Project Proposal Project: 285 Clarendon St Apt 3 Central AC Installation Applicants: Ian Connolly and Katherine Spriggs Date: June 12, 2020

Summary 285 Clarendon St is a 5 unit condominium. We, as owners of unit #3, are seeking approval from the Back Bay Architectural Commission for the installation of a rooftop AC unit that would be installed in accordance with the process outlined in the condominium master deed.

Current Conditions There are currently 3 rooftop AC units (Figure 1). One AC unit is on the end of the building that faces Beacon St. (Figure 1B and D). This unit is partially visible from the street (Figure 1F). The two other AC units are placed along the end of the building that faces Public Alley 420 (Figure 1B and E). One of these two units is visible from the street (Figure 1G).

Proposed Work A new Trane XV18 Series variable speed outdoor air conditioner unit (Appendix BB) will be installed in the proposed location shown in Figure 1B. The dimensions of this AC unit are similar in size to the existing units that are currently on the roof. It measures 41” h x 33 “ w x 30 “ d. Industry standard noise mitigation will be utilized. This unit has “Ultra quiet performance measured at 4 dB below competitor’s minimum.” A dampening pad will be installed underneath the unit. If further noise mitigation is required in the future we will address it.

Lines will be brought down from the roof into Apt #3 through an existing chase accessible via the roof that was utilized by the central AC system installed by Apt #4. No walls will need to be accessed in Apt #5. An air handler unit will be installed in the guest bedroom overhead closet of Apt #3 and will extend into the apartment hallway. In order to accommodate the air handler unit and associated ductwork, the ceilings of the the unit hallway and dining room will be dropped.

Visibility from the Street We constructed a 1:1 scale mock up of our proposed AC unit and conducted a visibility study in the proposed location. Photographs of this study are shown in Figure 2.

Photographs were taken from locations 1- 5 (Figure 2A). The unit is not visible from locations 1 and 2. Photographs from these locations with the mock up in position can be found in appendix AA. Photos from location 3, 4, and 5 show minimal visibility of the unit from the alley and back portion of the building (Figure 2 D - I). The benefit of this location is that the proposed unit is only visible from the back portion of the building which already has one existing AC unit that is visible from the street (Figure 2H and I).

Alternate Location The proposed location (location A) shown in Figure 2A is preferred because the Condo Board of Trustees are sensitive to the 5th floor unit owner’s noise concern related to the existing units and believe this location would minimize noise and vibration translated through the roof for the new unit.

If the proposed location (location A) is absolutely not acceptable to the BBAC, we would like to propose an alternative location. This alternate location (location B) is shown in Appendix CC. In location B, the AC unit would be minimally visible from street locations 2 and 5 (Figure 3A, Appendix CC). Photographs from these locations can be seen in panels (3D-G, Appendix CC). In location B, the unit would not be visible from locations 1, 3, and 4. Photographs from these locations with the mock up in position can be found in appendix DD. This alternate location (location B) would have less visibility from the street, but is not preferred because of the noise considerations described above.

A B

D E

C

F G1 4

Figure 1: Current conditions. Diagram of rooftop (A and B) with current AC units in orange and proposed site in green. Map of where photos in panel F and G were taken (C). Current AC units (D and E). Front AC unit visible from location 1 (D). Back AC unit visible from location 4.

A

C

A

1

4 4

A B C

F G

AC unit not visible from these locations. (see appendix for photos)

A

3

3 3D E

5 5H I

Figure 2: Schematic of where photographs were taken (A). Diagram of roof with proposed AC unit in green (B). Photo of proposed site with 1:1 scale mock up (C). Street photo from location 3 (alley) (D) with zoom (E). Street photo from location 4 (F) with zoom (G). Street photo from location 5 (H) with zoom (I) existing AC unit with yellow arrow.

Existing unit

1C 2

Appendix AA: Schematic of where photographs were taken for proposed AC unit (A). Diagram of roof showing proposed AC unit location in green (B). Photos from locations 1 and that demonstrate that proposed AC unit is not visible from these locations (C and D).

D

B

APPENDIX AA

Appendix BB: Proposed AC unit

https://www.trane.com/residential/en/products/air-conditioners/xv18-air-conditioners/

APPENDIX BB

2 2

5 5

A B C

D E

F G

AC unit not visible from these locations. (See appendix for photos)

Figure 3: Schematic of where photographs were taken (A). Diagram of roof (B). Photo of site proposed site (C). Street photo from location 2 (D) with zoom (E). Street photo from location 5 (F) with zoom (G).

APPENDIX CC

B

Existing unit

C

AAC unit not visible from these locations. (See appendix for photos)

B

1C 3 4

Appendix DD: Schematic of where photographs were taken for AC unit B (A). Diagram of roof showing proposed AC site B in green (B). Photos from locations 1, 3 and 4 (C-E). AC unit site B is not visible from locations 1, 3, and 4.

D E

B

APPENDIX DD

AddendumProject: 285 Clarendon St Apt 3 Central AC Installation Applicants: Ian Connolly and Katherine Spriggs Date: June 24, 2020

This is an addendum to the proposal dated June 12, 2020 which was submitted to the BBAC on June 16, 2020. The originally submitted proposal contains proposed location A, which is the preferred location of our condominium board, as well as alternate location B.

In the event that the proposed location A is not acceptable to the BBAC, we would like to submit an additional alternate location (alternate location C) for consideration through this addendum. Alternate location C is the preferred alternate location.

Addendum figure XX (below) shows a summary of the possible sites. Addendum figure YY shows street visibility of alternate location C. Addendum figure ZZ shows additional photos.

Proposed location

Preferred alternate location C (included in addendum)

Back up alternate location B

Addendum figure XX: Summary of locations. Alternate location C is included in this addendum. Order of preference of these sites are proposed location A, followed by alternate location C, followed by alternate location C.

C

Addendum page 1 of 3

A

4 4

5 5

A B C

D E

F G

AC unit not visible from these locations. (see figure ZZ for photos)

Addendum figure YY: Schematic of where photographs were taken (A). Diagram of roof with proposed AC unit in green (B). Photo of proposed site with 1:1 scale mock up (C). Street photo from location 4 (D) with zoom (E) with existing AC unit with yellow arrow. Street photo from location 5 (F) with zoom (G) existing AC unit with yellow arrow.

Existing unit

Existing unit

C

Addendum page 2 of 3

A

1D 32

Addendum figure ZZ: Schematic of where photographs were taken for proposed AC unit (A). Diagram of roof showing proposed AC unit location in green (B). Photos from locations 1, 2, 3 that demonstrate that proposed AC unit is not visible from these locations (D-F). Scale mock up unit was in place at the time these photos were taken.

E F

A

B

C

Addendum page 3 of 3