Our Work
First United Methodist Church of Johnson City
First United Methodist Church is a fixture just out of downtown Johnson City. Constructed in 1928, it is a beautiful church with remarkable woodwork and plaster work throughout. S. B. White Company teamed up with J. E. Green Company to renovate and restore the old church to like new condition. Multiple challenges were encountered, but one of the most demanding was installing a completely new HVAC system without taking anything away from the beauty of the church. Some of the walls where actually 3 feet thick! A Trane water source heat pump system was installed with an Evapco closed circuit cooler and Lochinvar heating hot water boilers. Extreme care was taken to completely conceal the piping and ductwork in this project that took over a year to complete. Total system was around 70 tons and included a new Trane DDC control system and renovations to the existing kitchen to bring it up to code as well. One of the most challenging aspects was installing new underground condenser water lines to the new tower through an abandoned alley. This alley contained a high pressure natural gas main that feeds the entire North Johnson City network. Extreme care was taken to avoid breaking that line and interrupting service. This was also an interesting project with respect to venting the new natural gas boilers. The 75 year old masonry chimney would not fair well with the new, cooler flue gases produced from these more efficient modern boilers. The flue gases would have a tendency to condense into a highly corrosive acidic solution inside the tall chimney which, in turn, would eat out the mortar over a short period of time. To combat this situation, we chose to install a Z-flex stainless steel chimney liner system.