Buildings

Green Buildings

New buildings such as the Heritage Hall Classroom Building have a heat recovery system tempering fresh air with exhaust air. This heat recovery system utilizes a rotating heat wheel to transfer heat from the intake to the exhaust air streams. By tempering the intake fresh air stream, this results in less cooling needed in the summer and less heating in the winter. Other systems utilize a heating coil in each of the two air streams and circulates a water-glycol fluid between them to transfer the heat. In existing buildings, direct digital controls have been installed to allow up to 100% cool outdoor air to be brought into the air handling units to allow free cooling of the building. Typically, free cooling can occur 2,651 hours per year. These controls have been installed in the following buildings: Education Building, Business & Engineering Complex and North Pavilion. The total HVAC energy savings is more than $226,250 per year.

 

UAB’s New District Energy System
Did you know that UAB owns and operates one of the largest chilled water district systems in the world with a capacity of over 38,000 tons? Now UAB will create another district energy system, and this time it will be a steam plant and distribution system. The project will construct a new steam production facility on 6^th Avenue across from Bartow Arena, replace the existing steam distribution system, and construct a new condensate return system to provide industrial steam service to campus, research, and medical center facilities when Alabama Power Company stops producing and selling steam in 2013. An important component of the project includes development of a return condensate piping system with significant water reduction and energy use efficiency gains. The district system will allow continued operation of UAB’s steam system with significant energy efficiency gains, air emissions reductions and operational reliability improvements.