Case Study
Rebates Bring Expensive Efficiency Improvement Projects to Reality
Prestigious university receives over $1 Million in rebates for new chillers
As a campus with state of the art research facilities and a large student body, this Manhattan-based Ivy League institution requires extensive cooling. The large cooling load incurs high utility bills, particularly high peak demand costs during the summertime. EN‑POWER GROUP was engaged to identify energy efficiency and demand reduction strategies for the campus’s central chiller plants. The selected strategy not only successfully qualified over $1 Million in rebates, but continues to save the school almost $800,000 in utility costs each year.
Educational
Property Profile
- Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan
- Campus Size: 32 acres
- Buildings: 34
- Dates of Construction: 1885 – 2010
Services
- Rebates & Incentives
- Feasibility Study
- Demand Response
- Mechanical System (HVAC): Cooling
Project Achievements
- Annual Utility Savings: 4,737,000 kWh
- Annual Utility Cost Savings: $796,000
- Demand Saved: 1,800 kW Total
- Eligible Rebates: $1,126,000 Total
- Project Cost after Rebates: $15,374,000
- Project Highlight: Identified and applied to four rebate programs to maximize project payback
The university’s main campus has large cooling requirements due to the year‑round computing, laboratory, and classroom demands within its thirty-four (34) buildings. To combat increasing cooling costs, EN-POWER GROUP was engaged to identify methods of realistically reducing cooling costs despite the university’s projected load growth. Following a thorough feasibility study of the existing equipment and energy usage, EN-POWER GROUP recommended consolidating chilled water production to one plant and retiring inefficient equipment by installing a hybrid chilled water plant, which primarily consists of: a 2,800‑ton electric chiller with variable frequency drives and a 2,800‑ton steam driven chiller. EN-POWER GROUP designed the sequence of operation to optimize demand and electricity savings.
EN-POWER GROUP created and implemented a comprehensive rebate application plan that incorporated funding from four distinct programs. The project successfully received funding from the NYISO Installed Capacity/Special Case Resources (ICAP/SCR) Program, the NYSERDA Existing Facilities Program, the NYSERDA Peak Load Management Program (PLMP), and the NYESRDA Enhanced Commercial and Industrial Performance Program (ECIPP).