Colorado High School's Sustainable Design Saves $85,000 in part due to CALMAC's Ice Storage Air Conditioning System
Fossil Ridge High School's sustainable design includes building orientation, wall and ceiling insulation, Ice Storage air conditioning, automated building system controls and an efficient heating system.
Ft. Collins, CO (PRWEB) June 17, 2008 -- Sustainable design is being credited for saving an estimated $85,000 in electric and gas expenses for the 2007/ 2008 school year at Fossil Ridge High School (FRHS) in the Poudre School District in Fort Collins, Colorado. An integral part of the building's high performance design is CALMAC's Ice Storage air conditioning system. Compared to an existing, similarly sized 1,800 student school in the same district, FRHS requires half of the electric demand.
CALMAC Ice Storage Tanks at Fossil Ridge High School in Ft. Collins, Colo. contribute to energy cost savings at the school.
"Fossil Ridge energy bills are about 33% less than those of a recently built, comparably sized high school in the district," according to Stu Reeve, the district's Energy Manager. "Furthermore, this design costs no more to implement than traditional designs." Whereas typical school designs today use 3 watts / sq. ft.; FRHS uses only 1.6 watts / sq. ft. Projected over the life of the building, energy savings from the building's mechanical, plumbing, irrigation and lighting systems are estimated at more than $6 million at current utility rates. If all schools were designed in this fashion, it would free up limited funds to lower property taxes or improve facilities, hire more teachers, and provide students with a better opportunity for success.
Here are just a few of the energy saving features that were incorporated into Fossil Ridge in order to meet the standards set forth in the "Sustainable Design Guidelines":
- Building orientation to take maximum advantage of sunlight
- Day lighting throughout the facility
- Strategically positioning exterior shading devices to minimize the direct solar heat gain
- ~R20 insulated walls and ~R-30 ceilings
- Tubular skylights
- Sensors that adjust artificial lighting levels based on the amount of daylight in classrooms
- Automated building system controls for all lighting and HVAC equipment
- Ice Storage air conditioning system cools the building during expensive on-peak electrical use by making and storing ice at night when the building has fewer electric loads, then using the ice during the following day
- Drought-tolerant native landscaping
- Efficient, "right-sized" heating system
Ice Storage was the air conditioning system of choice because of its ability to dramatically reduce equipment sizes and connected load, thereby lowering operating costs throughout the life of the building.
Most school designs in the Poudre County School District call for one ton of cooling for every 1000 sq. ft. of air conditioned space, which is very aggressive by current practices. That means a conventional design at FRHS would have required a 525 ton chiller and appropriately sized support equipment. Instead, this integrated design calls for 1 ton of mechanical cooling for every 2000 sq. ft., representing a huge savings to the district. The 250 ton cooling load is met with 8 IceBank® Energy Storage tanks from CALMAC and a 130-ton chiller from Trane.
Inexpensive nighttime electricity is stored in the form of ice inside the Ice Storage tanks, which is then used to cool the school the following day and thus reducing demand and expensive on peak electricity purchases. The Ice Storage system also helps FRHS utilize renewable energy from the Photovoltaic panels without penalty. When cloud cover reduces the PV panel output, Ice Storage can pick up the slack to minimize electric demand and on-peak purchases due to cloud cover. Furthermore, Fossil Ridge H.S. purchases 100% of its electricity from wind turbines, and that electricity can also be stored.
Fossil Ridge High School (FRHS) of the Poudre School District in Fort Collins, CO, with about 262,700 sq. ft. of conditioned space, has been awarded the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-conditioning's ASHRAE http://www.ashrae.org/publications/page/540 Technology Award for New Institutional Buildings. It is also the first high school in Colorado to certify with the United States Green Buildings Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) http://leedcasestudies.usgbc.org/energy.cfm?ProjectID=672 to which Ice Storage helped in earning certification credits.
About CALMAC
CALMAC is widely recognized for promoting peak energy conservation and energy cost savings. An ENERGY STAR® Partner and USGBC member, CALMAC is a leading manufacturer of IceBank® Energy Storage air conditioning equipment with over 3,000 Ice Storage installations worldwide. IceBank® can store renewable energy like wind and solar thereby increasing project values. CALMAC can be reached by writing, 3-00 Banta Place, Fair Lawn, NJ 07410, calling (201) 797-1511 or visiting their web site at www.Calmac.com.
Contact:
Jasmine Williams
CALMAC Manufacturing Corporation
201-797-1511
jwilliams @ calmac.com
###
Post Comment:
Trackback URL: http://www.prweb.com/pingpr.php/Q291cC1JbnNlLVByb2YtU2luZy1Qcm9mLVplcm8=
Bookmark -
Del.icio.us |
Digg |
Furl It |
Spurl |
RawSugar |
Simpy |
Shadows |
Blink It |
My Web
|
Share The News
Submit this press release easily to any of these major bookmarking and social media sites.