Where: Mansion House Inn, 9 Main Street Vineyard Haven, Martha’s Vineyard, MA   Monday, August 23, 2010 5-6 pm
For more information or to RSVP, please contact Susan Goldstein 508 693 2200 x 102

Geothermal Heating and Cooling System: Up until recently roughly 16,000 gallons of groundwater a day ran under the Mansion House untapped, a nuisance to be pumped away instead of used as a valuable source of “stored solar energy”. The recently completed geothermal heat pump system uses this energy source for cooling the guest rooms and common spaces. The heat removed from the hotel by the heat pumps is sent to the groundwater running under the hotel. This heat energy and water is ultimately redistributed back into the water table where it is stored.

A proposed second phase to this geothermal project will expand the system to harvest this heat energy using the heat pumps. Year round, all of the hotel’s domestic hot water and pool heating will come from the “stored solar energy” in the groundwater. In addition, a planned roof top garden, irrigated by the groundwater before it returns to the water table, will supply fresh produce to Zephrus Restaurant.

A Brief History of the greening of the Mansion House In the fall of 2007, Martha’s Vineyard-based green contractor Nelson Mechanical Design (NMD) met with Sherm Goldstein, owner of the Mansion House, to discuss energy efficiency possibilities at the hotel. Jay McMann, the hotel plant engineer, had attended a geothermal open house that NMD held. McMann, who also is the principal of a small company that delivers fuel to the hotel, saw that NMD could be of benefit to the Mansion House. Putting energy conservation first, Jay overlooked the personal economic results of reducing Mansion House’s fuel bill.

In 2007 Goldstein asked NMD to do a study of the Mansion House’s energy use and to create a roadmap of how to make the hotel greener. A careful study of the heating, cooling, and hot water systems led to the development of several key projects discussed in an Energy Proposal that would make the hotel the greenest in Massachusetts – including a geothermal heating and cooling system, a comprehensive control system (DDC or direct digital control), and the use of ground water to heat the pool and domestic hot water.

RISE, Cape Light Compact, and the Mansion House Green Vision Study In 2009, Goldstein brought RISE (administering the Cape Light Compact rebate programs) to the Mansion House to work on lighting retrofits. It became apparent that a partnership between RISE and NMD could work to make the Mansion House green vision a reality. Several projects were proposed and ultimately two were formalized and funded for installation at the Mansion House in 2010: a DDC system installation to control and monitor all guest rooms and common spaces and a geothermal ground water system to retrofit the heating and cooling system. RISE and NMD provided engineering and technical data to support the project applications and the Cape Light Compact administered their rebate funding program to pay for a significant percentage of the work.

For more information please contact:
Susan Goldstein,
Proprietor, the Mansion House - 508 693 2200 x 102