Sometimes, what seems like a need for more cooling capacity could be the need to take a hard look and fine-tune the existing chiller plant. With a hospital expansion coming up, the team on this UMass Memorial Health Care project avoided adding up to 120 tons of capacity with tactics that included attacking inefficiencies in piping, valves, cooling towers, and controls.
New York City is certainly renowned for the quantity and variety of tall buildings towering over the Manhattan skyline. Many of these structures are at a point where age has taken its toll on mechanical systems and now require replacement. Even if they are still operational, today’s new A/C systems are more energy efficient, making it cost effective for changeout.
Rockefeller Center is one of the most recognized commercial properties in the world. Defining midtown Manhattan, Rockefeller Center encompasses the six square blocks between Fifth Avenue and the Avenue of the Americas from 48th to 51st Streets. The landmark property consists of approximately 8 million rentable sq ft in ten buildings with unique, internationally recognized architectural features.
After reviewing basic design options, the next steps for potential geothermal designers are to challenge the common concerns and myths, study how different choices have different cost impacts, and be aware of the ways a good design can yield bad performance if the installation isn’t done well. Add the habit of turning a retrofit’s circumstances to your advantage, and this underground approach can rise above client expectations in short order.
Two engineers mine their collective experience for tips on designing, modeling, and operating hydronic radiant heating and cooling systems. From conceptual basics to control nuances, on to goals like maximizing deadband operation or deploying a hybrid system, the article circulates plenty of practical information for an array of radiant opportunities.
The author's firm recently explored three options for use in buildings that are “user-friendly” when dealing with the highly variable load demands of multi-tenant occupancies, often requiring simultaneous space heating and cooling requirements. Read on to see what they found out about performance and life-cycle cost for their client.
Designers can typically choose either type from any major manufacturer. But what are the differences and consequences for a design? What type of space lends itself to one or the other, and what windows of opportunity for real efficiency gains do either provide? Knowing all the differences can make all the difference.
Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market recently received the Platinum-Level Store Certification Award from the Environmental Protection Agency’s GreenChill Partnership for green refrigeration technology at its new store located in Folsom, CA. The platinum award puts Fresh & Easy in an elite group among the nation’s 36,000 grocery stores. This is just the second store in California, and one of just four grocery stores in the nation, to achieve these challenging standards.
A learning environment adds extra meaning to the risks of “run to fail” mode, which can have the same effect on the budget as it does on the equipment. Covering everything from specification to installation and operation, schools need a permanent plan on hand for the moment when temporary HVAC becomes necessary.