Submitted by Grainne Kennedy on Fri, 2017-09-29 16:19
A project replacing chiller equipment at one of the University’s most energy-intensive facilities is now delivering huge energy savings!
In 2016, the chiller plant at the Plant Growth Facility on the Botanic Gardens site was replaced and optimised. Despite being only 12 years old, the heavy loading on the equipment made it increasingly unreliable and it struggled to control growth chamber temperatures during warm summer months.
The Energy & Carbon Reduction Project worked closely with Estate Facilities to fund the replacement of the old chillers with new energy efficient units. The Plant Growth Facility is a 24 hour facility, so the replacement of the chillers was phased to ensure cooling was always available. Working in this way kept the duration and frequency of any shutdowns to an absolute minimum. The opportunity was taken to alter and improve the refrigerant distribution which further increased energy efficiency and will extend the new chillers’ lifespan.
The project was completed in December 2016. Each new chiller is metered and there has been improved integration into the Building Management System. The system allows for more robust control and shows that significant electricity savings have been achieved; both on the baseload and during high demand conditions such as periods of high summer temperatures. The savings are 33% higher than initial estimates!
Chiller plant consumption has reduced by 48%, a saving of over 350MWh of electricity per year compared to the previous system – which is equivalent to >120 tonnes of CO2 equivalent or the energy use of 15 typical UK households!
The Energy & Carbon Replacement Project enables funding to be allocated to projects that could save the University energy, carbon and money. For more information, visit the website here.