Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Tim Leiweke

New York Islanders and state officials gathered at the future home of the UBS Arena last Friday morning to watch as construction crews placed the highest beam atop the 885-square-foot facility.

Today is a very, very special day, Northwell Health CEO Michael Dowling said at the topping-off ceremony. The health system the largest in New York State has partnered with the Islanders and lead developer Oak View Group to provide more community-based wellness programs and ensure peoples safety and well-being while inside the future live entertainment and sports venue.

This is about hope, he said. This is about the future.

Construction on the nearly $2 billion project was delayed by two months when Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced his New York on Pause order in March, but now, Oak View Group CEO Tim Leiweke said, the project is back on track to open next fall. He and Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky attributed that success to the hard work of the projects 10,000 union workers.

Its because of each of you that we are able to reach this important milestone, Ledecky told the workers on-site at the ceremony, with Leiweke adding that he cannot believe what a phenomenal job youve done.

Officials broke ground on the site last September, and they expect the roof to be two-thirds complete by the holiday season. From there, Leiweke said, crews could start working on the electricity and plumbing, and putting up drywall.

Crews have already begun installing the beams and stanchions for the stadium seats, and watched as the highest beam, signed by officials and union workers, was put in place on Oct. 9.

The facility is expected to open in time for the National Hockey Leagues 2021-22 season, and will house a 17,000-seat arena for the Islanders hockey team, as well as 20,000 seats for concerts. There will also be 56 suites, private clubs and 2,000 premium seats.

Musical artists, many of whom postponed their 2020 tours, will also benefit from a two-way ramp that will accommodate eight trucks, one of which will be able to drive right onto the arena floor, for artists to easily unload their equipment. They will also be able to stay in a four-season presidential suite, complete with their own greenrooms and offices that will be only 15 steps from the stadium.

They went out of their way to make sure we didnt cut any corners, Leiweke said of designer Populous at a webinar about the future of live sports and entertainment on Oct. 8, adding that UBS bathrooms are nicer than most arenas.

Oak View Group officials have also spent months looking into different sanitation technologies to implement at the new UBS Arena, and assembled a task force to discuss health and safety. They will also create new standards for health and safety at arenas that an independent agency would rate them on.

Our job is to ultimately deal with the virus, Leiweke said, noting that he had met with Dowling early on in the planning stage to discuss how they could safely open an arena during a pandemic, and Dowling informed him about the need for air-filtration systems.

The arena will now feature four massive air-pumping stations and technology that disinfects the air. It will also use ultraviolet lights to help disinfect surfaces and will feature outdoor spaces, and the grab-and-go technology that Amazon uses at its Amazon Go stores. Oak View Group was able to get that technology at its UBS Arena due to its naming rights agreement with Amazon for the Seattle Krakens new stadium.

Were working with the gold standard, Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky said. We have to make sure a fan feels 1,000 percent safe when they enter the building.

But the Oak View Group, the Islanders and Northwell Health are also making sure people in the community stay safe. They announced on Oct. 6 that, as part of the partnership, Northwell and the Islanders will create community programs focused on health, nutrition and physical activity. The partnership will also help Northwell expand its outreach efforts, Dowling said, and learn more about the communitys needs.

It will be continuous learning, Dowling said, with Leiweke adding that officials from the different organizations will learn more about the communitys needs before the first puck drops at the arena in 14 months.

A retail village included in the plans for the redevelopment project, however, may open a year later due to coronavirus delays, and the south platform of a new Elmont Long Island Rail Road station at the site will open around Nov. 1 of next year with the north platform serving westbound trains finished a year later. The station will include 5,500 parking spaces, with 150 reserved for commuter parking.

We will be fine, and we will get through this, Leiweke said at another panel discussion about the construction project on Oct. 8. Im not going to let a temporary virus affect what were doing here.

The project is being privately funded, Leiweke said, and is expected to provide a significant boost to the regional economy, at a time when economic activity has slowed because of the coronavirus pandemic. It is expected to generate roughly $25 billion in economic activity over the term of its lease, and developers have vowed to fill 30 percent of the arenas permanent jobs with workers who live in the surrounding area.

