Preliminary Study of O&M Opportunities at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Submitted to The Energy Management and Operations Department at UTMB Galveston

Abstract

At the request of the Energy Management and Operations Department at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, the Energy Systems Laboratory at the Texas A&M University performed the preliminary study of O&M Opportunities at the 49 buildings (over 3.5 million ft2 floor area) and its central plant. The central plant provides the chilled water and steam to all of these buildings. Constant air volume systems are used in 48 buildings while single duct variable air volume systems are used in the Medical Research Building, which was built in 1993. Three major O&M opportunities were identified in the UTMB buildings and the central plant: (1) Optimizing the outside air reset schedules of the air handling units; (2) Controlling the steam pressure at 125 psi or lower; and (3) Optimizing the chilled water and cooling tower water set points.