BALTIMORE (March 29, 2000) -- They will be eye-catching! Their size is overwhelming. They will be delivered by 12 tractor trailer trucks. They are components of a unique energy management project at the Baltimore State Office Center.
Twenty-four ice coil sections, weighing almost 11,000 pounds each, part of a first of its kind energy management project, will be delivered to the Baltimore State Office Center starting at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow. The coils will be assembled and placed in a newly constructed ice storage vault located at the corner of Preston and Eutaw streets in Baltimore.
Manufactured by Baltimore Aircoil Company, in Jessup, the 24 sections will be assembled to form eight ice coils, each with a lower, middle and upper module. The eight assembled coils, made of one-inch steel tube of hot-dipped galvanized construction, will weigh 32,700 pounds and can hold 15,000 gallons of glycol water used in the creation of ice. The ice coils will be placed in a 100-foot long, 30-foot wide, 20-foot deep ice storage vault.
The $19.3 million energy management project ($13.3 million in capital, $6 million in maintenance over 13 years) is designed to save Maryland taxpayers more than $1 million annually. The project includes engineering and construction of a new heating, cooling, and peak power generation plant, the first to be used for State buildings. Of the $19.3 million project cost, only $3.5 million of State funding will be used. The remainder will be paid from energy and energy-related savings over a 13-year period.
"This project will shift a substantial amount of electrical demand to nighttime periods when rates are cheaper and benefit the State in the form of lower unit costs when electricity is deregulated in Maryland," said Peta N. Richkus, Secretary of the Maryland Department of General Services. "While we are improving the energy efficiency of our building operations, we are also upgrading the work environment for 5,550 State employees as well as hundreds of daily visitors to this multi-building office center."
New chillers located in the mechanical room at 300 West Preston Street will generate 21 degree F glycol during nighttime hours; the low temperature glycol will be circulated in a bath of water inside the vault to create 1.1 million pounds of ice per night throughout summer cooling operations. The ice will be melted during the next day by circulating water throughout the coils to produce 13,700 ton-hours of cooling - about 40% of the Baltimore State Center's peak load. This operation will replace the equivalent of a 1,400 ton chiller during the day.
In addition to ice storage cooling, a new 3600 kilowatt, natural gas-fired electric generator plant is being constructed to provide standby power, heating, and air conditioning for the 201 W. Preston Street Department of Health and Mental Hygiene central laboratory tower. In addition, the system will provide 2400 kilowatts of electricity during on-peak periods for the four-building 1.2 million square feet Office Center during high demand periods, reducing the electrical load by one-third.
Although the use of on-site peak power generation has been accelerating nationwide in response to the restructuring of the electric utility industry, this application marks the first such operation by a state agency in Maryland. The ability to generate on-site power is also expected to benefit the State in the form of lower unit costs when electricity is deregulated in Maryland.
Custom Energy/M&E Sales, LLC, of Rockville, the project manager and general contractor for the new central plant, will provide plant maintenance over a 13-year period. The Baltimore-based consulting firm of RMF Engineering, Inc. provided the feasibility study and detailed engineering documents for the project.
Since 1993, the Maryland Department of General Services has completed seven energy performance projects totaling more than $17 million in construction, generating an estimated $2.5 million in annual energy savings. The General Assembly enacted legislation in 1992 that requires each State agency to reduce its per-square-foot energy usage 25 percent by 2001.
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CONTACT:
Dave Humphrey, Director of External Affairs
DGS Office of External Affairs
410-767-4652
E-MAIL: Dave.Humphrey@dgs.state.md.us
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