Grand Heights Chicago

High-Rise Style In The Gold Coast

The Challenge

In Chicago, winter heating requirements are not only comfort issues, but have life/safety implications as well.  In this condominium skyscraper, residents rely on the building's central boiler system as their only source of heating.  In addition, the central boiler system provides all domestic hot water heating through a heat exchanger, making the summer time load much smaller, but no less important.  Given the hours of operation and the tremendously variable heat demand, the project held the promise of significant energy savings for the owner.

The Solution

Typical to an energy project, the issues that Grand Heights Chicago faced were not whether there was heat, but the vast amount of energy used to provide that heat.  The team at Midwest Mechanical determined that the boiler system could provide much greater efficiency.  Proving this to the owner, as well as the utility that provided the rebate proved most challenging.

The first phase involved qualifying the owner's process for evaluating capital improvement projects.  This required both energy and financial performance estimates, and significant reference to the proven nature of the technologies proposed.  In fact, new boilers are available from the manufacturers with the exact same burners and controls that were retrofitted to the 37-year-old boilers in this project.

The second phase elevated the challenge to the Midwest Mechanical team.  Not only was the owner evaluating the concept itself, but the entertaining competitive bids.  By leveraging the existing relationship with the Property Manager, demonstrating thorough engineering and financial analysis, and obtaining utility rebate commitments that exceeded the initial estimate, Midwest Mechanical negotiated the sale of the project.

The final phase of the project, after months of development and negotiation, was to finally put highly skilled technicians and to work implementing the project.  The building engineer's comments now match the pictures.  Total quality of installation, excellent boiler performance over this winter, and the professional Midwest Mechanical team made this project a success.  Mission accomplished.

About the Client

Since the early 1900's Windy Heights Property Management (name has been replaced to protect their identity) has managed many of the most prominent residential addresses in Chicago.  Currently, Windy is a top provider of property management services to over 100 communities in the Chicago metropolitan area and has received several awards for excellent management.  Windy constantly works to improve the property values of residents' homes and to ensure peaceful enjoyment within each community by providing efficient daily operations, well-manager capital improvements, accurate accounting records, and the effective financial planning.

How can we help your business grow?

Established in 1974 in Willowbrook, IL, Midwest Mechanical's initial focus was providing mechanical service for commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities throughout Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.  Over the years, our offerings have grown into a full suite of services related to technical, mechanical and energy systems.  Still based in Chicago, we serve clients in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan.