Lawrence Air Systems Inc., specializes in modernizing the heating and cooling capabilities of Rhode Island’s many historic homes and properties, says co-owner Brian Lawrence.
“I personally enjoy trying to figure out how the existing system can be adapted” to work with new technology, said Lawrence.
Headquartered in Seekonk, the second-generation family business provides air conditioning, heating, geothermal ventilation and high-efficiency equipment repair and replacement services. While the company performs most of its business on the eastern side of Rhode Island, Lawrence said they have traveled as far as Cape Cod.
In 2007, after 34 years at the helm, founder John Lawrence retired and passed the company to his three sons – Brian, Jason and Aaron.
Since 2005 Lawrence Air Systems has installed Earth Linked Technologies geothermal heating and cooling systems. The Lakeland, Fla.-based company designed a system of 100-foot ground loops, small holes drilled into a home’s yard and plugged with heat-conductive copper piping, which transports geothermal energy to a pump that circulates the heated or cooled air into the home.
He said installations he has managed ranged from two to 75 ground loops, depending on the amount of heat needed and size of the facility.
In many cases, the company works within an older home’s existing ventilation infrastructure, said Lawrence, who explained about 60 percent of his business is installing geothermal systems in Victorian homes “that are deemed not capable of having [conventional] air conditioning or heating.”
In 12 years, Lawrence estimated he has installed between 120-150 geothermal systems.
He acknowledged there are certain scenarios – such as older downtown homes with little to no yard – where geothermal systems won’t work.
The company is nearing completion of a $1.3 million, 75-ground-loop install at The Breakers in Newport in March to help preserve both the 19th-century mansion and the artifacts within.
While the system makes the facility more sustainable, Lawrence said: “It’s honestly not for the tourists, it’s for the property. … If we can preserve [it] and not have anybody see the system, that’s our goal.”
Curtis Genga, director of properties for the Preservation Society of Newport County, said summer humidity levels inside the mansion consistently hit 80 percent. Without the ability to use conventional dehumidifiers to preserve items such as a 13th-century tapestry, Genga said Earth Linked technology was “exactly what I was looking for.”
In addition, post-installation costs to heat The Breakers will fall to as low as $1,000 – a fraction of the prior annual bill that could reach $90,000 – as the furnace will only kick on in colder months, said Genga.
OWNERS: Brian, Jason and Aaron Lawrence
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Heating and cooling mechanical contractor
LOCATION: 1590 Fall River Ave., Seekonk
EMPLOYEES: 14 full time
YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1973
ANNUAL SALES: WND