Additionally, 30 percent of contracting dollars for construction was earmarked for state-certified minority- and female-owned businesses, and 6 percent was earmarked for service-disabled veteran-owned businesses.

If you dont think New York is going to return, you are blind to whats going on around us today, Leiwekee said at the ceremony on Friday. To all of those that doubt New York, come visit us at UBS.

For more information about the arena, visit http://www.UBSArena.com.

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Highest beam installed at UBS Arena - liherald

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Wood County Health Department business inspections for September.

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Following are the latest results ofWood County Health Department inspections onlicensed food establishments and other types of businesses, which USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin reports regularly.

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Oct. 13, 2020, 6:58 a.m.

Oct. 13, 2020, 7:13 a.m.

Oct. 9, 2020, 9:36 a.m.

Oct. 9, 2020, 11:45 a.m.

Oct. 9, 2020, 7:20 a.m.

Oct. 9, 2020, 12:43 p.m.

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Wood County inspections: Employees handling food with bare hands - Wisconsin Rapids Tribune

Kentucky voters who requested an absentee ballot for theNovember election can return them by mail or in secure drop boxes.

Henderson County has one drop box inside the county courthouse and is installing a second one outside.

County Clerk Renesa Abner said the drop box outside the courthouse will be under constant surveillance and it gives voters a chance to deliver their ballot 24/7.

"Part of that installation will be that its bolted down in the concrete, so it would be extremely difficult to, you know, take that away," said Abner. "Also our courthouse houses our sheriffs department. Their office is on the same floor entrance as that drop box, so I feel very safe having it outside.

Henderson County's registered voters can also choose early in-person voting that began Oct. 13 and runs through Nov. 2. Early voting is at the county courthouse or theChase Fulcher Archery Training Center on Garden Mile Road.

The archery center is a school district site and Abner said it's not being used for school programs now.

You can imagine archery, you know, its a very large facility for us to house the voting operation and socially distance people," said Abner. "Its in a good location. Its in a better location for maybe people who dont live in the city. Its in the city limits, but its going toward the county line.

Abner said the county has had about 5,600 requests for absentee ballots and, so far, a total of about 2,000 have been returned by mail and in the drop box inside the courthouse.

The deadline to request an absentee ballot has already passed.

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Henderson County Offers 2 Early Voting Sites and 24/7 Drop Box - WKU Public Radio

AMHERST Walking by the Studio Arts Building at the University of Massachusetts on Wednesday, passersby turned their gaze toward an unusual sight in the expansive second-floor window a full-size antique merry-go-round, sometimes lit up and spinning in the mostly empty building.

The curious stares are just what artist Kathy Fanelli hoped for when she installed the carousel, which she described as a large-scale, sculptural project that challenges and disrupts what we accept.

Merry-go-rounds are a beloved icon. Everyone loves a painted carousel its part of our culture, said Fanelli, who embarked upon the project for her masters of fine arts thesis at UMass.

Fanellis merry-go-round is not the typical carousel seen at fairs or amusement parks. Instead of a brightly painted spectacle accompanied by upbeat music, the 1924 antique ride has been stripped down to its bare essentials, such as silvery aluminum horses, bare wood paneling, mirrors and metal machinery. In place of music, the metallic creaks of the merry-go-rounds inner mechanical apparatus accompany its spinning.

I really wanted to reimagine a merry-go-round completely, Fanelli said, and I wanted to strip it and remove all of the paint and trappings, and the traditional things we associate with a merry-go-round, which are about illusion.

Fanelli knows merry-go-rounds better than most people. Growing up, she spent seven months out of each year moving about the Northeast with her fathers traveling carnival company, Fanelli Amusements. But Fanelli parted with the carnival to pursue art, and until her thesis project, she did not incorporate its imagery into her work, describing her relationship with the carnival as too close and commercial.

But approaching the project, Fanelli drew connections between the merry-go-round and other artistic and spiritual motifs that catch her interest, such as circles, meditation and Buddhist principles centered on illusion and hindrances.

Fanelli acquired the carousel from the New England Carousel Museum in Bristol, Connecticut, which initially offered the rundown merry-go-round to her father. Her family did not have use for it, Fanelli said, as it was in pieces, caked in decades of paint, and looked like junk by the time she began working with it.

