Blog

Dec 19, 2013

The Kent State University Hotel and Conference center is a boutique hotel with less than 100 guest rooms, an indoor pool and a terrace. Finished as a new build in June 2013, it’s the first private hotel affiliated with the University. The cornerstone of Acorn Alley, The Kent Hotel is an integral part of the revitalization of Kent. Part of the money used in the revitalization of the city is from the TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery). As quoted by Kent.edu, Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio Said, “The TIGER grant has been very, very competitive. We wanted to advocate projects that will transform communities and offer long-term economic growth. We feel this project is transformational, and we advocated strongly for the Kent Central Gateway project.”

BEST put in all the HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) in the entire building. From rooftop to basement, we completely outfitted the Kent Hotel with an energy efficient heating and cooling system! Including seven rooftop heating and cooling units, two high efficiency boilers, circulating pumps, pool dehumidification system and kitchen and laundry equipment exhaust. We were excited to implement ‘guest room energy management’, which means when you leave your room, after about 20 minutes the heating or cooling will shut off. It will also turn on when the guest walks in to the room, as it is motion activated. Everyone from the front desk clerk, to the guest in the room, to the building manager who is out of the country on business has the ability to change the temperature at any time! What revolutionary technology!

Our project value was $1.5 million and we logged over 6,000 man hours on this project with a very accelerated time schedule.

Those hours were all performed November- May and the weather was a huge challenge- we had everything from from rain to snow! Multipledays the boys worked in six degree weather! But we still finished ahead of schedule and on budget!

The building is fully integrated with Reliable Controls brand building automation; meaning the HVAC system is exposed to a web-based interface to maximize ease of use and efficiency. The building manager has access to the control system through any web-enabled internet browser. At the Kent Hotel they use a desktop computer, but any tablet, laptop or web-enabled cell-phone would work!

We are proud to be a part of this landmark project and where impressed with the owners commitment to green energy and a quality construction site. Phil, will tell you- building automation is his baby and he was thrilled to work on such a fun project with great technology! It’s amazing what quality HVAC can do to increase the livability of a space and efficiency of a building! Cheers to The Kent State University Hotel and Conference Center!

All photos compliments of the Kent State University Hotel & Conference Center Facebook page!