Isramart: HUB heating to reduce UW’s carbon emissions

Isramart news:
When the HUB shuts down for renovation over the next two years, workers will install a new heating system that will reduce the building’s carbon emissions by 90 percent.

Jon Lebo, interim director of Student Life projects from the Capital Projects Office, said water-to-water heat pumps will draw the heat out of the central cooling water (CCW) system, generating hot water that would be circulated to provide warm air for the ventilation systems and the radiators under the windows.

“We are recycling the energy,” Lebo said, which will prevent the building from having to generate its own heat.

Lebo said that in the summertime, the university uses cooled water, which is generated in the university’s power plant using large chillers and a cooling tower, running around underground tunnels to provide air-conditioning for some buildings.

“The cooled water running in the tunnels is referred [to] as the CCW system,” Lebo said. “The cooling tower has cascading water in larger chambers that is visible from the Burke-Gilman trail looking like waterfalls.”

Lebo said that in the wintertime, the cooling tower and the chillers are turned off. The cooled water is still pumped around the campus to cool computer rooms and research equipment.

“[The CCW system] generates heat year round,” Lebo said. “The trick is to take 60-degree water and boost it to 120 degrees. All heat transfer will occur within the heat pump.”

The heat source of the current HUB comes from the power plant on campus, where natural gas is burned to heat up water and generate steam, Lebo said.

Lebo said the building will still be served by steam from the power plant used to provide additional heat on very cold days, and as a backup when maintenance is needed for the heat pumps.

“Using water-to-water heat pumps is a relatively new technology,” Lebo said. “It’s the first one on campus.”

Bidding for the project will happen in fall, and the actual installation of the system will begin next May.

He said the team of engineers and architects for the HUB project was excited about the new energy loop.

Sustainability manager of the Capital Projects Office Clara Simon said the HUB project has targeted “a gold rating,” which is the second-best ranking in the green building certification system called LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for new construction and major renovation. It will be the first UW project to follow the most updated version of LEED standards.

Though the new heating system will contribute to the university’s carbon reduction, whether it represents a new direction for the school is yet to be decided.

“By trying this approach at the HUB, we will discover whether the concept and ideas will work,” said Paul Zuchowski, the associate director of Student Activities & Union Facilities. “If it does, we will extend it to other projects on campus.”

The new heating system will cost approximately $300,000, Lebo said.

“If they are transferring excessive heat to the new HUB, that’s awesome,” said junior environmental studies major Brian Hoefgen. “It’s important to look at the cost of the system in order to assess how long it will take to pay for itself, and to see how using less energy on campus can have a direct effect with students.”