GOLDFISH SWIMMING SCHOOL, Wyckoff, N.J.
Retrofit Team
GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Mosher Dolan, Royal Oak, Mich.
CONSULTING ENGINEER: Mechanical Electrical Engineering Consultants (MEEC) PC, Plymouth, Mich.
MECHANICAL CONTRACTOR: Comfort Control Systems, Haskell, N.J.
ENERGY-RECOVERY CONSULTANT: ThermalNetics, Auburn Hills, Mich.
ARCHITECT: Krieger Klatt Architects, Royal Oak
Materials
Because 90 percent of Goldfish Swimming School franchisees locate their businesses in existing buildings, envelope build-outs and humidity control are essential to success. The tendency for outward moisture migration during winter and inward during summer creates construction challenges for any space not originally built for an indoor pool’s humidity, vapor pressures and temperature. Little can be done once an indoor pool space is built and underperforms in humidity or temperature control.
Traditional construction methodology recommends building out a structure’s exterior wall with insulation and facades; however, Mosher Dolan builds steel-stud walls inward for Goldfish Swimming School natatorium construction. The interior wall, which is built inward 10 to 12 inches, allows for an air buffer zone, insulation and a vapor barrier, the latter of which seamlessly envelopes the walls, ceiling and floor. “The more a building is constructed outward, the more issues arise with structural-steel integrity, masonry loads and air-infiltration opportunities,” explains Steve Marszalek, Mosher Dolan construction advisor. “Mechanical dehumidification equipment is essential to humidity control in spaces like indoor pools, but the building’s construction materials and techniques are equally important.”
For the schools’ build-outs, MEEC specifies a 10- or 12-ton NE-Series dehumidifier. The unit heats, cools and dehumidifies the swimming space to 92 F and 55 percent relative humidity while using heat recovery to efficiently provide free 90 F pool water heating. “The space and water temperatures, which are about 10 degrees higher than more conventional indoor pool rooms, make the building envelope and dehumidification extremely critical for success,” says William Vernier III, P.E., LEED AP, MEEC senior engineer.
ThermalNetics typically sizes the dehumidifier based on the 25- by 75-foot pool’s pounds of moisture per hour removal requirement to maintain 55 RH. Dehumidifier sizing also depends on the ASHRAE Standard 62.1 requirement of four to six volumetric air changes per hour. “Many equipment suppliers tend to calculate cfm as per wet deck area, which is typically 2- to 4-feet wide around the pool surface perimeter,” Vernier notes. “Our calculations follow the ASHRAE code, which requires 0.48-cfm per square foot for deck and pool area.”
The dehumidifier’s coils are dipped in a corrosion-resistant coating, and the refrigeration circuit uses pressure transducers for optimum compressor operation. Mosher Dolan recommends franchisees take advantage of the dehumidifier’s occupied and unoccupied modes for additional savings.
As a back-up, MEEC also specifies an in- duct heater on the outdoor air intake when outdoor ambient air temperatures fall below 35 F. A 260-MBH gas-fired condensing boiler mixes air and makeup air to a discharge temperature of 100 F. Without the auxiliary heat, which is supplied through an auxiliary back-up hot-water coil, winter discharge temperatures and the large amount of required outdoor air can drop discharge temperature as low as 55 F. A second 400-MBH boiler is used for fast pool water heating required after pool maintenance dump-and-fills. Conventional high-efficiency HVAC rooftop systems condition the separate offices, reception, changing room and other dry areas.
To maintain environmental control, each location uses WebSentry technology, a proprietary web-based, automated remote-monitoring program that allows authorized personnel to access the unit’s Command- Center onboard microprocessor via a computer or smartphone. Using real-time data along with historical recording and alarm features, Goldfish Swimming School’s technical staff can monitor dehumidifiers for optimum operational conditions, efficiency and ensure long-term energy savings and indoor air comfort.
INDOOR POOL DEHUMIDIFIER, HVAC EQUIPMENT, AUXILIARY BACK-UP HOT WATER COIL AND WEBSENTRY MANUFACTURER: Seresco USA Inc.
IN-DUCT HEATER MANUFACTURER: Markel Products Co.
BOILERS MANUFACTURER: Lochinvar
The Retrofit
The newest swim school location is in a 10,400-square-foot storefront and features a 4-foot constant-depth gunite pool. Like all Goldfish build-outs, the former retail space is outfitted with an inner wall, insulation, vapor barriers and other methods to prevent humidity and pool chemical air exfiltration into the neighboring Mexican restaurant and Marshall’s anchor store.
PHOTO: SERESCO USA INC.