Efficient HVAC Goes to School: Two True Stories
in HVAC
We positively love meaty, detailed articles about HVAC systems in large-scale business, government, educational, and other environments. We’re talking about articles that feature what the engineers, facility managers, operators, maintenance teams, and other people are saying about the systems.
That’s why we like the following pair of articles quite a lot — one of them about a college campus, the other about a high school — and we think you will, too.
Note: Pay attention to the central importance of Building Automation Systems (BAS) in both stories.
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William Penn University Expansion Features Green, Sustainable HVAC (Chief Engineer, April 19, 2009)
The article starts with this:
William Penn University’s $25 million construction project for two individual academic and athletic buildings is the largest and greenest expansion in the private university’s 135-year history.
The Oskaloosa, Iowa-based institution’s latest project features geothermal heating/cooling, fabric ductwork, energy recovery ventilators (ERVs), a state-of-the-art building automation system and other cutting-edge technology, making them two of the greenest campus buildings in the Midwest.
Then it goes on to delve into the real nitty-gritty details of the HVAC systems in these buildings, complete with info provided by Michael Vogt, a project engineer for design/build mechanical contractor Cunningham, Inc. in Oskaloosa, the company that did the work.
Here’s our favorite passage:
Perhaps the major energy saver on the project is the geothermal system that supplies the ductwork for the PAC and the 55,000-square-foot academic building, the Musco Technology Center (MTC). The PAC’s six 20-ton Trane heat pumps continually receive 55ºF water from a geothermal well field that both buildings draw from with two 460-V, 25 hp pumps from Taco, Cranston, RI. The well field has 25 miles of underground horizontal piping bored at 15, 30 and 45-foot depths by contractor, A-One Geothermal, Earlham, IA. Varieties of smaller heat pumps are located throughout the facility servicing locker rooms, showers, offices and exercise rooms.
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Reducing energy usage, costs at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High (Wicked Local Sudbury, April 15, 2009)
Moving from William Penn University in the Midwest to a high school in New England, we find this article describing how Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High in Sudbury, Massachusetts “has significantly reduced its energy consumption and corresponding expenses by switching to a Building Automation System (BAS) to manage the lighting and HVAC systems.”
Here’s our favorite passage (or actually it’s two of them):
According to ENERGY STAR’s energy performance comparison, since Rossley began benchmarking the facility in 2006, the average annual energy bill at the high school has decreased from just over $785,000 (as of Nov. 30, 2006) to just under $600,000 (as of Dec. 31, 2008). This translates to a cost of approximately $1.56 per square foot at L-S, compared to the national average of $2.68 per square foot.
….Ninety percent of the improvement. . . is due to the implementation of the BAS, which [Kevin Rossley, coordinator of the Building and Grounds department,] said has enabled the school to dramatically reduce its energy usage. Since 2006, the school’s “Energy Performance Rating” has increased from 86 to 92 — a rating of 75 or above qualifies as an ENERGY STAR rating and the national average is just 50. Greenhouse gas emissions at the school are also down over the past two years, according to the ENERGY STAR report.
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