The City and East Campus Utility Plant provides year-round heating and cooling to East Campus. Pressurized steam is delivered to campus buildings through pipes in underground tunnels, while chilled water is delivered by means of buried pipelines.
Increasing Efficiency in Heating and Cooling
One of the newest features on City Campus that is producing huge operational cost savings is the Thermal Energy Storage tank (TES), located just a short walk northeast of the City Campus Utility Plant (CCUP). Built in 2018, the 8.3-million-gallon TES allows the utility plant to store chilled water that is produced during the off-peak electricity usage hours overnight, acting as a "battery" for the chilled water system. That stored chilled water is then distributed throughout campus during the hottest hours of the day to air-condition City Campus buildings, adding efficiency, capacity, and resiliency to the entire system.
An additional 2.8-million-gallon TES facility on East Campus, built in 2012, and located just northeast of the East Campus Utility Plant (ECUP), provides similar operational benefits and cooling capacity throughout East Campus.
In preparation for future campus growth, the East Campus Utility Plant has undergone heating & cooling capacity expansion by adding a new chiller and heat exchanger system to their TES. This new addition will take advantage of the cold winter weather to chill water and reduce the use of fossil fuels.