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Oklahoma Hospital Takes Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation to the Next Level
Muskogee Community Hospital, a rural, 45-bed hospital in Muskogee, Okla., may seem to be an unlikely place for ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) to take an evolutionary leap. However, the unassuming, 2-year-old, 100,000-sq ft hospital is using UVGI in a unique way that may someday be adopted by many other health-care facilities....
Mini-split Systems the Answer to Church’s out-of-Date Heating and Cooling System
At St. Paul's United Church of Christ in Dallastown, Pa., 16 1960s-era through-the-wall hydronic-electric air-conditioning units were noisy and allowed drafts to enter the sanctuary. What's more, the hydronic coils—over several brutal winters—had endured many freeze/split/repair episodes. ...
Hydronic Heating System Helps Turn Eyesore Into Green-Tech Showcase
To David Bowles, owner of Environmental Services of Charlotte Inc., a full-service HVAC company based in Charlotte, N.C., a nearby former corporate facility was more than an abandoned eyesore; it was an opportunity....
Biomass Boiler Addresses Alaskans' Environmental, Economic Concerns
The Southeast Alaska Discovery Center in Ketchikan, which provides information to more than a million visitors each year, is the site of a pilot biomass boiler system now coming to life. Two oil-fired boilers serving the 250,000-sq-ft center were replaced with a highly efficient system fueled by local wood. ...
Ultralow-NOx on-Demand Boilers Deliver Multiple Advantages
Located in Houston, the 150-acre campus of Texas Southern University (TSU) comprises more than 40 buildings. Hot water and—during winter months—steam heat is piped to the buildings from two central steam plants via underground tunnels. Recently, one of the plants was upgraded with the installation of four gas-fired LX-200 boilers from Miura....
High-Performance Circulator System Takes Flight at Air Force Base
Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson (JBER), near Anchorage, Alaska, is home to the United States Air Force's 3rd Wing. The unit, which is ready to deploy at a moment’s notice, includes F-22 Raptors—the world's most advanced stealth fighter aircraft. ...
Engineered-Plastic Cooling Towers Help Indiana State University Contain Costs
At the suggestion of Indianapolis-based supplier AC Equipment Representatives Inc., ISU looked at plastic cooling towers from Delta Cooling Towers Inc....
Building Controller Provides Precise Control of Heat-Recovery System
The entire heat-recovery system and four AHUs, which previously were under proprietary control, are controlled with the BAC-A1616BC BACnet Building Controller (B-BC) from KMC Controls....
Mini-Split Heat Pumps Improve Efficiency and Comfort, Reduce Noise for School
Started in 1964 by the Sisters of St. Joseph Benedict Cottolengo, Marian Center School and Services in Miami Gardens, Fla., includes a school for students with developmental disabilities, an adult day training and work program, and a full-time residential cottage for women. In the 10,000-sq-ft school building, the 40-plus-year-old central air-conditioning system "was on its last leg," Executive Director Thomas Horan said. ...
Free-Cooling Chillers, Rear-Door Coolers Yield Flexibility, Savings for Data Center
Looking to expand a thriving colocation data-center business, LightBound LLC, an Indianapolis-based provider of business-technology services, including managed servers, data backup, disaster recovery, and cloud computing, set out to create a 47,000-sq-ft data center to handle server densities from 1 kw to 35 kw per rack with a uniform but flexible cooling solution....
Hydronic Equipment, Web-Based Controls Earn High Marks From Boarding School
What started as a simple swap-out of mechanical systems in two small dormitories in 2007 has turned into a multiphase, cross-campus crusade to change buildings from a 60-year-old central steam heat system to high-efficiency, single-structure hydronic equipment for The Williston Northampton School...
Energy-Services Platform Helps Improve Comfort, Lower Costs for Courthouse
Jackson County worked with Kristi Hubbard, CEM, of McElroy’s Inc.’s Building and Energy Solutions Team on a detailed energy-conservation plan that would allow it to operate the building’s mechanical systems at peak performance while lowering operating costs and increasing comfort...
Valves Help Enable Computerized Control of Chiller and Cooling-Tower Operation
At the University of North Florida (UNF) in Jacksonville, Fla., labor savings was the primary driver for a carefully orchestrated control strategy, one that gives chilled-water-plant personnel computerized remote control of chilled water and cooling-tower operation. With more than 50 Belimo actuated control valves in the UNF chiller plant alone, facility personnel can mix and match chiller and cooling-tower operation seamlessly via an Andover Continuum building-management system (BMS) according to load or other requirements. ...
Variable-Refrigerant-Flow Zoning System Earns Energy & Atmosphere LEED Credits
Using LEED and ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, rules, Rob Schnare, project engineer, Glumac Engineering Inc., outlined energy-cost-saving goals for Mercy Corps International...
Temperature, Humidity Control Make Power Plant’s Pollution Control Possible
Merrimack Station, a power plant in Bow, N.H., owned and operated by Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH), burns 4,000 tons of coal a day, as it generates enough power to satisfy the energy needs of one-third of New Hampshire’s population. The fly ash produced during the combustion of coal contains a trace amount of mercury that is emitted into the atmosphere. The plant's operators sought to reduce these emissions to improve the environment and public health, and to meet strict air-quality legislation recently passed in New Hampshire. ...
Natural-Gas Chiller Furthers Lab’s Pursuit of Environmental and Energy Savings
With a $15 million grant from Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a $10 million grant from Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is incorporating energy-efficiency and renewable-energy features into Loeb Laboratory, one of 100 buildings MBL occupies in Woods Hole, Mass. ...
Retrofit System, Variable-Frequency Drive Cut Energy Costs and Increase Comfort
Designed and built by ECI, Enerfit is a HVAC-retrofit system that can be applied to any brand of single-zone HVAC system. It varies airflow across a direct-expansion coil without the need for hot-gas bypass, reducing upfront and operating costs....
Polypropylene-Random Pipe Eliminates Electrolysis in Tennessee VA Hospital
ASI/Southern Mechanical Inc. introduced to the hospital staff polypropylene-random (PP-R) pipe manufactured by Aquatherm Inc. PP-R pipe, which is electrolysis-resistant, corrosion-proof, chemically inert, and durable, has been used in more than 70 countries for nearly four decades. ...
Technology Integration Reduces Costs and Increases Efficiency at Hospital
To better serve the health-care needs of west central Indiana and eastern Illinois, Union Hospital in Terre Haute, Ind., embarked on a five-story, 575,000-sq-ft expansion incorporating spacious private rooms, improved parking, and convenient access. ...
Highly Integrated Motor Starters Assist in Center’s Pursuit of LEED Certification
In pursuit of Platinum certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green-building rating system, project manager Steve Young of controls and mechanical-design contractor American Heating specified measurement of the power consumption of each HVAC motor....
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