Austin Energy / Hobby District Cooling Plant
Austin, Texas

(8,000 TR) Austin Energy is creating a new resource for building owners in the city of Austin. A central chilling plant that serves local buildings was the first in Austin Energy plan to better serve energy consumers and building development in the city. The primary goal of this project was to developing the system that would best serve Austin Energy’s customers and fit into the space provided while meeting the deadlines of the local building owners. The new cooling plant was designed to serve the new city hall, adjacent office buildings, and provide capacity for future adjacent buildings as well. The 6,000-ton chilled water, 2,000-ton glycol district cooling plant incorporates a 26,000-ton ice thermal storage unit that was designed with the express purpose of saving peak-time energy usage. The glycol chiller units work through the night to create ice when the utility prices are reduced. The ice is converted the next day to chilled water for distribution to the surrounding buildings, thus reducing chiller usage during peak demand periods. There is an energy savings via the ice storage and a cost savings because of the use of off-peak times to create peak-use energy.

Austin Convention Center
Austin, Texas

(25,000 TR) This site is within walking distance of the Austin Convention Center. The first phase of the plant construction included the building shell along with one 2500 ton glycol chiller, all thermal ice coils, and required cooling towers and pumps with redundancy for each. All building structure, piping, and power distribution systems were provided in Phase 1 to facilitate future phased build-out of the master plan. Thermal ice storage is incorporated in the design to provide a capacity of 52,800 tons/hour.

The project consists of a five-level, 650-car, 200,000-sq.-ft. parking garage and a three-level construction of an 80,000-sq.-ft. cooling plant. The 2500 ton glycol chiller was initially installed on the plant's first floor with room for one additional 2500 ton glycol chiller and four additional 5000 ton water chillers; three cooling towers are installed on the roof with room for 11 more. The sublevel pump room is also designed for future pumps to be added. On the northeast corner of the site is a 3,800-sq.-ft., 1.4-million-gallon tank with 3 ft. thick concrete walls. This tank has three closed-loop systems inside for the glycol chiller, condenser and chilled water.

Bexar County Justice Center
San Antonio, Texas

Our firm designed the HVAC system that consists of two 500 ton centrifugal water chillers with two 100 HP boilers. Each floor is served by five multi-zoned air handling units with chilled water cooling coils and hot water zone heating coils. Outside air is pretreated and supplied to each mechanical room. A variable flow pumping system is used for the building's chilled water distribution. (1000 TR expandable to 2000)

Bexar County Facilities Improvements
San Antonio, Texas

Improvements to the historic Courthouse included replacement of eight air-conditioning units and roof repairs. The project includes adding 500 tons of additional chilling capacity and 1000 tons of cooling tower capacity at the Bexar County Justice Center; rezoning of the Sheriff's administration offices at the Adult Detention Center; and replacement of two 150 ton chillers and pumps at the Wackenhutt Correctional Facility. (1900 TR Chilling Capacity; 2000 TR Cooling Tower Capacity)

Bexar Savings
San Antonio, Texas

Tetco Tower (formerly Bexar Savings Office Tower)

(1000 TR) This 275,000 sf 14-story office building includes a 245,000 sf parking garage. The mechanical system consists of a 1000 ton central chilled water plant which serves two variable volume air units on each floor. The air units serve fan powered variable volume boxes with electric heat. The electrical service is 480 volt, three phase with two 3000 AMP switchboards and a 300 KW emergency generator.

City of San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio Municipal Auditorium

(1500 TR) This project included the complete restoration of the fire destroyed structure, including stage lighting, dimming and air conditioning systems. The renovation included approximately 160,000 CFM and 1,500 tons refrigeration for the 5,000+ seat auditorium.

San Antonio Main Library

(1300 TR) The San Antonio Central Library is one of the most advanced libraries in the country, designed by renowned Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta and a team of local architects. The design, which reflects San Antonio's unique culture, includes bright colors, simple geometric designs, numerous windows and terraces. The facility covers a quarter of a million square feet, has enough room to hold 750,000 books and other materials, and seats up to 1,300.

The mechanical systems are three "built-up" double duct air handlers. The cooling tower is sized for future expansion, as well as the chiller and boiler plant. Special lighting is used throughout public areas. An emergency generator (750 KVA) is provided not only for fire pump but also for a smoke control system.

San Antonio International Airport

(950 TR) Existing central plant capacity was increased by adding a 1,000 ton water-cooled centrifugal chiller, a 1,000 ton cooling tower, a chilled water pump (30 HP), and a condenser water pump (75 HP). Existing condenser water piping system and primary chilled water loop piping system were upgraded to serve the added equipment. The existing 480 volt, 3-phase electrical equipment was replaced with equipment to handle new electrical loads. A/E responsibilities included complete construction management of the project.

Texas Department of Transportation Camp Hubbard
Austin, Texas

(1260 TR) The central cooling plant includes three 400-ton centrifugal chillers, three 800-gpm primary chilled water pumps, two 2,400 gpm variable speed secondary chilled water pumps, three 1,200 gpm condenser water pumps and three 500 ton cooling tower cells. The central heating plant includes two relocated 70 Bhp Scotch Marine fire tube boilers, one new 300 Bhp Scotch Marine fire tube boiler, two 230 gpm primary hot water pumps, one 990 gpm primary hot water pump and two 1,200 gpm secondary hot water pumps.

Lackland AFB Chiller Replacement
San Antonio, Texas

This project includes the replacement of an existing 540 ton steam absorption chiller with a new 540 ton absorption machine.