Case Study: Loyola University
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Delta Partner: Delta Controls Chicago, Inc.
Background
Loyola University’s Lake Shore campus is home to 7,500 undergraduate students and consists of 44 buildings spread over 100 acres.The Jesuit campus is home to the College of Arts and Sciences, the Niehoff School of Nursing, the School of Education and Graduate School. The campus also includes main libraries and sports centers.
Unique problem to solve
The Loyola campus is more than 100 years old and as such they have just about every type and variation of HVAC on campus,many of which were aging or failing. With 44 buildings spread over 100 acres, the university faced excessive energy operating costs and poor comfort control in many buildings, especially in the summer. In addition to energy and maintenance efficiencies, the managementteam was looking to establish controlsystem standards with an easy-to-use graphical interface.
System solution
Buildings around campus were not getting adequate chilled water to satisfy comfort needs due to poor distribution control. Delta Controls revised the chilled water-piping configuration from a 3-way to a 2-way valve design, eliminating the secondary distribution pumps in all buildings on campus. The revised central chilled water plant config-uration is a “Vari-Prime" design for variable chilled water flow through the chillers as well as throughout the campus via variable frequency drives pump operation. The university’s existing Ethernet Wide Area Network was used as a backbone to integrate the system throughout the campus.
Results
Chuck Jenkins, Campus Chief Engineer, remarked that the first summer of operation was the smoothest summer he could ever remember in terms of customer satisfaction. Plant efficiency improved dramatically, with chiller plant differential increasing an average of 8° to 9° F. Comfort complaints virtually disappeared. Staff can respond to service requests from anywhere on or off campus via any PC with Web access or from their wireless PDAs. So far Delta Controls have been used on 15 buildings on campus. The project earned a 1st place engineering excellence award from the ASHRAE Illinois chapter.
What they’re saying at the University of Loyola
On comfort
“Our first summer of operation was the smoothest summer that I can remember in terms of customer satisfaction. We noticed a dramatic increase in plant efficiency, with chiller plant differential increasing an average of 8° to 9° F. Comfort complaints virtually disappeared.”
Chuck Jenkins, Campus Chief Engineer
Loyola University, Chicago
On technology
“We’ve got Delta Controls in 15 buildings now and my staff can respond to service requests from anywhere on or off campus via any PC with Web access or from their wireless PDAs. Delta just makes things easier all the way around.”
Chuck Jenkins, Campus Chief Engineer
Loyola University, Chicago
About Delta Controls:
Since its inception, Delta Controls has taken a single approach to business: do what it takes to do the job right, all the time, every time. That’s why we offer the most interoperable BACnet platform in the industry and designed our own HVAC, lighting and access systems to be fully integrated and operated from a single workstation. We pride ourselves on our easy-to-use graphic interface and customizable software. Simply put, we do it right.