26 Engi neer ed Syst ems January 2011

BY AMANDA MCKEW
ORIGINAL BASIS OF DESIGN - 1976
Original design intent Central chilled water plant serving 110,000 sq ft of commercial office space.
ENERGY RETROCOMMISSIONING REPORT/RECOMMENDATION/IMPLEMENTATION
New design intent - Replace antiquated chiller compressor while retaining the evaporator bundle and condenser bundle. Add VFDs
to new chiller compressor, chilled water pump, and cooling tower. Replace antiquate blow-through cooling tower with more efficient
draw-through cooling tower.
OTHER ENERGY CONSERVATION OPPORTUNITIES
ECM-3: Consider thermal energy storage (TES) using ice and sizing the chiller for 70% of peak capacity (190 tons). Comment: ROI
is out of the acceptable range for the energy retrcommissioning recommendations.
ECM-4: Consider waterside economizer plate-and-frame heat exchangers and add a cooling tower basin heater with the goal of
replacing miscellaneous DX systems. The DX systems, which operate 24/7 year round when the chillers are offline for the season,
provide less efficient cooling than a central plant with a waterside economizer operating 24/7 year round. Comment: ROI is out of
the acceptable range for the energy retrocommissioning report recommendations.
ECM-5: Complete hydraulic modeling study of chilled water system to reduce excessive pump head and associated motor horse-
power energy currently at 0.3 hp/ton, with the goal of achieving 0.05 hp/ton on the chilled water system. Comment: Accepted as
part of the energy retrocommissioning report recommendations.
ECM-6: Complete a similar study of the condenser water system to reduce excessive pump head and associated motor horsepow-
er energy currently at 0.0.35 hp/ton, with the goal of achieving 0.08 hp/ton on the condenser water system. Comment: Accepted
as part of the energy retrocommissioning report recommendations.
ECM-7: Complete a chilled water system survey to inventory the number of chilled water coils with constant-flow, three-way
valves, with the goal of converting the entire chilled water system to more energy-efficient variable flow pumping. Comment:
Accepted as part of the energy retrocommissioning report recommendations.
ECM-8: Complete an automatic control study of the chilled water and condenser water systems to identify the optimum central
chiller plant management strategy, with the goal of reducing electrical energy consumption and associated demand. Comment:
Accepted as part of the energy retrocommissioning report recommendations.
MONTH 1 - THE ENERGY CONSERVATION OPPORTUNITY:
Infrastructure Enhancement / Chiller Compressor Replacement Application
TheFacilityFiles
Chiller Capacity Months online Hrs of operation IPLV Refrigerant Remarks
Centrifugal
275 tons May 1 - Oct 15 24 hrs/day

0.64 R-12 No redundancy
Chiller Capacity Months online Hrs of operation IPLV Refrigerant Remarks
Centrifugal
275 tons May 1 - Oct 15 Occupied/unoccupied

0.38 R-134a
Pumps Flow Gpm/ton Pump head Balancing valve setting Motor
Chilled water
660 2.4 95 ft 70% open Original
Condenser water
825 3.0 105 ft 60% open Original
Pumps Flow Gpm/ton Pump head Balancing valve setting Motor
Chilled water
660 2.0 50 ft No BV required High-efficiency
Condenser water
825 3.0 60 ft No BV required High-efficiency
Cooling tower Capacity Flow Fan speed Fill and basin Remarks
Blow-through
275 tons May 1-Oct 15 On-off control Wood and no heater Original
Cooling tower Capacity Flow Fan speed Fill and basin Remarks
Draw-through
275 tons May 1-Oct 15 Variable Galvanized and PVC Chilled water
Chilled water temperatures Condenser water temperatures
45F CHWS, 55 CHWR, head pressure control of flow 85 CWS, 95 CWR, constant flow
Chilled water temperatures Condenser water temperatures
45 CHWS, 57 CHWR, variable flow 85 CWS, 95 CWR with CWS reset control
CARBON FOOTPRINT
Carbon Neutral