Utility Master Planning

capacity, reliability, and efficiency for the next 20 years; yes please!

As your campus grows and changes, so too do the energy demands your buildings put on your heating, cooling, electrical, and water/wastewater/stormwater utilities. A utility master plan will serve as a road map to keep your campus systems capable of serving your campus and buildings' energy and infrastructure needs reliably and efficiently.

Whether GIS mapping and evaluating all of your campus utility systems, or just one; our project approach is to first investigate your existing system(s), through site inspections, staff and utility provider interviews, and usage and utility bills and records to get a thorough understanding of the current conditions.

Next, your master plan and vision for your campus is reviewed in depth, to understand where your campus will be in 5, 10, 20 years and beyond to calculate system(s) projections and needs. Here we will ask about your specific goals for each system, since there are differing levels of redundancy, sustainability, and efficiency that can be provided as options. This helps narrow your options focus.

Once the existing conditions and future goals and projections are completed, various system options are evaluated to deliver the required capacity, efficiency, reliability, and sustainability by evaluating life cycle costs. Life cycle costs include: operation and maintenance and construction over the project life cycle of the system(s).

After evaluating the options; recommendations will be made, that allow you to choose the best solutions to meet your goals, vision, and budget. From there, construction phasing, project schedules, costs, and maintenance for the system is output as an actionable utility master plan.

campus utility master planning systems:

heating

Heating your campus, especially in the northeast, can be one of your more costly activities and there is no going without heat. Boilers & other heating equipment are costly, plus then you must add the annual operating costs that include labor, maintenance, and fuel, which can make the total costs enormous. The good news is that high costs are a breeding ground for savings opportunities.

Fuel prices, technology, and demands all change over time, meaning what was right for your campus 10 or 20 years ago, might not still be your best option, and you could be headed for some savings – all you need is a plan! A heating utility master plan will look at all your options, based on your goals and future needs to give you a clear and actionable plan filled with well-informed projects that you can be confident in, future results and demonstrating that you’re on the right track. Here are some of the campus and building heating options we routinely analyze:

Centralization Decentralization Hot water & steam Fuel distribution and storage Natural Gas Biomass Oil / Coal Cogeneration Alternative energy

cooling

Like heating, two primary options exist for campus cooling. With most cooling powered by electricity, usage and demand are the primary drivers of the cooling question. In the past, campus demands would have needed to be high to justify the costs of a centralized chiller or cooling plant. With Combined Heat & Power (CHP) and Combined Cooling, Heat, & Power (CCHP) system technology advancements and off peak generation and storage options, centralized chillers are becoming more viable solution for campuses of all sizes.

Variable speed centrifugal chillers Absorption chillers Thermal storage tanks Cooling towers

electrical

Electrical needs of a campus need to consider existing equipment, condition, and future demands to identify the power distribution system that is right for your campus. Building operations, energy conservation measures (ECMs) and emergency generation and operations goals need to be considered and can influence your system plan.

Distribution & equipment Voltage Energy Conservation Measures (ECMs) Emergency generation Centralized Decentralized

water/wastewater/stormwater

Buildings need adequate water supply and somewhere to channel the gray water, wastewater, and stormwater. Evaluating these systems will ensure proper capacities and improve reliability and efficiency, by identifying maintenance projects and any inefficiencies.

Pressure testing Pump testing Capacity testing Inflow & Infiltration (I&I) Manhole inspections