Add as a preferred source on Google

Chiller Plant Optimization Saves Money

  • 02/01/18
chiller plant

Baylor saved more than $460,000 (about 24 percent of electricity costs), 5.8 million kilowatt-hours, and 8.6 million pounds of CO2 with Optimum Energy.

Baylor University in Waco, TX, had a typical chiller plant—it ran well, but it was a hodgepodge of equipment and it was managed manually. Operators judged once per shift when to add or shed electricity load based on demand. That imprecise, inconsistent process made the plant inefficient.

Kenneth Haltom, who manages Baylor’s energy services through a partnership with Aramark, and his team suspected that chiller plant optimization would be the best way to increase efficiency and reduce energy costs. There was good savings potential: the eight-chiller plant, which cools 4.9 million square feet of space 365 days a year, was using 32 million kWh of electricity annually.

The team brought in Optimum Energy to assess the opportunity, and found their hypothesis was right. Optimum installed its OptimumLOOP software and OptiCx platform. The closed-loop optimization solution reads data every 30 seconds and dynamically adjusts plant equipment in real time in response to changing conditions. The software determines the best operating conditions across the plant and makes on-the-fly changes to all eight chillers, water pumps and cooling tower equipment.

“OptimumLOOP made everything automatic, from slightly adjusting a single valve to improve water flow, to shedding entire machines from the system when demand decreases,” explains Haltom. “Each chiller operates at a different output and rate, depending on what gives us the greatest efficiency.”

In the first year of operation, plant efficiency went from 0.897 kW/ton to 0.681 kW/ton. Baylor saved more than $460,000 (about 24 percent of electricity costs), 5.8 million kilowatt-hours and 8.6 million pounds of CO2. Also, air-conditioned spaces became more comfortable, and chiller equipment is now easier to maintain.

“Chiller optimization offered us the biggest bang for the buck,” says Haltom. “The product from the chiller plant is better, more consistent, and it’s now based on real-time load rather than operator guesses.”

www.optimumenergyco.com

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management February 2018 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Los Angeles City College Breaks Ground on New Administration, Workforce Building

    Los Angeles City College (LACC) in Los Angeles, Calif., recently broke ground on a new $72-million administrative facility, according to a news release. The Cesar Chavez Administration and Workforce Building will stand four stories, cover 67,230 square feet, and play home to a wide variety of the school’s educational and administrative services.

  • Texas State University Completes Stadium Renovations

    Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, recently announced that it has completed a series of additions and renovations to its football stadium, according to a news release. Formerly known as the Bobcat Stadium End Zone Complex, the Johnny and Nathali Weisman Football Performance Center is an 85,000-square-foot expansion featuring hospitality spaces, banquet spaces, exterior concourses, and upgrades to the field house.

  • FAU Starts Construction on Holocaust and Jewish Studies Building

    Florida Atlantic University recently began construction on a new academic building for its campus in Boca Raton, Fla., according to university news. The Kurt and Marilyn Wallach Holocaust and Jewish Studies Building will stand two stories, measure in at 22,000 square feet, and play home to the university’s Holocaust education and Jewish studies programs.

  • Empowering People Through Smart, Sustainable Campuses

    Sustainability is facing increasing scrutiny, with some questioning its costs and priorities. Yet for universities, it remains an essential driver of resilience, operational efficiency and long-term competitiveness. At the same time, there is a growing recognition that sustainable transformation is not just about reducing energy consumption and emissions to comply with tightening regulations ‒ it’s about creating vibrant, comfortable environments where people can thrive, innovate and connect. For university leadership, this is a complex balancing act, with rising energy costs and limited budgets only adding to the challenge.

Digital Edition