Fanelli would spend the next year and four months stripping away paint, polishing the horses, rewiring a nearly century-old electrical system, and sanding the wooden surfaces, among other tasks, sometimes with assistance from interns. Much of the work required skills that Fanelli had to learn for the first time, such as wiring, welding, woodworking and lasering.

The experience was liberating,coming in and not knowing any of that, and just doing it, Fanelli recalled.

Stripping the merry-go-round down to its skeleton also creates asomewhat ghostly effect, shesaid.

You can see the parts of the merry-go-round that actually make it turn, she noted.Theyrenot covered up. I wanted all of that exposed so you can see the truth you can see how it works.

For Fanelli, this transparency is healthy, and a symbol of hope for a future based in truth.

The project also aims to destabilize an institutional space, she said.

Its interrupting that premise and suggesting that if you throw a merry-go-round in the middle of an institution, you destabilize it, Fanelli said. Its no longer a place you pass through. Theres a merry-go-round in it, its deconstructed, its reimagined and it doesnt belong there, so it disrupts the norm of the institution.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project did not go quite as planned. The merry-go-round is not currently hooked up to a motor and must be spun by hand, which activates its lighting and the jumping motion of its horses. And ideally, members of the public would be able to come into the building to view and ride the merry-go-round.

Instead, Fanelli has only been able to show it to groups of up to five people at a time, and most of the public viewing is limited to those who walk or drive by the Fine Arts Center. Eventually, Fanelli hopes to move the merry-go-round to a museum.

But amid the rapid changes and tension in todays world, Fanelli says that that project ultimately asks how art projects can assist in healing.

I do believe everything we need we already have, and what needs to change is the internal inventory, Fanelli said. I think what needs to change is on the inside, so this is not something I made so much as something I reimagined.

This story has been updated to reflect the correct location of Fanellis art installation.

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More musing than amusing: Stripped-down merry-go-round a revealing ride - GazetteNET

The new Honda Civic Type R is here, and things are looking good under the hood. With such a strong start, the Japanese automaker has some hot new options available for the front-wheel-drive challenger.

Many will see these as an upgrade in the aesthetic department, but theres much more than meets the eye. Honda has ages of experience and success on the racetrack, and this package shows for it. Sure, Honda Access isnt necessarily a performance division, but its clear that they arent just focused on appearance.

7 Photos

We could tell you about the mirror covers, floor mats, paint protection films, and many of the other pieces on offer, but its clear that there are several big-ticket items here. While many of these goodies are solely focused on aesthetic improvements, its clear Honda still utilized some big foreheads in the engineering department.

Youd be remiss to disregard the new wheels as an upgrade in just the aesthetic department. Make no mistake, spokes on the new hoops include a sword-like profile and are painted stark white to complement the vehicles red brake calipers. While they are nice to look at, the Japanese automaker focused on creating a wheel that emphasized its racing spirit.

Following the design ethos of the wheels supplied to its race cars in the Japanese Super GT championship, the aim was to target a delicate balance between strength and beauty. As such, the wheel is constructed from an A6000 series aluminum alloy previously reserved for aerospace applications and produced using a very advanced forging and machining process to save up to 2.1 kg per wheel. Keen readers will know that taking away this unsprung mass has a profoundly positive effect on vehicle kinematics.

As red has always been a staple of the Type R from day one, the Japanese automaker wanted to make it a focal point of the Access pack. In doing so, the weave of fibers in every available carbon component includes red polyester thread. Contrary to popular belief, Honda wanted these panels to create a delicate texture without making excessive claims.

Wed wager that customers will be champing at the bit to get their hands on some of these items. Details on U.S. availability remain unknown, but its clear that the Type R is alive and well.

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Bling Up Your Civic Type R With Dealer-Installed Honda Access Items - Motor1

Maya Crowley opened shop in her hometown, where customers include former teachers and patrons of place that inspired her business, Uncommon Grounds Wochit

ESSEX The name and approach of a new business at The Essex Experience might seem very familiar to local coffee fans.

