Case Studies

CASE STUDY | NSU Series No.1
Nova Southeastern University Central Energy Plant (Zone 4), New Lower School, and Auditorium

An extraordinary collaboration between Hill York and Nova Southeastern University.
When the ice tank is built out to full capacity, it will be one of the largest ice storage facilities within the United States.

Project Objectives

The goals for this milestone project for Nova Southeastern University (NSU) are to provide a new learning facility for its youngest students, and to be able to provide chilled water to cool the entire campus from one central location. Initially, the new Zone 4 Plant will be able to provide 4,600 tons of cooling capacity, with room for another 6,900 tons of cooling capacity as future campus expansion is constructed. One of the main concerns with this project is how to run the plant continuously at peak efficiency to reduce operating cost.

Solution

Going beyond the call of duty to uphold its motto, Making Life More Comfortable, Hill York
proposed an innovative green technology, utiliVisor, to be implemented by its newly formed
Performance Group, hygreen. This technology, utiliVisor, will allow NSU to monitor, in real-time, the efficiency of the plant as a whole. With this real-time data, the equipment within the plant can be properly operated to provide the maximum tonnage possible with the minimal amount of
kW required. Underground piping connects the new plant to the new lower school, auditorium and existing campus buildings. Branch lines have been installed underground and capped off for
connections to future buildings. The Central Energy Plant is designed with a large (103’ x 65’ x 42’) ice storage tank, which is divided into four cells. Currently, one of the cells has ice coils installed; the other three cells are for future expansion to support operating this plant with minimal cost.

Project Synopsis

For more than twenty years, Hill York has been working with NSU installing HVAC systems,
and this is the largest undertaking yet. This project includes Central Energy Plant (Zone 4),
a new lower school and auditorium. The new lower school and auditorium will replace the existing lower school, and provide a facility for performing arts, visual arts and dance studios. Since the
Central Energy Plant would be the facility providing cooling to these buildings, plant operation was
a high priority.

Once Hill York installed all of the piping and equipment, hygreen was able to come in and install the monitoring devices. Flexim Ultra-sonic Flow Meters and Temperature Sensors were installed
throughout the plant, monitored by utiliVisor. This will provide real-time monitoring of the flow and
temperature through the HVAC equipment. The main chilled water supply and return lines to the campus were also metered for an overall plant efficiency calculation. An additional flow meter was installed on the cooling tower make-up line to reduce the sewage charge from the city since this water was not being returned for sanitation.
With the major equipment being monitored, the plant can be fine-tuned to constantly run at peak efficiency, further reducing the cost to run the plant.