Fume hoods and -80 freezers can consume as much as 3.5 and 1 homes' worth of energy, respectively.
Local Laws 87 and 97 have established New York City as one of the nation's most stringent for carbon emissions from buildings. WCM wet and dry labs possess higher energy use intensity compared to other commercial structures. The Chiller Optimization Project aims to help WCM meet Local Law 97 compliance.
In 2022, the Office of Energy & Sustainability optimized chiller plant operations at the Belfer Research Building and Weill Greenberg Center. This initiative involved optimizing the operational sequences for pumps, cooling towers, valves, and centrifugal chillers. The outcome was a notable:
- Annual energy savings of 700,000 kilowatt-hours of electrical energy.
- Reduction of 1,300 thousand pounds of steam consumption in the chiller plant.
- These improvements translate to an annual decrease of 270 tons in carbon emissions.
- The reliability of our chiller plant has been bolstered, ensuring a consistently high level of service to building occupants throughout the year.