Sample Central Plant, TES, and Distribution Projects
Cypress College- Central Plant Upgrade and TES Addition
PROJECT FEATURES
This project provided a new high-efficiency central plant and thermal energy storage system. The project was eligible for $850,000 in utility incentives to offset some of the initial costs.
SERVICES
Goss was the mechanical and electrical engineer-of-record, assisting the contractor’s design-build team.
SIZE
1,200 tons of CHW capacity and 10,000 ton-hours of storage capacity
DELIVERY METHOD
Design-Build
OWNER
North Orange County Community College District
DESCRIPTION
Goss was the mechanical and electrical engineer of record for the addition of a new central plant and thermal energy storage (TES) system at Cypress College. The College wished to consolidate the cooling equipment, connect all the existing chillers and the cogeneration plant together, improve efficiency, and reduce their operational and maintenance costs. The following were the campus goals for the new central plant and TES system:
- To support the campus cooling loads and to increase the plant’s cooling capacity.
- To improve the controllability of the cooling system.
- To optimize the central plant’s operation to minimize the peak electrical demand.
The campus also took advantage of Southern California’s Permanent Load Shift program to help offset some of the initial cost of the TES tank. The program provided an incentive of $875 per kW shifted from the on-peak period resulting in an incentive of almost $850,000.
The new central plant consisted of two new 600-ton chillers, a new chiller room built adjacent to the existing cooling tower yard, a 10,000 gton-hour TES tank, and new CHW distribution piping to connect all buildings to the new central plant. The new plant provided new variable CHW primary pumps, new CHW distribution pumps for when the campus was being fed from the TES tank, and new variable speed condenser water pumps.
