CITY AND BUILDINGS North America RESIDENTIAL HOSPITALS <strong>OF</strong>FICES UNIVERSITIES, COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS DOMESTIC REFRIGERATOR / FREEZER MOVIE THEATERS DISTRICT HEATING & COOLING 20 DATA CENTERS (SERVER COOLING) CONVENTION CENTERS MUSEUM AIRPORTS
CITY AND BUILDINGS Residential In North America, due to concerns of flammability, HC domestic refrigerators were on regulatory ice for years, making the US the only large market not to have adopted the widespread solution. However, the situation for hydrocarbons fundamentally changed in 2011, when the US EPA, under the Significant New alternatives Policy (SNAP) program, approved three hydrocarbon refrigerants R290, R600a, and R441A (a hydrocarbons blend also known as HCR188C) as acceptable substitutes in household and small commercial, stand-alone refrigerators and freezers. Key industry stakeholders in North America believe that household refrigerators with hydrocarbons will slowly take over the market. In 2012, GE introduced the first isobutene refrigerator, under the brand name Monogram, to the US market. In Mexico, Bosch Siemens Hausgeräte BSH Mexico has begun marketing hydrocarbon refrigerators in cooperation with local retailer Sears Mexico. PUBLIC & COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS: AIRPORTS, HOSPITALS, UNIVERSITIES, GOVERNMENT AND HISTORIC BUILDINGS, HOTELS, SHOPPING MALLS H 2 O: Among the natural refrigerant technologies used for building air conditioners in the US, perhaps the most popular is absorption. For example, the Motefiore Medical Center in Bronx, New York, uses two doubleeffect, high-pressure steam absorption chillers, one at 800 tons and another at 1,000 tons. These units cool 400,000 sq. ft. of the center, including 21 operating rooms, all of the intensive-care units, and approximately 450 beds. According to facility managers, energy costs are approximately half of what they had been paying for the operation of two 750 ton electric chillers. The City of Hope chiller plant in California utilizes steam power and natural gas (indirectly) to power one 2,000- ton double-effect absorption chiller to provide cooling to the health care facility. Absorption chillers are used in other medical facilities across the US, for instance in Jamaica Hospital (NY), Loyola Medical Centre (IL), St. Luke’s Hospital (OH), and Scripps Clinic (CA). In Canada, solar thermal powered absorption chillers with a cooling capacity of 105kW, a 3,000 gallon (11,356 liters) storage tank, and w162 solar thermal collectors were installed in a recently renovated retirement home, Oxford Gardens, in Ontario. This installation saved 50,000 kW of electricity during the first full cooling season and received the 2012 Intersolar North America Award. Sorption technology is often used in combination with gas turbines in Combined Cooling, Heating and Power (CCHP) projects, where exhaust heat from electricity generation is utilized to drive a thermochemical cycle that produces chilled water for air-conditioning. Viking Yachts’ headquarter offices use CCHP systems with absorption chillers in their new power plant in New Jersey. Cogeneration with an adsorption chiller, powered by exhaust heat, was installed in the LEED Platinum recognized renovated offices of Perkins+Will in Atlanta. Absorption chillers are increasingly popular in data centers. For example, DataGryd designed a cogeneration facility for 240,000 sq. ft. (22,297m 2 ) of data center space in Manhattan. The absorption chillers reduce the amount of air-conditioning needed to keep the data center cool, thereby reducing electricity needs by 20%. Cogeneration of power and cooling with gas turbines and absorption chillers providing 300 tons of chilled water will be installed by October 2013 in Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union. Sorption technology for air-conditioning and also for heating has been installed in many academic institutions. For example, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh uses solar thermal and bio-diesel fuel, two renewable sources of energy, to drive a pair of 16 kW absorption chillers/heaters. Natural gas or solar thermal powered absorption chillers can also be found in the Desert Hill High School in Arizona and Columbia University Medical Center in New York. Absorption and adsorption chillers are used in other facilities such as hotels, museums, movie theaters, convention centers, and airports. The US Air Terminal at LaGuardia International Airport, New York City, is heated and cooled by three natural-gas-powered 500 ton absorption chiller/heaters. Based on previous utility records, the plant has been shown to save 40% in energy costs. By using one system to perform both heating and cooling, the system actually saves space and simplifies maintenance procedures. The Steinway & Sons piano factory in Queens, New York, installed a field of parabolic solar panels that heat a mixture of water and glycol to 350 degrees and pump water into an 80 ton double-effect absorption chiller. Advanced absorption technology can offer additional advantages, beyond those achievable with the currently manufactured single effect and double-effect absorption chiller products, for most applications. Recently developed triple-effect chillers will add significant additional cooling capacity, using recovered heat for large commercial building applications. HC: In Mexico, Cinemas, such as Cinépolis, a bowling alley called Bolerama TEC, and Telmex, one of the country's largest telecom companies, have all invested in hydrocarbon refrigerants. 21
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