Another new business came to the rebranded Essex Shoppes and Cinema complex when Uncommon Coffee opened Sept. 3. The shop owned by Maya Crowley serves coffee, tea and non-caffeinated beverages. The latter includes one Crowley was drinking on a recent afternoon, The Librarian, a concoction of fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice, house-made rosemary syrup and seltzer. The drink is named for the wood-paneled book nook inside the former Under Armour shop on Essex Way.

Lorna Dielentheis, coffee-bar manager at Uncommon Coffee, pours a beverage at the Essex business Sept. 30, 2020.(Photo: BRENT HALLENBECK/FREE PRESS)

Keep reading: New tea shop and restaurant in Burlington blends flavors of East Asia, Vermont

Uncommon Coffee also serves breakfast and baked goods from its full-service kitchen/bakery. Menu choices include a build-your-own breakfast sandwich, a breakfast pizza and a paisley hash so named because of the color created by the amalgam of beets, sweet potato and herbs.

Crowley served for four years as manager of Uncommon Grounds, the Burlington coffee shop that was an institution on the Church Street Marketplace for more than a quarter-century before owner Brenda Nadeau decided it was time to retire. Crowley wanted to keep the spirit of the original shop going and opened her new business in her hometown.

Maya Crowley, owner of Uncommon Coffee, stands outside the Essex business Sept. 30, 2020.(Photo: BRENT HALLENBECK/FREE PRESS)

She brought Uncommon Grounds employees including coffee-bar managerLorna Dielentheisand coffee roaster Rob Maynard to Uncommon Coffee. While the old shop and the new one have both had in-house coffee-roasting machines, Crowley said the approach at Uncommon Coffee is a little different. Crowley, whose father is a Vietnamese refugee, emphases espresso and coffee poured through a Vietnamese filter known as a phin.

The 2011 Essex High School graduate said Uncommon Coffee is on the edge of the coffee desert between a few coffee spots in Essex Junction and the relative lack of coffee places heading east on Vermont 15. She said downtown Burlington, with fewer local stores and a long-delayed mall-renovation project, doesnt have the same feel it had in the heyday of Uncommon Grounds.

The thought of coming back to Essex was really meaningful to me, Crowley said. Theres a lot of wanting to make this community feel like a community rather than a suburb of Burlington.

The library at Uncommon Coffee in Essex, shown Sept. 30, 2020.(Photo: BRENT HALLENBECK/FREE PRESS)

Crowley said work began on Uncommon Coffee in December with hopes of opening in early June. She said work crews had to put trenches in the concrete floor to install plumbing for the caf, and those trenches remained for a while after pandemic-related delays slowed construction.

Uncommon Coffee is open at the moment only for in-person or online ordering for take-out service. Theres a smattering of tables outside for those ready to embrace the fall chill in the air.

Maya Crowley, foreground, and Lorna Dielentheis work behind the counter Sept. 30, 2020 at Uncommon Coffee in Essex.(Photo: BRENT HALLENBECK/FREE PRESS)

Uncommon Coffee, 19 Essex Way, Essex. 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. http://www.uncommonvt.com.

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com. Follow Brent on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck.

This coverage is only possible with support from our readers.Sign up today for a subscriptionto the Burlington Free Press.

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Uncommon Coffee keeps Uncommon Grounds spirit alive in Essex, with new twists - Burlington Free Press

Investigation Discoverys Living a Nightmare is a series that showcases how the loved ones of a victim deal with their grief and loss. It also displays the lengths that officials go to in order to secure justice for the victim. In the episode titled Trouble in Giles County, a cold case from the 90s is discussed, and in this article, we take a look at the homicide and its perpetrator.

The victim of the homicide was Larry Hughes, and Mary was married to him. She reported him missing on March 28, 1990. Sixteen days after this, his naked body was found in a landfill. He had been shot twice in the back of his head. Initially, the police were not able to round up any suspects, especially since DNA technology was years behind in the 90s. Mary sold the house that the couple had resided in after losing her husband.

However, the new owner, Richard Pierce, discovered blood on the floors when he rooted up the carpet to install new flooring. He immediately alerted the authorities, and explained, When I pulled the pad up, there was just a big old circle right here. This is where Larry got killed. The cops swept into actions and looked at every surface in the house for some evidence of DNA, however, this was inconclusive. In fact, they even sent a camera down a well in the back. For further evidence, authorities even exhumed Larrys body and sent samples to the University of North Texas for a DNA profile.

Furthermore, a local radio station picked up this segment, and Giles County Sheriffs Investigator, Shane Hunter, said, People just started pouring out, saying things that they should have said 25 years ago, and ultimately theyve been carrying this for years. Its a lot of good information theyve been carrying around for years. He further marveled at how far technology had advanced since the cases inception Its amazing how technology has evolved just from day to day, but obviously 25 years things that couldnt be processed back then can be processed now.

The most compelling piece of evidence that has been revealed to the public is that an eyewitness saw Mary burning a bloodied mattress. Plus, authorities felt that there was an accomplice that helped her move the body. This was suspected to be her brother, who also lived in Giles County. The District Attorney, Brent Cooper, stated, There is an old saying a friend will help you move. Family will help you move the body, Ill just leave it at that.

Dean, Larrys brother, further expressed I suspected this for a while, but we dont ever know and we didnt know and I didnt want to accuse her. Im sure law enforcement knows more than I do. Its a relief to know that justice is going to be done in the end. He was very dear to me. Mary also collected a $100,000 policy after Larrys death. Although the motive has not been made public, the couple was going through a rough patch. Brent Cooper alsoexplained, Were not saying that was the motive in this case, but that money was paid out as a result of his death.

Mary was arrested on charges of first-degree murder for killing her husband in 2016. The Giles County Circuit Court had set her bond at $400,000. Before her first court appearance, Richard Pierce said, Just another day at the office, Ill tell them what I told him. If she done it, its about time.The aforementioned District Attorney also stated that they were able to prove that it was Larrys blood on the mattress, which was crucial in solving the case.In 2019, she was convicted for the crime, and in a plea bargain, she pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter. Reportedly, the then 72-year-old was given a sentence for time served in jail plus 10 years probation.

Following the outcome of the case, Sheriff Kyle Helton said, I would like to praise all Agencies, Staff, Officers and Investigators involved in the countless amount of hours, days and years spent investigating this incident. It is not frequent that 29 year old cold cases, such as the tragic death of Mr. Larry Hughes, have positive results. However, I again, would like to commend all parties involved on their determined efforts to reach justice for Mr. Larry Hughes and family.

Read More: How Did Larry Hughes Die?

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Mary Ann Hughes Now: Where is Larry Hughes' Wife Today? Is She in Jail? - The Cinemaholic

PROVIDENCE As Bob Burke prepared to open his Pot au Feu dining room for the first time since the March COVID-19 shutdown, he believed he had work to do in the restaurant.

People wanted to come back inside to dine, but he had to make it safe from the airborne coronavirus.

When you are in the restaurant business there is a trust that has been given to you, he said.

That left him asking How do I put six nets under the highwire?

I knew we had to have multiple layers so we wouldnt just go smack on the ground, he said.

Burke didnt think there was a road map to the kind of safety he felt necessary to offer. He pondered the magic of seating people six feet apart. Why not eight feet? he wondered.

He found his answers in the work of Erin S. Bromage, Ph.D., an associate professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. He graduated from the School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences James Cook University, Australia, where his research focused on the epidemiology of, and immunity to infectious disease in animals. His post-doctoral training was at the College of William and Mary, Institute of Marine Science in the Comparative Immunology Laboratory.

By the time Burke reopened his dining room at the end of September, he made upgrades to the restaurant that cost between $7,500 and $10,000. He did much of the work himself.

It was absolutely the right thing to do, he said.

Heres the list of what Burke did and does to maintain safety:

Installed hospital-grade MERV15 High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters into the HVAC system to capture pathogens.

Added three air filter machines which offer five layers of protection: particulate, activated carbon filter, HEPA filters, ionization and increased air flow.

Enclosed UVC germicidal lights inside air ducts to destroy the contagious potential of the virus.

Introduced charged ions to cleanse the air using molecular technology that reduces droplets and pathogens in the air.

Augmented the supply of outdoor air into the interior space.

Treating dining and kitchen spaces with UVC lights nightly so every shift begins with disinfected surfaces.

