All Electric Energy Recovery at 1165 Providence Highway, Norwood MA

Zero Emission Pumped Glycol Energy Recovery System

FM Global has developed a new 320,000‑square‑foot research, science, and technology center on its Norwood, MA campus at 1165 Providence Highway, in partnership with Hobbs Brook Real Estate (HBRE), FM Global’s real estate arm. The development will house advanced research and testing laboratories, FM Approvals operations and corporate collaboration spaces.

The project design team had a stated goal for design: provide a low-emissions, all electric building with a strong emphasis on reducing operational on-site carbon.

The testing laboratories are served by (4) 34,000 CFM 100% OA custom Air Handling Units (AHUs) and (4) 30,000 CFM custom Exhaust Air Handling Units (EAHUs).

Dynamic Air worked with RFS and Konvekta to deliver an advanced pumped glycol energy recovery system that plays a critical role in the building’s all-electric design. Serving four custom outdoor air handling units and four exhaust air systems, the solution recovers energy from the laboratory exhaust airstream and transfers it back to the incoming ventilation air. When outdoor air temperatures are too low for exhaust-side energy recovery alone to satisfy AHU discharge temperature requirements, a dedicated exhaust-source water-source heat pump (WSHP) provides primary heat injection into the glycol loop under the control of Konvekta.

Foundational to this approach is Konvekta’s ability to intentionally maximize heat extraction from the exhaust airstream, allowing the exhaust-side energy recovery coils to operate under frosted conditions while maintaining reliable system performance. This innovative frost/defrost strategy enables significantly greater energy recovery than conventional runaround loop systems and forms the basis of a truly all-electric heating solution.