Visions Green Street Commons

Lebanon, NH

Architect: MA+KE Architects

General Contractor: Estes & Gallup

Mechanical Contractor: Peak Mechanical

Project Description:

This special project was initiated by Visions for Creative Housing Solutions to transform two existing buildings in downtown Lebanon, New Hampshire, into an assisted living community for people living with disabilities. The aging buildings underwent a deep energy retrofit, including comprehensive enclosure upgrades and a reconfigured floor plan. The completed project includes four two-bedroom apartments, three one-bedroom living units, office spaces, and a community commons with a shared living room, kitchen, and dining area.

The buildings are served by Mitsubishi cold-climate heat pumps, with ductless wall-mounted units throughout most spaces. The community gathering room is served by a ducted fan coil unit. Electric baseboard heaters provide backup heat in resident apartments and bedrooms, automatically activating in the rare event that a heat pump cannot keep up or has a problem. Balanced ventilation and exhaust are provided by Renewaire energy recovery ventilators.

This project was featured in the December 2021 issue of the Green Energy Times on page 32

  • Building A is home to four 2-bedroom apartments.

  • Building B has three one-bedrom units, offices, and a community kitchen, living room, and dining room.

  • Typical apartments and living units are served by ductless wall heads and have electric baseboard heaters for backup.

  • The Building B heat pump horizontal ducted fan coil serves the community kitchen, dining, and living room area.

  • Building A heat pump outdoor units and their protectors.

  • Bathrooms receive constant exhaust 24/7 from energy recovery ventilators.

  • Apartments and common areas are served by simple non-programmable thermostats. The facility manager has the Mitsubishi Kumo Cloud app on their phone to remotely monitor and adjust thermostats.

  • Apartment heat pump wall head.

  • Building A Renewaire energy recovery ventilator.

  • The basements were fully insulated with new vapor barriers and concrete slabs poured to make a clean and dry space for installing mechanical equipment.

  • Ductwork in building B fits through existing door openings in the basement.