Adhered fabric to high contact surfaces to defend against contamination.

Installed ceiling to floor dividers to separate all guest tables from each other.

Distributed KN95 masks to staff members to raise the level of protection. Made available P100 masks with microphone and speaker as an option.

Instituted white glove service with plate and glass covers in use.

Sanitizes restrooms with UVC lights and installed touchless fixtures.

A touchless thermometer greets guests as well.

Each night after service is over, Burke sprays with an industrial fogging machine. Its FDA approved to be safe for food and sanitizes entire spaces of restaurant dining room and kitchen. It fogs the rooms to work overnight.

The restaurant is only open for dining on Friday and Saturday nights with 10 tables, some for parties of two, most for parties of four.

Micheline Grossi Lombardi, a Scituate cookbook author, and her husband Salvatore, have already dined at Pot au Feu twice since it reopened.

We were so excited when Bob sent the email that he was opening that evening for indoor dining, I immediately made a reservation, Lombardi said. We returned last Saturday to celebrate my husband's birthday.

Other couples have been repeat diners as well, Burke said.

His only fear now is of another shutdown should there be a second wave. But short of that, Burke knows hes got the safety nets to get Pot au Feu through the winter.

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Providences Pot au Feu wants to be the safest restaurant in America - Fall River Herald News

NEW PALTZ, NY Jens Ponikau learned his trade, geothermal system design, in his native Germany over 30 years ago. When he came to the US he (naturally enough) wanted geothermal heating and cooling for his own home, only to discover almost no one was working with the technology.

I wondered why nobody was doing this, Ponikau says, for me it was a no-brainer. So I put in [my own] system, but I also realized the void in the marketplace. The states were going away from fossil fuels and towards renewables.

Seeing the opportunity, he founded Buffalo Geothermal Heating in 2008, a company that specializes in geothermal system design and installation, while also helping maintain such systems throughout their entire life cycles. The company has more than a dozen employees, and the staff includes several IGSHPA (International Ground Source Heat Pump Association) certified installers and Certified (by the American Association of Energy Engineers) Geoexchange Designers. (Ponikau is also the current Vice President of the New York Geothermal Energy Association.)

We also have about a dozen sub-contractors, Ponikau adds. For example, our excavators. We dont do our own drilling, we sub that out. Due to the nature of the work and the demands of the technology, Buffalo Geothermal works closely with developers at all stages of a project.

We want to be the one-stop shop, Ponikau says. We believe its very important to know all the little ins and outs, all the little tricks and ways to design a system not only to work well, but to work very efficiently, so theres nothing wasted in the process. There are so many little things you have to keep in mind, it really takes an expert in the field.

Buffalo Geothermals involvement with Zero Place began when Ponikau was contacted by an energy consultant attached to the project.

Zero Place was founded by David Shepler, the COO of Elemental Cognition, an R&D company specializing in Artificial Intelligence. Shepler was formerly the Program Director of the Smarter Energy Research Institute at IBM (the same people who helped develop the Watson natural-language AI). Shepler partnered with Anthony Aebi of Greenhill Contractingwho has been building zero-energy homes since 2007 and builder/developer Keith Libolt of Affordable Housing Concepts. The construction manager for Affordable Housing was Mike Scirbona.

3d Rendering of the flow center. The main mechanical room is still unfinished.

The idea behind Zero Place was to build a net-zero, mixed-use, multifamily building in New Paltz, New York, that could be a model for projects across the Northeast. Buffalo Geothermal had completed a similar building (on a slightly smaller scale) three years ago in Buffalo, NY, which immediately gave them an advantage over the competition.

We were the only ones with a reference like that. We could say, hey, whats the big deal? Were doing this kind of stuff all the time, Ponikau says.

Construction broke ground in 2018 and Zero Place is scheduled to open for its first tenants sometime in December of 2020 (the COVID-19 pandemic pushed back the opening by several months). The building will feature 46 residential units (25 two-bed, 21 one-bed), including five affordable housing units, and 8,400 sq. ft. of retail space.

