency and air quality of Brockton’s city hall, built in 1892, and a war memorial building, built in 1930.
“Many of these buildings have really ornate architecture and historical value, so it becomes really challenging when you have to upgrade them and put new equipment into the facilities,” Pete Christakis, president of East USA and Greece and project risk for Ameresco, said in an interview. “You have piping you need to run, HVAC units to put in, lighting that you need to change out.”
The city hall project is underway and will soon feature a direct outdoor air system, or DOAS, to introduce fresh air and provide what project officials say will be a healthier, more pleasant experience for officials and visitors.
The $3 million in improvements to the war memorial building will include a new HVAC system, advanced lighting, a new roof, energy management technologies and restoration of historic windows and trims, as well as the installation of energy-efficient storm windows, Ameresco says.
The two projects are part of a broader initiative by Brockton to enhance its buildings and lighting across the city, the city says.
“The goal is really to maintain that historical characteristic,” Christakis said. “There’s a lot of work done with our design teams, researching the facilities and figuring out the best ways to do things. So that when we’re done, it looks like we didn’t do anything. That’s the goal.”
Neither building had ever had conditioned, fresh air, Christakis said. “If you think about that from an occupant standpoint, it creates a pretty challenging environment. For example, the auditorium [at the War Memorial], which is really beautiful, could only be used for a few weeks of the year because it was either too hot or too cold. It had no fresh air.”
Now, the city can use the space every day, said Christakis. “The same could be said about city hall. A lot of rooftop unit HVAC upgrades that we did have the same goal. Conditioning the air and providing a better environment.”
In addition to the historic buildings, Ameresco and the city have been working on other projects that aim for healthier and more comfortable environments, Troy Clarkson, the city’s CFO, said in the project announcement.
