When it comes to attractive city halls, Auburn, NY, boasts a Colonial Revival beauty on the National Register of Historic Places. Designed in 1930, the building features a masonry exterior over a steel frame, a columned porch, pediments, pilasters, and fine interior details that create an aura of civic order that officials wanted to preserve. However, no one wanted to preserve the existing heating and cooling system, which featured a wheezy steam boiler and gusty window and ceiling fans. City manager John Salomone was surprised to learn there was no air conditioning in the building when he arrived a few years ago. Summer temperatures occasionally topped 95℉ in some offices. City Hall's new heating and cooling system had to meet several criteria. It had to be cost-effective, energy efficient, provide a more comfortable working environment, and blend into the landmark building both inside and out. While a gas boiler and central air system was a conventional choice, John Manning, P.E., who heads his own design firm, Earth Sensitive Solutions, LLC, recommended an alternative.
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