The trick is actually that all those multifamily buildings are what we call cooling dominated, Ponikau says. They put more heat into the loop field than they pull out during the wintertime. That means that, by definition, you need to make the loop field larger so it can carry the additional cooling load, just because the building is producing so much internal heat, because of its energy density. You know, it has 50 refrigerators, probably 100 TVs, it has probably 200 computers, just because of the density, when you get 100 people together in a building, thats what happens.

So even here, in Buffalo, or in this case the Hudson Valley, which is a very cold spot during the winter, you have a significant amount of excess heat produced by the building. And the entire trick about geothermal is that we use that heat, suck it out in the summertime and reject all that heat into the ground, and in the wintertime we recover that heat. So its more like a battery storage than us tapping for magma.

Two essential elements of any geothermal application are the building envelope and the geothermal field.

For the envelope, Zero Place uses insulated-concrete form (ICF) walls, triple-paned fenestration, high-R slab and roof assemblies and thermal bridging reduction. The envelope performs 37 percent better than code and 65 percent tighter than NYS ECCC (the New York State Energy Conservation Construction Code). To maintain fresh air circulation without losing thermal efficiency, the building uses energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) for each individual unit.

Ground source heat pumps provide 100 percent of the buildings heating, cooling and DHW. The geothermal loop field consists of 15 wells drilled to 299 ft. depth. After 500 feet you are regulated as a gas well, actually, Ponikau explains, so we tend to avoid it. You technically would need a mining permit, believe it or not.

The loop field.

The entire geothermal field is within the building footprint, an important consideration when building in a densely populated urban area, given the high cost of real estate.

Believe it or not, we only use 15 percent of the building footprint, Ponikau says. We could have put six or even seven times as tall a building on it and still get [the entire field] underneath the footprint.

The wells use larger diameter pipe so the back pressure is not as high. A wider pipe also benefits heat transfer by providing greater surface area.

All-in-all, the application uses 60 geothermal heat pumps from WaterFurnace: 50 single-stage for apartments and hallways, two dual-stage for foyer and community bathroom, six variable speed geothermal pumps for commercial spaces, and two high temperature hot water generating heat pumps for 100 percent of the domestic water. There is, by the way, no gas line to the building which means zero emissions (not to mention some confusion from the building inspectors who had a difficult time believing you could actually build a multifamily building without one).

Zero Place will be only the second multi-family building to make 100 percent of domestic hot water via the geothermal system. In addition to the added redundancy, the system uses four 162-gallon storage tanks to accommodate peak hot water usage.

Wilo ECM pumps are used to circulate the water throughout the loop. Because of a balanced header system there are no balancing valves and no flow restriction. The system picks up on and responds to any kind of change, Ponikau says. Fewer heat pumps running in fewer apartments and the circulation system slows down. It only circulates as much as you need in order to provide enough flow of water from the ground loop to each heat pump. If there are fewer heat pumps on it throttles back.

As an added bonus, while each unit has its own dedicated heat pump, the pumps themselves are located outside the residences in the hallways. The units were always very quiet to begin with, Ponikau says, but now theres nothing inside the apartment that makes any kind of noise at all. The second thing is, for maintenance purposes, you dont have to go into the apartments to change filters or whatever maintenance crews have very easy access.

Key to the success of the Zero Place project has been an ongoing partnership with NYSERDA, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. The public benefit corporation managed to provide $109,000 in efficiency rebates, did a secondary design review and will be performing independent energy monitoring and energy verification once the building is occupied.

NYSERDA sees Zero Place as an important test case. Theyre hoping lessons learned from the project can influence and educate future policy makers about the kind of return on investment geothermal systems can deliver in the Northeast, where extended, chilly winters are the norm.

Zero Place under construction.

To help improve the quality of data obtained from the project, WaterFurnace delivered in-kind support by installing 15 remote control and monitoring systems attached to its heat pumps, each streaming 256 data points every ten seconds.

NYSERDA has to go back and verify the accuracy, so everybody worked hand-in hand and went the extra mile, Ponikau says. You know theres no data on this that anyone can go by. Now the fact that this is all renewable, completely emission-free is intriguing for them. This project will be the first of its kind on this scale, and because of this theyre urgently awaiting the results.

