HOUSTON (March 17, 2011) – Large resort hotels and hospitality properties throughout the Southwest have been working with local contractors, engineers and HTS Texas for the latest innovations in quiet heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment, so hotel guests can rest easily while hotel management enjoys the savings of the latest in energy-efficient technology. The company has completed 12+ projects throughout Texas and the Southwestern U.S. over the past 18 to 24 months, and is currently working on six more hotel projects throughout the region.
From Houston to San Antonio and Austin, Texas to Wichita, Kansas, HTS Texas has supplied water- and air-cooled chiller systems, air-handling units, fan coil units, specialty dehumidifying equipment and other large-scale HVAC systems to provide hotels energy savings with a focus on using noise management “do not disturb” control systems for optimal guest experience. Recent projects include properties for JW Marriott, Hyatt, Embassy Suites, Doubletree Hotels, AVIA Hotel, Westin Galleria, Westin Oaks, Hotel Sorella, Drury Inn, Omni, and other private hotels and resort properties.
“HTS Texas has extensive experience in the hotel and resort industry,” noted HTS Texas Founder and Principal Mike Donovan. “The hospitality industry looks for quality, reliability and energy efficiency, as well as guest comfort when selecting the required large-scale HVAC solutions needed for these properties. Part of a quality guest experience includes a peaceful, good night’s sleep, which shouldn’t be interrupted when HVAC systems switch on and off. Hotel guests should enjoy a comfortable interior climate without giving a second thought about the equipment creating their comfort.”
Among recent projects, HTS Texas’ expertise with vertical stacked fan coil units was tapped for JW Marriott’s newly built 1.1 million square foot, 1,000 room hotel and resort facility outside San Antonio. Working with architects, contractors and engineers for more than two years, HTS Texas provided approximately 1,024 Enviro-Tec vertical stacked fan coil units for the project, as well as variable air volume and fan-powered boxes to support seven hotel zones, the conference center and spa. HTS Texas also added low sound fan and unit construction and silent contactors in the HVAC systems for improved noise control solutions.
The Hyatt Place in Sugar Land teamed up with Letsos Mechanical and HTS Texas to control their high-humidity climate conditions. For example, when Hyatt built the 214-room Hyatt Place hotel and conference center, HTS Texas proposed a design using specialized dehumidifying HVAC equipment which included more than 222 fan coil units and two large McQuay roof top units, allowing the hotel to dehumidify outside air before bringing it inside the building.
The AVIA Hotel in The Woodlands also teamed up with Gray Mechanical and HTS Texas to provide their facility with an energy-efficient HVAC system that will allow guests to truly escape into a tranquil environment. An environment that HTS Texas’ innovative, dehumidifying HVAC equipment and controls helped to create.
Embassy Suites relied on Comfort Systems USA and HTS Texas for two installations in their new downtown and Energy Corridor locations. For the 60,000 square foot Embassy Suites hotel located in downtown Houston, HTS Texas provided 262 Enviro-Tec Hi-Rise vertical fan coils, 58 Enviro-Tec horizontal
blower coils and one McQuay Destiny air handler. The Energy Corridor location in west Houston called for intelligent, energy-efficient HVAC equipment that would provide the hotel savings during unoccupied periods and optimal comfort cooling and heating when occupied. The installation included two McQuay air cooled chillers, two Addison roof-top units and 230 Hi-Rise vertical fan coils and 18 various blower coils from Enviro-Tec.
The centerpiece of Houston’s CITYCENTRE mixed-use urban development, Hotel Sorella sports 224 guest rooms and 22 luxury penthouse residences that Gray Mechanical and HTS Texas outfitted with McQuay RTUs, air handling units, and 225 Enviro-Tec fan coil units. Additionally, HTS provided an 800-ton McQuay water cooled chiller and a full turn-key HVAC digital controls system manufactured by Siemens to ensure guests keep their cool after a long day of dining and shopping experiences.
Finally, HTS Texas enjoys a long-standing working relationship with Drury Southwest Inc., having completed more than 20 Drury Inn hotel projects to date throughout the Southwestern U.S. HTS Texas is also providing HVAC products and services for six additional Drury Inn hotel properties recently being built or under construction currently in San Antonio, Austin, New Orleans, Wichita and Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
About HTS
With nearly 300 employees, HTS has offices in 16 cities across the U.S. and Canada, representing more than 70 HVAC suppliers. Delivering Real Success to all involved in its projects, HTS provides HVAC, heat transfer and refrigeration solutions to the commercial, institutional, residential and industrial markets and represents leading manufacturers such as Daikin AC, McQuay International and Haakon Industries. For more information about HTS Texas, log on to www.htseng.com or http://texas.htseng.com.
