District Energy

3rd Quarter 1995 | Volume 81 Number 1

On the Cover

The 30-story, 769,000-square-foot Stephen P. Clark Government Center in Miami receives district cooling service from Metro-Dado's Downtown District Energy System.

The octagonal pod attached to the building is the chamber for the Board of County Commissioners. Six other area buildings are also part of Metro-Dado's district cooling system. Completed in the mid 1980s, the Government Center lies next to the Dade County Metrorail and Metromover system. The Metrorail is an elevated rapid transit system that covers 20 miles from the south to the north of the downtown Miami area; the Metromover is a computerized people-mover vehicle that distributes riders to more specific points along a 3.7-mile loop within the downtown area.

Cooling Conference Celebrates Decade of Progress and Contribution (p20)

"District Cooling: Contributor to Global Environmental Quality and Fuel Conservation" is the theme for IDEA'S l0th Annual Cooling Conference Oct. 18-20, 1995, in Miami. In addition to a variety of presentations, tours will be offered of the four area district cooling systems highlighted in the fact sheets featured in this issue.

CFC Conversion - One District Energy System's Experience (p5)

Gary Gustafson, Director of Engineering, Minneapolis Energy Center

With CFC production phaseout imminent, district cooling systems are retrofitting their plants as needed to avoid escalating CFC prices and lack of CFC availability. The Minneapolis Energy Center prepared a CFC phaseout plan in which it will convert one of its steam-turbine-driven chillers each winter. With two conversions completed, the Energy Center shares its experience.

Chilled-Water Storage: A Suite of Benefits for District Cooling (p8)

John S. Andrepont, Manager of Product Development, CBI Walker

Chilled-water thermal storage is one of two types of cool-storage technologies that predominate the market. It can be used in a variety of applications and locations, bringing with it capital-cost and operating-cost savings as well as environmental benefits. The technology has recently seen increasingly rapid growth and is now used on four continents in all climate types.

Ice Storage Puts Cooling Costs on Ice (p15)

W.D. McCloskey, Executive Vice President.

Baltimore Aircoil Company Ice storage is one of two types of cool-storage technologies that predominate the market. It is increasing in popularity in the face of the chlorofluorocarbon production phaseout. The technol ogy has proved to be a cost-effective, space-saving and environmental cooling source that meets energy-saving needs by using off-peak electricity to satisfy on-peak cooling demands.

The Principles of Effective Risk Management and Loss Control (p28)

Ellen Thoma, Human Resources and Administration Manager, District Energy St. Paul Inc.

While risk management as a discipline tends to be complex, it is the umbrella under which preventive and loss control programs and policies exist. In this last of three articles, the author addresses the importance of understanding risk management, the principles of effective risk management and loss control and examples of how District Energy and others apply these principles.

Conference Wrap-Up (p34)

Highlights and photos from IDEA'S 86th Annual Conference & Tradeshow in Indianapolis.

Sea Water Plays Key Role in Stockholm Cooling System (p41)

Göran Fermbäck, Stockholm Energi

Most of the cooling energy for Stockholm's new district cooling system is produced using cold water from the Baltic Sea. The cooled water is piped nearly 2.5 miles to customers in the downtown area. The system uses an existing heat-pump plant, so little capital investment was required. Cooling costs are substantially covered by the production of heat.

Wisconsin Electric Continues to Tap Industrial District Energy Market (p44)

P. Frank Byrne, Marketing Administrator, Wisconsin Electric Power Co. and Steven K. Gage, Account Manager, Wisconsin Electric Power Co.

With almost 500 customers in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin Electric's steam system continues to grow.

One of its newest customers is Allen-Bradley, one of the city's industrial mainstays. To accommodate this new customer and position itself for expansion throughout the area, Wisconsin Electric constructed a new two-mile-long steam main to Milwaukee's near south side.