Achieving Energy Efficiency and Environmental Benefits
through the Collaborative Design of Austin Energy's Mueller Energy
Center and the Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas
Larry Alford, Austin Energy
Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas, scheduled
to open in the summer of 2007 in Austin, Texas, presented significant
opportunities for energy-efficienct design. The hospital and the
local municipal utility, Austin Energy, joined together in a unique
collaboration to combine the design of the hospital building and
the design of an onsite combined heat and power energy plant using
integrated energy systems (owned and operated by Austin Energy).
The result both minimizes the building energy requirements and maximizes
the efficiency of energy delivered to the building in the form of
electricity, steam, and chilled water. Because of this combined
design effort, Dell Children's Medical Center is on target to receive
the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED® Platinum Certification.
The plant design exceeds the LEED efficiency requirement of 60 percent
minimum.
Since the Mueller Energy Center was designed to provide all energy
needs for the hospital (including life-safety and emergency power),
space was freed up in the building design for other uses. In turn,
capital cost requirements were significantly reduced and some of
this money was channeled toward further reducing energy requirements
of the building.
A significant result of this collaboration is the design of the
Mueller Energy Center itself which includes a district cooling system
to provide chilled water to other facilities being developed at
the 700-acre Mueller redevelopment site (the former Austin Municipal
Airport). These future facilities include an educational development
lab, a pediatric medical office building, and a pediatric research
facility. By incorporating the district cooling system into their
building design, each of these facilities can achieve points toward
LEED certification while reducing capital and operating costs.
This presentation will include the challenges and successes of
this exciting project and will provide insight into the collaborative
process between the hospital design team and Austin Energy.
Labs21 Connection:
The concept for the project required the plant design to include
the capability to supply full electrical, chilled water, and steam
services to the hospital either grid connected or grid independent.
The key to success in working through risk and cost issues was the
unique collaboration between Dell Children's Medical Center and
Austin Energy in working together through a "whole building"
approach based on life-cycle costs.
Because the energy plant is located within the city of Austin and
near downtown, environmental consideration was a major element of
the design process. Not only was energy efficiency considered for
equipment selection, but environmental impact was also a major factor.
This approach led to power generation technology that not only meets
all requirements of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality,
but does so without emissions treatment equipment that is typically
required at power plants. In addition, the plant design makes use
of reclaimed water for cooling.
The project is groundbreaking because the high level of reliability
in the energy plant design resulted in approval by the Texas Department
of State Health Services to eliminate the hospital's emergency generator.
The energy plant has the capability to provide full energy services
to the hospital even if the local utility grid experiences a power
outage and has black start capabilities for extremely unusual events.
Biography:
Larry Alford has over 34 years of experience in the electric
utility industry with extensive power plant experience and has completed
numerous special projects. As Manager of Distributed Generation
at Austin Energy since January 2001, Mr. Alford is responsible for
onsite distributed generation and CHP projects. He is a key member
of the development team for the Mueller Energy Plant, an innovative
CHP project that will provide electricity, steam, and chilled water
to the new Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas. Some
of his other projects include the Domain BCHP Project (a Department
of Energy cost share project that coupled a 4.5 MW Solar™ gas
turbine with a 2,500-ton Broad™ absorption chiller), a 200
kW UTC Power PureCell™ fuel cell at the RBJ Health Center,
and a 200 kW UTC Power PureCycle™ generator at a landfill owned
by the city of Austin.
Prior to joining Austin Energy in 2001, Mr. Alford worked for American
Electric Power after their acquisition of Central Power & Light
Company in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he began his career in 1972.
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