Sustainable Energy | Obernel Engineering

Each project at Obernel Engineering begins with the same question: “What is the most energy efficient system we can design to meet the project budget?” We feel it is important to make sure we provide our clients with mechanical and electrical systems that will keep energy consumption to a minimum. Not only can reduced energy consumption equate to lower operating costs but it can also decrease the carbon footprint left on the environment. At Obernel we understand how our designs impact the environment through carbon emissions and we challenge ourselves to keep this to a minimum.

FIRST

DISPLACEMENT VENTILATION SYSTEM
IN THE REGION

Sts. Anne & Joachim Catholic Church

FIRST

GEOTHERMAL VA CAMPUS
IN THE UNITED STATES

St Cloud Veterans Administration Campus

FIRST

LEED PLATINUM BUILDING
IN NORTH DAKOTA

UND Gorecki Alumni Center

LARGEST

GEOTHERMAL NURSING HOME
IN NORTH DAKOTA

Lisbon Veterans Nursing Home

Some Energy Efficient Systems include:

LEED Project Design
Displacement Ventilation
Magnetic Bearing Chillers
Geothermal Heat Pumps
Ice Storage Designs
Peak Shaving Systems
Data Center Heat Recovery
Variable Refrigerant Volume
Induction Displacement Systems
Solar Power Panels
Heat Pump Air Handlers
Daylighting Controls

Obernel has successfully completed dozens of geothermal projects along with many other types of green energy facilities. Obernel has also worked on over 21 LEED Certification projects in the last 6 years. A few of the most significant and recent projects include:

Green Energy Project Experience

Lake Park High School, Lake Park, MN
Northwood School, Northwood, ND
North Dakota Veterans Home, Lisbon, ND
Good Samaritan Nursing Home, Battle Lake, MN
Greenbush Life Care Manor, Greenbush, MN – Pursuing LEED Silver
Otter Tail County Operations Center, Ottertail, MN – LEED Silver
NDANG, Fire Crash Rescue, Fargo, ND – Pursuing LEED Silver
Circle of Life School, White Earth, MN – Pursuing LEED Silver
Chippewa Cree Medical Facility, Box Elder, MT
White Earth Community College, Mahnomen, MN – LEED Silver
Veterans Administration, St. Cloud, MN
Veterans Administration, Fargo, ND
Jamestown High School, Jamestown, ND
Ninth Grade Center, Fargo, ND
UND, Gorecki Alumni Center, Grand Forks, ND – LEED Platinum
U of M, WCROC, Morris, MN – Pursuing LEED Silver
Union Hospital Clinic, Mayville, ND – LEED Silver
UMC, Centennial Hall Dormitory, Crookston, MN – LEED Certification
Black Gold Headquarters, Grand Forks, ND – LEED Gold
VCSU, Rhoades Science – Leed Certified
Twin Buttes Elementary School, Halliday, ND – Leed Certified

Geothermal

The largest energy cost in any HVAC system is the ventilation air needed to keep the building air “fresh”. It takes tremendous energy to heat and cool large quantities of outside air to meet these requirements. Obernel Engineering’s energy engineers have the approach of using the geothermal heat pump systems, with an average of 300% efficiencies, to heat and cool all the ventilation of the air. We also take it one step further in trying to incorporate energy recovery into all of our geothermal designs. This lessens the energy consumption by an additional 50-70%.

LEED Certification

Over the past decade, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) has become a popular rating system for the building efficiency and “green” design. Jeremiah Christenson from Obernel Engineering was the first mechanical engineer in the Upper MN/ND region to become accredited as LEED professional. Since his accreditation, Obernel has had 5 professional engineers go through the education and become LEED Accredited Professionals. With this training, Obernel is leading the industry in local green design.

Obernel has completed over 15 LEED certified projects. We had the privilege of working on the first LEED Platinum building in North Dakota, the UND Gorecki Alumni Center and the first LEED Gold building in North Dakota, Black Gold Corporate Headquarters.