You have probably noticed the new Kent Cabinetry building on route 213, corner of Flat Iron Square Road between Chestertown and Centerville – the one with all the solar panels on the roof. Owner Matt Clark sent the Spy a note stating that his heating bill this winter was zero. Now, granted it was an extremely mild winter, but this is a 3700 square foot building. The Spy drove out to inspect the facility.
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For years, Kent Cabinetry & Millwork was located on South Cross Street. The location was fine; the heating expense was not. The propane gas truck would pull up every three weeks and fill the tanks and send a bill for $700 to $800. When the building was sold a few years ago, and Clark was forced to move, he had two objectives: find a good location, and ensure that the building was energy-efficient. It took him a couple of years, but he has accomplished both; he bought the land and built a new facility, enlisting the help of a former customer and MIT grad to design a building that would keep the heating and cooling expenses to a minimum.
The walls are constructed of Structurally Insulated Panels (SIP); a composite of an insulating layer of rigid foam core sandwiched between two structural facings – usually “oriented strand board,”( layered strands, or flakes of wood). Not only do the SIPs create a tighter building envelope, with higher insulating properties, but construction time is generally less than for a frame building.
The solar panels heat water and store it in two 1500 gallon insulated tanks located under the building. The hot water in the tanks is distributed by manifold through the PEX tubing running under the entire floor. The pump turns on when the water in the tanks registers 10 degrees cooler than the water up above. Hot water in the bathroom is delivered from the tanks as well. Clark did install a tankless water heater as backup for hot water.
The complete system cost him around $42,000, but he received $13,800 in grants from various agencies, bringing the actual cost down to $28,200. Clark figures a regular heating system would have run around $15,000, so he spent an extra $13,200. Payback ? Four or five years, Clark guesses. As an added attraction, the system is extremely quiet.
Interested in checking it out for yourself ? Kent Cabinetry & Millwork will host an Open House on Easter weekend, April 6th and 7th between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to celebrate their 15th anniversary, demonstrate the new shop capabilities and its solar hot water system. Clark invites everyone to, “..come see their showroom and get excited about the new building as we are. ”
Kent Cabinetry & Millwork
105 Flat Iron Square Rd,
Church Hill, MD
DLaMotte says
I love this building! Great work!
Steve Payne says
I always liked the inverted hull shaped roof.