A Systems-Efficient Approach to Hospital De-carbonization
Kaiser installs Heater Recovery Chiller in Disadvantaged Community
Institute of Gas Technology dba GTI Energy
Recipient
Des Plaines, IL
Recipient Location
37th
Senate District
68th
Assembly District
$1,077,640
Amount Spent
Completed
Project Status
Project Result
This agreement is under a partial stop work order because the goals and objectives of the agreement can no longer be met for the following reasons: 1) the heat recovery chillers are using refrigerant R-410A, which has a global warming potential of 2088 and will no longer be allowed after January 1, 2024 per the California Air Resources Board, 2) the heat recovery goal will not be met, and 3) significant project delays have resulted in a project schedule that will extend well beyond the agreement end date.
The project team will focus on wrapping up the project and documenting the results of the technologies that were installed in the final report which will include the detailed modeling (baseline and retrofit scenarios with new equipment), the M&V and evaluation of the new VAV air handlers, the control system, and the design and details to date for the new heat recovery chillers and stack gas economizers.
The Issue
Large commercial buildings such as hospitals, institutional buildings, offices, and correctional facilities use large amounts of natural gas for space and water heating, and other large loads such as cooking and production of steam for sterilization. Hospitals, due to the nature of their business, their need for exacting climate control, and their operation on a 24-hour basis, have higher energy intensity per square foot than any other building in the commercial sector. In the United States, the health care industry accounts for nearly 10% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with emissions increasing by 30% between 2006 and 2016.
Project Innovation
The project aims to reduce both the gas consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at the demonstration site by approximately 30%. This will be accomplished by integrating heat recovery chiller design and boiler stack economizers to reduce steam boiler fuel requirements for the domestic hot water and heating hot water systems. The project will implement a variable air volume system (VAV), design air handlers with separate cold and hot decks to optimize economizer mode, and have model-based optimal control strategy to minimize building HVAC energy consumption.
Project Benefits
The project integrates heat recovery chiller design and boiler stack economizers to reduce gas requirements for the domestic hot water and heating hot water systems. The project also includes a VAV system, air handlers with separate cold and hot decks to optimize economizer mode, and a model-based optimal control strategy. The integration of different heat sources (a heat recovery chiller using heat from the compressor gas and stack economizers using waste stack heat from the boilers) at different pressures and temperatures requires an advanced model to initially design, and then robust measurement and verification to successfully operate, this kind of system. The advancement of technology is associated with harnessing these different systems together, including the condensation of stack gas, all of which contribute to lower gas and electricity use.
Affordability
The integration of a number of advanced technologies could reduce gas use by 30% and reduce overall operating costs by approximately $1 million per year, including about 200,000 therms of gas and over 8,000 megawatt-hours of electricity.
Key Project Members
Hardik Shah
Subrecipients
P2S Engineering
Stok
Match Partners
Institute of Gas Technology dba GTI Energy
Kaiser Permanente National Facilities Services
