The Texas A&M University Corpus Christi campus has been experiencing steady growth, and the master plan calls for continued expansion in the coming years. Based upon this continued growth, the University wanted to expand its heating and cooling capacities to meet the increased demands. The scope of this expansion included:
- an increase in square footage of approximately 9,000 square feet
- the installation of a 1,500 ton chiller, with space for another 1,500 ton machine
- the installation of a 2,000 ton masonry shell cooling tower, with provisions for another cell of equal capacity
- provisions for two new boilers; along with new primary and secondary pumps;
- integration of the controls sequences to allow this new chiller to serve as the lead machine when the chilled water storage tank was called upon to supply chilled water to the campus.
This expansion allowed for a total installed capacity of 6,000 tons; the ultimate build out, which calls for the upgrading of original chillers, contains 9,000 tons of installed capacity.
In an effort to select a chiller that best fit from a long term perspective, we prepared a detailed life cycle cost analysis that took energy rates, maintenance costs and a developed load profile into account to determine the actual operating costs of multiple machines. We then compared this information to the installation costs to evaluate the return on investment for each of the chillers.
The design was completed using Building Information Modeling (BIM) software. As this facility sits directly on the Gulf Coast, we gave careful consideration to construction sequencing and phasing around hurricane season.
Capacity: 9,000 tons
Image Source: RVK