Data on the project is important because the design is really pushing the envelope of what is possible in an energy efficient building without sacrificing comfort. We would actually argue that we are increasing comfort, Ponikau says. The owner didnt shy away from spending money to invest in the extra efficiency and extra comfort a lot of developers only think about the initial investment because theyre going to flip the building anyway in five years, so they dont care how efficient it is. Its a little bit different here.

That difference extends to the tenants themselves who have been selected to participate in the ethic of the building. Each tenant has full control over their own heating and cooling. Zero Place bundles power and water with rent. There are lease agreement limits with payments for exceeding consumption thresholds. Custom mobile software informs tenants of their energy usage, including a posted leader board of the most energy efficient occupants.

The final price tag for the building was $10,547,313, which works out to a cost per sq. ft. of $167.57. But the much more interesting numbers are in the projected energy savings: between a 20 and 25 percent premium over an NY ECC-code compliant building, savings that work out to an estimated 8-10 year payback (including the cost of insulation, geothermal, and the rooftop solar system).

246 kW of solar (683 panels @360W) installed on roof and solar awnings on south wall.

The numbers are so good that NYSERDA has already named Zero Place as one of its Round One, Late Design Phase winners of the Multifamily Building of Excellence Award. The Award is part of a state-wide competition to stimulate the design, construction, and operation of very low, or zero carbon emitting buildings. Along with bragging rights, it includes a cash award of $750,000.

[To learn more about the program, visit https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Programs/Multifamily-Buildings-of-Excellence/About ]

Ponikau hopes that the building lives up to and exceeds its promise once it is fully-occupied, and that Zero Place can serve as a model for the entire net-zero building community.

Its great to be on the cutting edge of something like this, Ponikau says. Multifamily, mixed-use buildings like this, theyre just a staple in big cities the whole world over these days. And if you can prove that something like this can be net zero and worthwhile within the environment! I mean, were talking 50 miles south of Albany, NY, with -15 degree winters and 95 degree summer days.

It could mean big changes for how people live and use energy in some of the most populous states of the country.

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Zero Place and The Future of Geothermal - Contractor

Apparently, pigs feel better with the right lighting in sheds. Thats why, as part of their Enlightened Pigs project, Slaughterhouse Westford in IJsselstein and pig farm De Hoeve BV in Valkenswaard are looking into how lighting can best be utilized to improve the well-being of their animals.

Pig farm De Hoeve BV has undertaken several projects in the field of sustainability. For example, in 2017 the Dutch company started a project to create an optimal climate in the sheds. This research not only measures the temperature of the sheds, but also the CO2 and oxygen content and the presence of ammonia and fine particulates. Pig farmers are able to create better conditions for the animals with this data. The project fits in with the plans of the Dutch government, which wants the Netherlands to lead the way in sustainable circular agriculture by 2030. This includes recycling waste, but also animal-friendly livestock farming.

It is already common knowledge that lighting affects peoples productivity and mood. In contrast, the influence of lighting on animal welfare has been researched only to a limited extent. The companies want to find out in their project how factors such as the intensity and color of light play a role in animal welfare, the environment, and ultimately the operational results.

The companies want to develop a lighting technique that is ideal for animals. This lighting concept should eventually be included in the standard monitoring system. Among other things, this system measures the temperature and air quality in the stalls and then adjusts it for the most optimum climate possible.

The companies are working together with the Animal Production Systems Group chair at the Dutch Wageningen University & Research (WUR). This study group focuses on sustainable livestock farming and animal welfare. The Dutch Research Council (NWO) is funding the research.

Lighting systems used in this research are sourced from Signify, formerly Philips Lighting. Signify also supplies smart sensors for adjusting the lighting.

Pig farm De Hoeve BV has undertaken several projects in the field of sustainability. For example, in 2017 the company started a project to create an optimal climate in sheds. This research not only measured the temperature of the stalls, but also the CO2 and oxygen content and the presence of ammonia and fine particulates. With this data, the pig farmers are able to create better conditions for their animals.

The Monovergister project was launched in 2016. The goal of that project was to establish an energy-neutral pig farm. Energy can be generated with manure from the pigs by using the mono-digester. Fresh manure is used daily for this, which also limits the amount of methane that is produced.

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Adaptive lighting in sheds improves pigs' welfare - Innovation Origins