The Northeast Veteran Training and Rehab Center (NVTRC) project was started in January of 2007 and was completed in December of 2009. Located on 10 acres on the Wachusett Community College campus there are 10 duplexes, each with handicap access and amenities. The facility has 20 housing units for up to 20 veterans and their families or 60 single veterans at one time. This concept allows disabled veterans to practice their living skills and provides privacy and on-going support during the rehabilitation process.
NVTRC offers extensive state-of-the-art physical and occupational therapy facilities, including a golf simulator, an indoor swimming pool, a jogging track, a weight/exercise room, a gymnasium, a trout pond and a variety of other amenities designed with an emphasis on the life and recreational skills that are so often taken for granted. All of these services free to the veterans.
Energy conservation and sustainability were major factors in the design, which included high performance building envelope design and high efficiency mechanical equipment. The heating and cooling systems for all of the buildings are geothermal. In addition, the project utilizes photovoltaic panels to supplement electric power consumption. Approximately 70% of the facilities power needs are provided by these panels. This is a battery-less system, putting all unused power back into the grid for credit from Massachusetts Electric Co. This project earned LEED-NC v2.2 Gold Certification.
The Green Engineer, Inc.: sustainable design consultant
Baybutt Construction Corp.: contractor
Peoples Engineering, LLC: civil engineer
Lindgren & Sharples, P.C.: mechanical engineer
Kuhn Riddle Architects: architect
Vetrean Homestead, Inc.: client