Summer "chillin'" saves energy
May 31, 2012
While students are away from the main campus for the summer, FPU is making room for a large new resident: a 400-ton centrifugal chiller that will be worth more than its weight in power savings.
Located in the Central Plant near the Special Events Center, the chiller provides water used to air condition the Special Events Center, East Hall, Strasbourg and Witmarsum Quads, AIMS Hall, Hiebert Library and Sattler Hall. The new chiller, which is equipped with two compressors, magnetic bearings and other energy saving features, is controlled by the university’s energy management system, enabling FPU to maintain a comfortable environment while minimizing energy consumption and maintenance costs. The chiller was delivered the week of May 7 and is to be operational by the end of June. FPU expects to receive a PG&E energy efficiency rebate, offsetting 5 to 10 percent of the $450,000 project cost.
About the author
Wayne Steffen is university editor at Fresno Pacific University, where he edits Pacific magazine. Before joining FPU in 1996, he was a writer and editor at several community newspapers and a college in the Midwest.