International District Energy Association
23rd Annual Campus Energy Conference, Reno, Nevada
February 10-12, 2010
Brian Whalen, Assistant Vice President Facilities-Emeriti
Stephen Mischissin, P.E., Associate Vice President Facilities
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Nevada Granted Statehood in
1864
Civil War ends 1866
Transcontinental Railroad
completed 1869
University of Nevada Chartered
in 1874 (Elko, NV)
First University of Nevada,
Reno campus building -1887
First University of Nevada
Graduating Class -1891
First Men’s and Women’s
Dormitories Completed -1895
First District Energy Sytem1908
Low Temperature Hot
Water System
 12 campus buildings
connected
 Burned Bunker C Oil
 20,000 gallon oil
storage with R.R.
spur to plant
 Redwood Trench
Distribution System
 195 Students
enrolled
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Hot Water Loop
Circled Main Quad
Central Plant
Located on east
side of Quad in
Mechanical Arts
Building
12 Buildings
Connected to Loop
195 Students
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18 buildings
connected in 1920
(1920 map shown)
25 campus
buildings
connected in 1925
Hot water Supply
Flow Rate of 1,133
g.p.m.
Redwood trench
distribution system
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Two, 15 MMBTU/hr IBW
Boilers
Bunker C oil, later
converted to natural gas
and No. 2 oil
17 Buildings served
Designed for 400 degrees F
and 265 psig supply hot
water
Concrete trench distribution
system
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1972-Third Hot Water
Generator Added-30
MMBTU/hr
2004-30MM BTU Hot Water
Generator Added (Total
Capacity 90 MMBTU/hr)
2004-2008: New DDC
Controls, VFDs, new
burners, dedicated
emergency generator
2008 - New 295,000 s.f.
Knowledge Center added to
loop
2010 –New 104,000 s.f.
Math & Science building
added to loop
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238 acre Main Campus
16,000+ Enrolled Students
2.3 million s.f. of space and
31 campus buildings
connected to high
temperature hot water
system
Approximately 64% of
campus served by district
heating system (excluding
residential housing)
90 MMBTU/h total CHP
boiler capacity (4 boilers)
No central cooling
27 campus buildings
contain building chillers
totaling over 7,500 tons in
rated capacity
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31 Campus
Buildings on HTHW
loop (shown in red)
10 Medical School
Campus Buildings
totaling 372,418
gsf with StandAlone Boilers and
Chillers (shown in
yellow)
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No district cooling
Buildings with single
chillers have no redundancy
Many individual cooling
towers and water treatment
systems –High O&M Cost
Many building ‘stand alone’
boilers are not duel fuel
Medical School has
individual building boilers
and chillers, not connected
to district system
Local Utility has high Peak
Demand Charges
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372,418 gross square
feet
10 total Buildings
Mainly research and
veterinary space-high
cooling and heating
loads
Significant distance
from existing Heating
Plant
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1,800 tons of peak
cooling load
14 MMBTU/hr of peak
heating load
3,500 kW electrical
peak load
Reliability of service is
paramount
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3, 662,000 gross
square feet
(excluding
housing)
7,000+ tons of
potential peak
cooling load
90+ MMBTU/hr
peak heating load
10,000 kW peak
electrical load
Electric Power:
64,787,134 kwhs
$7,730,340
Peak Demand 10,000
kw
Natural Gas:
2,111,455 therms
$2,303,512
Utility Costs
Electric
Gas
Electric Power:
Winter Peak $0.0986/kwh
Winter Mid-Peak $0.0913/kwh
Winter Off Peak $0.0621/kwh
Summer Peak $0.126/kwh
Summer Mid-Peak $0.111/kwh
Summer Off Peak $0.075/kwh
Winter Peak Demand Charge
$2.02/kw
Summer Peak Demand Charge
$6.68/kw
Natural Gas:
$ 1.148/therm
Therms Usage
450,000
400,000
350,000
300,000
Therms
250,000
2008-09 Nat. Gas,Terms
200,000
2007-08 Nat. Gas, Therms
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May
UNR Natural Gas Consumption
2007/2008 and 2008/2009
Degree Days
1200
1000
800
2008-09 Heating Degree Days
Degree Days
600
2008-09 Cooling Degree Days
2007-08 Heating Degree Days
400
2007-08 Cooling Degree Days
200
0
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
UNR Heating and Cooling Degree Days
2007/2008 and 2008/2009
Heating Load
• 90+ MMBTUH Peak Load
• Existing Distribution System and
Central Plant
• 7,500+ Tons Peak Load
Cooling Load
• No Distribution System and
Individual Building Chillers
• No system ‘diversity’ benefits
• Little redundancy
Electrical Load
• 10,000+ kW Peak Load
• 25 kV and 4 kV distribution Systems
and Two Utility Connection Points
• Potential for CHP
Medical School Central
Heating/Cooling Plant
New Cogeneration/CHP
Possible District
Energy Systems
Options
‘Distributed’ Chilled Water on
Main Campus or new Central
Chilled Water Plant
Geothermal and other
Renewable Sources
Master Planning Issues Location of New or
Expanded CHP Plants
Financing –State/Private?
District Energy
Issues at UNR
Fuel Type, Long Term
Contract and Costs
Sustainable Sources,
Greenhouse Gas
Emissions
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Lagging State Economy and Budget Cuts
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Competing Entities for State Capital Funds
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Culture of ‘Stand Alone Heating and Cooling
Systems Have Cheaper First Cost’
Challenges with the Administration, Board
of Regents, State Public Works Board and
State Legislature
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Located Adjacent to
Steamboat Springs
field and private 100
MW geothermal plant
Potential for
Geothermal Heating of
Buildings
Cogeneration Using
350 F geothermal
fluid?
1908-Original Central Plant and Low
Temperature Hot Water Distribution
System Placed in Service
52
yrs
1960 – New Central Plant Constructed
and New High Temperature Hot water
Distribution System Placed in Service
2010 & Beyond - Cogeneration,
Central Chilled Water Plant, Distributed
Chilled Water System, Geothermal ?
50
yrs
Prepare RFP/RFQ
for CHP/Central
Plant Proposals
Evaluate
Proposals and
Project Financing
Options
Determine
Benefits to the
University and
seek Approvals