BEIJING, China — According to Calmac Manufacturing Corporation, thermal energy storage (TES), sometimes described as “off peak cooling” (OPC), has been chosen as the air conditioning technology for an energy-efficient building project in Beijing, China.

The “green” project is a collaboration between the U.S Department of Energy (DOE) and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST). Named ACCORD-21, the enterprise includes products that were determined by a DOE sponsored, in-depth technical analysis to represent the best of available American technologies and strategies for environmental friendliness.

Calmac says that OPC was selected on the basis of its ability to improve energy efficiency and reduce electric demand charges over conventional air conditioning to reduce operating costs. Both traditional air conditioning and OPC cool space by using fans to blow air past cooling coils that contain a chilled fluid. However, OPC chills the fluid by moving it through the stored cooling in the form of ice. Calmac Manufacturing also says that OPC is a cost saving, space cooling alternative because it uses nighttime-produced electricity to generate all or a portion of the next day’s cooling requirements in the form of ice.

Slated for completion by October 2003, the 130,000-square-foot ACCORD-21 building will be cooled by three Calmac Ice Bank® tanks. Calmac says that OPC is a key component of the cooling strategy that enables the project planners to downsize the chiller plant, reduce grid connection charges, and lower operating costs.

Publication date: 07/08/2002