Sandwich's New Senior Center To Be Energy Efficient, Adaptable
By Tao Woolfe, The Sandwich Enterprise, July 24, 2020

The town’s new senior center will be extremely energy-efficient, taking advantage of solar power and geothermal heating and cooling systems, the project’s architect told the Sandwich Board of Selectmen Thursday, July 23.

“We’re working toward net zero,” said architect Joel Bargmann of Bargmann Hendrie + Archetype, the Boston-based architectural firm hired by the town in March to bring the senior center from concept to construction.

Mr. Bargmann was referring to a net-zero energy building, which means that the energy used by the building is equal to the amount of renewable energy created on the site.

The architect said he is working with the Cape Light Compact to design a solar power system. The firm is also looking at installing a geothermal cooling system that would take advantage of the sandy soil to drill multiple wells on the property through which water could be drawn to provide cooling.

Each room would be on its own heating-and-cooling system, which is more energy-efficient than a large central HVAC system, the architect said. Read more here.