Catawba County Animal Shelter

Photo Credit: 2RW Consultants

Catawba County Animal Shelter

Newton, NC

Owner

Catawba County, NC

Sustainability

LEED Silver

Timeframe

2011 – 2014

Size

17,500 SF

Cost

$3.5 million

2RW provided mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering for the Catawba County Animal Shelter, which achieved LEED Silver certification. The project features a geothermal heating and cooling system designed to improve energy efficiency, reduce operating costs, and maintain healthy indoor conditions for animals, visitors, and staff. Our MEP design supports effective temperature and humidity control, proper ventilation, efficient lighting and power distribution, and water-saving plumbing fixtures, all contributing to the shelter’s sustainability goals and long term performance.

Project Goals

The original facility was built in 1985 and despite multiple renovations that expanded the shelter’s capacity to 102 animals it could no longer keep pace with increasing demand. The new facility more than doubled the capacity and provided a safer and healthier environment for animals and staff. It was also designed to meet LEED standards for energy efficiency to reduce long-term energy costs.

Services

MEP engineering which included the design of sustainable features that contributed to LEED Silver certification:
- A geothermal heating and cooling system with 24 geothermal wells that are 440 feet deep. The system conditions all occupied spaces and reduces energy consumption by an estimated 30%.
- Energy-efficient lighting design the incorporates LEDs and occupancy sensors.
- Energy-efficient systems that reduce overall water consumption by an estimated 30%.
- An air cleaning system that eliminates indoor air pollution and kennel odors.
Commissioning services in which 2RW identified construction deficiencies that would have had a significant negative impact on building operations. These included duct work that was not connected correctly to the energy recovery ventilator and a non-functional dehumidification control sequence caused by improper heat pump wiring. Left unresolved, these problems would have prevented the building from being properly ventilated and would have caused extremely uncomfortable conditions for animals and staff during humid weather conditions.

Results

This LEED Silver facility was designed to deliver significant energy savings and maintain energy costs at the level of the County’s previous, much-smaller facility.

Partners

James P. Grigg Architect

Awards

Team

Joe Scerbo, CPD, GPD

Senior Plumbing Engineer

Project Gallery