If you've ever sat behind a desk on a 95-degree day, in a building without air conditioning, you know only too well that learning is usually the last thing on your mind.

When the Harford Day School started their fall semester this past August, however, the students found that the warm classrooms they occupied last June were now cool and comfortable. What they don't know, however, is just how innovative the HVAC contractor had to be to get the job done.

Richard Foard, president of Ridge, a subsidiary of Blue Dot Services Inc., located in Bel Air, Maryland, explains, "The Harford Day School wanted to air condition the areas of their building that were never before air conditioned. These particular sections of the building included an area with a cathedral ceiling, an area with a flat ceiling, and a section that had attic space above it.

The systems used to air condition these sections had to each be designed to meet these existing conditions. In addition, we needed to install equipment that would maintain the aesthetics of the building, and also keep noise levels to a minimum."

The sections of the building that were involved in the project included several classrooms, as well as the school library. Ridge came up with a plan that included the installation of a variety of different American Standard commercial cooling units, which were supplied by Northeastern Supply, Inc.

"For the classrooms, we used 5-ton, horizontal split units," explains Foard. "Then, over the area of the library, we used a 10-ton split. We also used 10-ton rooftop units to do the flat roof section of the school. What made the job even more challenging was the weather. We were on a tight schedule, as we had only 45 days in order to get the job completed. During that time, there was a high amount of rainfall and that really threw us a curve."

By the time the teachers returned to the classrooms to begin preparations for the fall, the work was completed. Foard credits several people for the job well done, including Stan Lawson, Lead Installation Mechanic, Greg Milich, Temperature Controls and Wiring Mechanic, as well as the folks at Benfield Electric and Rosedale Roofing."

"I'd also like to say that working with the school was wonderful. It was very rewarding that the Harford Day School was able to maintain the integrity of their beautiful building, without having to sacrifice the comforts that air conditioning can bring," added Foard.

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