Hydronic System Keeps Native American College Warm
Stone Child Community College serves students of the Chippewa-Cree tribe who live on the Rocky Boy Reservation in northern Montana. This year the community college, one of 32 in the nation dedicated to educating Native Americans and preserving their culture, brought three new buildings on-line: a cultural learning facility, Sitting Old Woman Hall; a library and student services building; and Kennewash Hall, a 25,000-square-foot main academic and administration building.
For Kennewash Hall, a variable air volume (VAV) with hydronic reheat LoadMatch system was installed and is now providing daily indoor comfort for students, instructors, and administrators. For this design/build project, the tribe's architectural firm, Springer Group Architects, convinced college officials that the LoadMatch hydronic system would not cost much more than the all-air system they originally called for, and would be more comfortable and reliable in its delivery of Btu within the two-story building through the cold Montana winters.