The Energy & Climate Projects Series is back for the summer! We will continue introducing key projects from Sheridan’s campus-wide energy saving initiatives as implemented by the Integrated Energy and Climate Master Plan (IECMP). This week we’ll be shedding some light on the return of the chiller in between the Student Centre and H-wing at the Davis campus.
Problem Diagnosis
In 2010, Sheridan spent about $4.4M on energy sources equivalent to an energy-related carbon footprint of 9,700 metric tons. This is equivalent to the electricity used by approximately 5,000 homes for one year1!
In past articles, we described how Sheridan’s major installations and upgrades to lighting and HVAC systems and controls are contributing to major energy savings and improving overall occupant comfort. With these and many major projects underway, the IECMP team challenged themselves to seek additional solutions to reduce Sheridan’s carbon footprint. The team looked towards Sheridan’s utilization of electricity and natural gas from public networks as energy sources. Electricity is primarily used for the purposes of cooling, lighting, mechanical, and other equipment. Natural gas is used for heating and service hot water.
The figure below illustrates Sheridan’s 2010 energy use breakdown. Space cooling and heat rejection accounts for 47% of total energy demand, or 11% of the total campus utility bill2.
The IECMP team also carried out a building-by-building assessment in which the energy use breakdown was provided for each campus and individual buildings. Similar to the figure above, the energy intensity for cooling dominated across the board.
The IECMP team looked towards Davis Campus which contributed to 33% of Sheridan’s energy bill and 31% of its carbon footprint. The assessment revealed that the H-Wing and Student Center shared similarities in their estimated energy needs in which cooling consumed the most energy. The figure below illustrates the energy use in both the H-Wing and Student Center:
Cooling in the H-Wing, Student Center, and other Davis buildings is supplied by a central cooling plant. (C-Wing, J-Wing, M-Building, and Residence have their own cooling units and are not part of the cooling network.) A higher demand of energy is required to deliver cooling to each building since it must travel a larger distance via chilled water pipes than buildings with a localized chiller. This energy use is even greater in the summer when cooling is most necessary.
An Integrative and Technological Solution
In summer 2014, the IECMP team rented and installed an air-chilled electric chiller to mitigate energy use allocated towards cooling while maintaining occupant comfort. If you missed it last summer, the chiller has returned to the Davis Campus. As you’re walking between H-Wing and Student Center, you will notice the blue resident situated outside the windowed hallway.
The primary goal of the chiller is to introduce localized cooling in H-Wing and Student Center effectively splitting the cooling network from the main cooling plant. Thus, less energy is being consumed since Sheridan is able to minimize running larger chillers on campus and reduce the amount of chilled water being pumped to various buildings.
The IECMP team opted to rent a chiller to test out the concept before making a capital investment in a more permanent infrastructure.
The Results
The IECMP team observed much success in last summer’s installation of the air-chilled electric chiller and thus decided to reinstall it for this summer. The team tracked and compared the Davis Campus’ energy demand in the summer months of 2013/2014 and 2014/2015. The figure below illustrates the impact the chiller had when installed in June 2014. The IECMP’s temporary chiller resulted in a reduction of 200kW being drawn from the utility during the summer months. This is enough to power a small street of single-family homes in the summer.
The difference was so significant that Hydro One Brampton contacted Energy Manager Herbert Sinnock (Office for Sustainability) about the missing 200kW and to ensure its meter to Sheridan was functioning.
Along with other IECMP projects, the installation of the chiller has contributed to successful performance results. As energy consumption is reduced, Sheridan also mitigates financial risk from escalating utility costs.
Despite being temporary, the installation of the chiller has contributed to Sheridan’s goal of reducing energy consumption and GHG emissions by 50%. Let us know what you think about the temporary chiller and Sheridan progress in achieving Mission Zero goals.
The IECMP team welcomes feedback from the Sheridan Community with regard to the temporary Davis chiller system and other ongoing projects. By providing your feedback on comfort levels, we can direct our efforts to improve system operations. Please send us your feedback at constructionfeedback@sheridancollege.ca.
1 http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/calculator.html#results
2If scaled by 5.5 to account for the performance coefficient of the chiller, much less energy is required as electrical input.