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Posted by Tony on July 20, 2007, 4:03 pm
<Tweedle Dee> wrote in message
> http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,289456,00.html
>
> New York Skyscrapers Use Ice to Stay Cool
>
> Monday, July 16, 2007
>
> NEW YORK - As the summer swelters on, skyscrapers and apartments
> around the city will be cranking up the air conditioning and pushing
> the city's power grid to the limit.
>
> But some office towers and buildings have found a way to stay cool
> while keeping the AC to a minimum - by using an energy-saving system
> that relies on blocks of ice to pump chilly air through buildings.
Yes but it takes energy to make Ice
>
> The systems save companies money and reduce strain on the electrical
> grid in New York, where the city consumes more power on hot summer
> days than the entire nation of Chile.
>
> It also cuts down on pollution. An ice-cooling system in the Credit
> Suisse offices at the historic Metropolitan Life tower in Manhattan is
> as good for the environment as taking 223 cars off the streets or
> planting 1.9 million acres of trees to absorb the carbon dioxide
> caused by electrical usage for one year.
>
> Such a reduction in pollution is valuable in a city where the majority
> of emissions come from the operation of buildings. State officials say
> there are at least 3,000 ice-cooling systems worldwide.
>
> "It is worth it to do in New York City," said William Beck, the head
> of critical engineering systems for Credit Suisse. "If you take the
> time to look, you can find innovative ways to be energy efficient, be
> environmental and sustainable."
>
> Because electricity is needed to make the ice, water is frozen in
> large silver tanks at night when power demands are low.
>
> The cool air emanating from the ice blocks is then piped throughout
> the building more or less like traditional air conditioning. At night
> the water is frozen again and the cycle repeats.
>
> Ice storage can be used as the sole cooling system, or it can be
> combined with traditional systems to help ease the power demands
> during peak hours.
>
> At Credit Suisse, for example, the company must cool 1.9 million
> square feet of office space at the Met Life tower, a historic building
> that was New York's tallest in the days before the Empire State
> Building.
>
> In the basement, three main cooling rooms house chilling machines and
> 64 tanks that hold 800 gallons of water each. Credit Suisse has a
> traditional air conditioning system, but engineers use the more
> efficient system first.
>
> Construction on the system took about four months, and company
> engineers say it is extremely efficient.
>
> "The concept is the same, but when you make something mechanical, it
> can break, but a big block of ice four floors below grade level isn't
> going to do anything but melt," said Todd Coulard of Trane Energy
> Services.
>
> The company built the Credit Suisse system and is one of several that
> work with ice storage.
>
> Trane, the air-conditioning arm of American Standard, also developed a
> system for Morgan Stanley's Westchester County offices, and just
> completed a new system for its offices on Fifth Avenue.
>
> A new Goldman Sachs headquarters will also have ice cooling. Credit
> Suisse is looking at installing the systems in offices around the
> globe, but nothing has been decided yet.
>
> Coulard, an expert in energy efficiency, was hired by the company four
> years ago to develop the energy services department.
>
> "I've been doing green since before it was cool," he said. "The idea
> of not only saving money for large companies, but doing something that
> benefits the environment is win-win. It's doing the right thing."
>
> Engineers say the power-saving results from the system are impressive.
> And it translates into millions of dollars saved in energy bills for
> the companies.
>
> Ice storage at Credit Suisse lowers the facility's peak energy use by
> 900 kilowatts, and reduces overall electric usage by 2.15 million
> kilowatt-hours annually - enough to power about 200 homes.
>
> At the Morgan Stanley facility in Westchester County, the system
> reduces peak energy use by 740 kilowatts and overall electricity usage
> by 900,000 kilowatt hours annually.
>
> Both companies received incentives from the New York State Energy
> Research and Development Authority under a program designed to improve
> the power grid and help businesses reduce operating costs.
>
> The technology isn't for every office space. There has to be room to
> install the large tanks. And costs are considerable: Credit Suisse
> spent more than $3 million to renovate its cooling system; and Morgan
> Stanley's costs were comparable, which means the technology is best
> suited to large companies.
>
> "This is for companies that want to go green but that there has to be
> other benefits, returns on investments," Coulard said. "It works for
> larger companies because their cooling costs are so considerable."
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