Thank you to everyone who joined us on Saturday for our Dedham Animal Care and Adoption Center Grand Opening celebration. We were so pleased to have a moment to personally recognize the donors who made this renovation possible, and to welcome so many members of the Dedham community. 

The building’s innovative, sustainable design virtually eliminates contagious disease among shelter animals while providing a more comfortable, soothing environment. Improved animal welfare features include comfort measures such as radiant floor heating in animal housing areas; “sniff holes” in dog rooms and shelves, perches and hiding spaces in special “condo” and group colony-style housing rooms for cats. These improvements were implemented to help animals in their psychological adjustment to the shelter while promoting positive behaviors in a healthier, less stressful environment.

Key environmental features include:

• An estimated 35-40 percent decrease in energy usage
• A 40 to 80 percent reduction of potable water consumption through a custom rooftop rainwater reclamation system.
• The building also features a high-efficiency heating and cooling system comprised of a geothermal heat exchanger and solar thermal collectors.
• Elevated air change rates and use of 100 percent outside air in animal housing will also enhance air quality for animals, staff and visitors.
• Additionally, through a creative reconfiguring of the building’s existing footprint, the new design incorporates skylights and extensive window panels creating a more expansive, natural light-filled space.

See photos of our the renovated facility from our grand opening on June 23: