The Academy of the Holy Cross, Kensington, MD

The Academy of the Holy Cross needed a solution to renovate a lower level of the school that addressed the already low ceilings. After consulting with them we decided a VRF system could be installed in an exposed ceiling and painted black. This produced a modern look and feel for the renovated space. Our design included a system that addressed both the space heating and cooling requirements as well as increased ventilation air, which is a critical design element for a healthy learning environment.

TESTIMONIAL:

Our Mechanical Division has been working closely with Holy Cross on a complete renovation of the HVAC System in the lower section of the school. Hottel is getting the area ready for a VRF system to be installed. When asked, Ed Dayhoff, Director of Facilities, said that he originally reached out through the website contact us page and was called within 24 hours.

“The biggest reason why I chose Hottel was their response time. They called and followed up with me within a day or so. Ken and Dave are the ones I have been working with throughout this project. I wish all companies were that easy to have come out.”  Our guys are working hard to stay on track with getting this system installed by the time school is back in session!

National Construction Safety Week 2022

Thank you to everyone who participated in National Construction Safety Week! Safety is 100% team effort and we couldn’t have been successful without your support. We had a lot going on throughout the week including starting the week off with a safety breakfast, where three Hottel employees were presented with Safety Awards, which also included a Kask Hard Hat Helmet with a Visor and a gift card.

The first recipient was Leo Pineda from our Plumbing Division! Leo is always concerned with the safety of his coworkers and is not afraid to stop work to mitigate a hazard or to inform a client and management of any issues of concern.

John Wilson, Parts Driver for Commercial Projects, was another recipient! Last year he drove 31,000 miles with no customer complaints, accident free, and has great hazard recognition on job sites.

Lastly, Ralph Murphy completed his OSHA 10, OSHA 30, and First Aid CPR on his own before Hottel began offering classes. Thank you Ralph for gaining the knowledge to keep yourself and other safe.

Leo, Raplh, and John have all made safety a priority be recognizing potential safety hazards, following protocols, and keeping their fellow coworkers safe. They have worked closely with Hottel’s Safety Director, Dan Batt, on creating plans for unique situations that allows maximum safety measures to completion of jobs.

Hottel would also like to give a special thanks to Dan for educating the entire company on safety protocols and practices. He put together Safety Week and organized the breakfast with help from office personnel who made this possible: Roberta Nelson, Diane Colville, Anita Barnsley, and Ryan Miller.

 DAILY TOOLBOX TALK WINNERS FOR SAFETY WEEK:

In addition to the breakfast and awards, Dan sent our daily Safety Toolbox talks followed up with a trivia question. The first person to answer correctly received a prize! Congratulations to Javier Gonzalez, Douglas Ciciliano, Josh Lindauere, and Arnold Monterossa for being the daily winners. Chad Wells of Hottel’s Custom Homes Division, was the Grand Prize Winner and receiving a Kask Hard Hat Helmet with a visor!

We look forward to National Construction Safety Week next year and to have even more activities, engagement and prizes!

Eliminate Air Borne Particles

We have recently had a lot of interest in and success installing UV lights to provide additional health and safety through air supply decontamination for tenants/building occupants returning to work.

Now is an excellent time to stay updated on building maintenance such as:

1. Filter Changes: Changing filters regularly to ensure air flow is kept up to acceptable levels. Upgrading your filters to a higher MERV rating can increase the amount of particles captures during circulation.
2. UV Light: When passing through UV light, viruses and other bacteria are effectively killed by the ultraviolet light.
3. Evaporator Cleaning: Utilizing an evaporator coil cleaner and disinfectant is effective against killing germs on hard, non-porous surfaces.
4. Ventilation: Completing an assessment on your current ventilation rates and possibly making improvements to your air changers per hour.
5. Humidity Control: Maintaining a humidity level of 40-60% in an indoor facility can lower the survival rate of airborne viruses up to 30%.
6. Portable Air Purifiers: We can supply air cleaners that utilize HEPA filtration and UV lights for portable disinfection. This can be used to augment systems that cannot provide adequate airflow in certain areas within your facility (CDC, 2020).

Please do not hesitate to contact our Commercial Service Department at 240-912-8900 to discuss keeping your facility at its optimal health level. We hope that you and your families are safe and healthy during these uncertain times.

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Saint Sophia’s Church Writes a Great Testimonial

Hottel is always looking forward to hearing from our clients and about the work we have done. We continuously work with Saint Sophia’s Church on maintaining their equipment and installing new equipment if needed.

“After researching and interviewing several HVAC companies in our area we decided to go with Harvey W. Hottel, because they are a reliable company and they presented us with great choices and pricing that fit our Cathedral needs. I was especially pleased by the explanation of the way the new unit would be installed and how it would work. As well as other HVAC and plumbing issues we had.

We were very pleased with the service we received from Harvey W. Hottel. Kenneth Fennell and the installers were very knowledgeable and professional. They were very attentive to our needs and answered all of our questions and concerns. Richard Hottel and crew should be very proud! 

Pete Panagiotopoulos
Saint Sophia Cathedral, WDC
Cathedral Administrator

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Strawbale House with Geothermal Heating and Cooling

Beautiful passive solar home with geothermal heating and cooling that has a net-zero footprint. This house is built from resources that we found right on the land where it’s located; strawbale walls that surround 3,500 SF of space with a mud mixture for the walls. Trees from the property, such as black walnut, cherry, locust and hickory are used throughout for ceilings, flooring, doors, and other accents. We worked closely with the owners and designer to strategize on the installation of geothermal heating and cooling, high efficiency triple pane windows, radiant flooring, tub, master bedroom and gym. We also installed a 3-ton water to water unit with a storage tank and a hot/cold water coil for the air handler. Take a look at the before and after pictures!

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We Speacialize In Geothermal Heating and Cooling

DID YOU KNOW: Geothermal energy has the smallest carbon footprint of any other heating or cooling source. It can also be eligible for tax cuts and maintains a longer lifespan of 25 years for indoor and 50+ years for outdoor underground components (Comfort Pro Inc., 2019).

Mark Hottel, Owner and Designer, and Mike Kephart, Project Manager, specialize in geothermal energy. Cost savings for monthly operating expenses coupled with new Federal tax credits offered,  provided our homeowner with the incentive to procure the benefits and comfort of geothermal heating and cooling.

The scope of work included four new geothermal heating and cooling units with associated sheet metal ductwork, geothermal piping, electrical, and controls. Additionally, two geothermal water-to-water units provided the hot water for the radiant floor heat for the following areas: basement, garage, and master bathroom.

From maintaining the project timeline to ensuring a quality installation, the Harvey Hottel team was able to deliver another quality project. Contact us today!

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