Office Building Uses Ice Storage, Heat Recovery, and Cold-Air Distribution

Abstract

Ice storage offers many opportunities to use other tcchnologies, such as heat recovery and cold-air distribution. In fact, by using them, the designer can improve the efficiency and lower the construction cost of an ice system. This paper presents a case study of a large (550,000 square feet) office building which combines these ideas into one HVAC system. By integrating these technologies to take advantage of the unique characteristics of ice storage, the engineers created a system that provided a 1-1/2 year simple payback. The system reduces operating costs by over $0.16 per square foot each year, yet it increased the net HVAC budget by only $0.22 per square foot.