Related Stories
| Jan 20, 2011
Worship center design offers warm and welcoming atmosphere
The Worship Place Studio of local firm Ziegler Cooper Architects designed a new 46,000-sf church complex for the Pare de Sufrir parish in Houston.
| Jan 20, 2011
Construction begins on second St. Louis community center
O’Fallon Park Recreation Complex in St. Louis, designed by local architecture/engineering firm KAI Design & Build, will feature an indoor aquatic park with interactive water play features, a lazy river, water slides, laps lanes, and an outdoor spray and multiuse pool.
| Jan 20, 2011
Community college to prepare next-gen Homeland Security personnel
The College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, Ill., began work on the Homeland Security Education Center, which will prepare future emergency personnel to tackle terrorist attacks and disasters. The $25 million, 61,100-sf building’s centerpiece will be an immersive interior street lab for urban response simulations.
| Jan 19, 2011
Industrial history museum gets new home in steel plant
The National Museum of Industrial History recently renovated the exterior of a 1913 steel plant in Bethlehem, Pa., to house its new 40,000-sf exhibition space. The museum chose VOA Associates, which is headquartered in Chicago, to complete the design for the exhibit’s interior. The exhibit, which has views of five historic blast furnaces, will feature artifacts from the Smithsonian Institution to illustrate early industrial America.
| Jan 19, 2011
Baltimore mixed-use development combines working, living, and shopping
The Shoppes at McHenry Row, a $117 million mixed-use complex developed by 28 Walker Associates for downtown Baltimore, will include 65,000 sf of office space, 250 apartments, and two parking garages. The 48,000 sf of main street retail space currently is 65% occupied, with space for small shops and a restaurant remaining.
| Jan 19, 2011
Biomedical research center in Texas to foster scientific collaboration
The new Health and Biomedical Sciences Center at the University of Houston will facilitate interaction between scientists in a 167,000-sf, six-story research facility. The center will bring together researchers from many of the school’s departments to collaborate on interdisciplinary projects. The facility also will feature an ambulatory surgery center for the College of Optometry, the first of its kind for an optometry school. Boston-based firms Shepley Bulfinch and Bailey Architects designed the project.
| Jan 19, 2011
San Diego casino renovations upgrade gaming and entertainment
The Sycuan Casino in San Diego will get an update with a $27 million, 245,000-sf renovation. Hnedak Bobo Group, Memphis, Tenn., and Cleo Design, Las Vegas, drew design inspiration from the historic culture of the Sycuan tribe and the desert landscape, creating a more open space with better circulation. Renovation highlights include a new “waterless” water entry feature and new sports bar and grill, plus updates to gaming, poker, off-track-betting, retail, and bingo areas. The local office of San Francisco-based Swinerton Builders will provide construction services.
| Jan 19, 2011
Extended stay hotel aims to provide comfort of home
Housing development company Campus Apartments broke ground on a new extended stay hotel that will serve the medical and academic facilities in Philadelphia’s University City, including the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The 11,000-sf hotel will operate under Hilton’s Homewood Suites brand, with 136 suites with full kitchens and dining and work areas. A part of the city’s EnergyWorks loan program, the project aims for LEED with a green roof, low-flow fixtures, and onsite stormwater management. Local firms Alesker & Dundon Architects and GC L.F. Driscoll Co. complete the Building Team.
| Jan 19, 2011
New Fort Hood hospital will replace aging medical center
The Army Corps of Engineers selected London-based Balfour Beatty and St. Louis-based McCarthy to provide design-build services for the Fort Hood Replacement Hospital in Texas, a $503 million, 944,000-sf complex partially funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The firm plans to use BIM for the project, which will include outpatient clinics, an ambulance garage, a central utility plant, and three parking structures. Texas firms HKS Architects and Wingler & Sharp will participate as design partners. The project seeks LEED Gold.
| Jan 19, 2011
Museum design integrates Greek history and architecture
Construction is under way in Chicago on the National Hellenic Museum, the nation’s first museum devoted to Greek history and culture. RTKL designed the 40,000-sf limestone and glass building to include such historic references as the covered walkway of classical architecture and the natural wood accents of Byzantine monasteries. The museum will include a research library and oral history center, plus a 3,600-sf rooftop terrace featuring three gardens. The project seeks LEED Silver.