OCI Associates, Inc. provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection engineering for the renovation of Cape Coral High School in Cape Coral, Florida. The extensive project included interior upgrades of the boys and girls locker rooms, the school cafeteria and a complete replacement of the HVAC system. The campus was occupied during the phased construction process.
OCI provided a complete replacement of the existing inefficient air-cooled central plant with a new 800-Ton Central Energy Plant to support the 300,000 square foot campus. The new chiller plant includes two 400-Ton water-cooled centrifugal compressor chillers. The compressors are Turbocor magnetic bearing oil-less compressors, and the units have variable frequency drive (VFD) for part-load control. The refrigerants are R-134a with no ozone depletion potential, and the chillers have a BACnet communications interface that allows access to the internal control information from the central building automation system (BAS). The cooling towers and associated hardware are constructed of stainless steel for corrosion resistance. The chilled water pumping system is a constant volume Primary/Variable secondary system. There are three constant flow primary chilled water pumps, utilizing the third as a stand-by. The secondary has two, VFD controlled chilled water pumps serving the campus distribution loop with each pump alternating operation on a weekly basis with the other serving as a stand-by.
The CEP was placed into operation in July of 2012 and has reported campus-wide energy savings between 20-25%. These savings were a combination of implementing new energy savings strategies in the building HVAC systems and the improved efficiency of the central energy plant.
