Ice, Ice Baby

Innovative ice storage tank system at Security National II in Murray mitigates peak energy demand costs.
By B. H. Wright

The design-build of Security National's second project at the 53rd Corporate Park campus—a six-story, 220,000 SF Class A office building in Murray—featured a unique ice storage system on its roof as a way to mitigate peak energy demand costs from Murray City Power, which are considerably higher during daytime hours.

According to Brandon Federico, Manager of Corporate Real Estate for Security National, during the design of the project, an ice storage tank system (Ice Bank) with low temperature variable air volume (VAV) was selected as the most cost-effective and sustainable option for the cooling of this building.

"I love it—it was definitely the most efficient system because demand charges for Murray power are so high during peak hours," said Federico. "Owners need to know what other municipalities have high demand charges, because it adds up."

Salt Lake-based CCI Mechanical installed the Ice Bank cooling system in quick fashion, with all chilled water piping prefabricated in house and installed on site in only three days. The mechanical room supporting the system was also prefabbed and installed in less than 10 days. Greg LaHue, Preconstruction Manager for CCI, said the design-build process saved time and money. "We cut two months off the schedule because every design team member was on the same page during preconstruction," he said. "Design-build eliminates change orders. If the team misses something the owner doesn't pay. It's a better delivery method."

Prefabricating everything in CCI's shop offers myriad advantages including faster and safer installation and excellent quality control.

"All welding is done in controlled areas," said McKayla Flach, Design Engineer for CCI. "We know it's been tested, know there won't be leaks."

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(Photos courtesy CCI Mechanical)

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(Photos courtesy CCI Mechanical)

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(Photos courtesy CCI Mechanical)

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The ice storage VAV system utilizes a thermal storage system comprised of ice storage tanks (Ice Bank) which provide chilled water to the building cooling coils. The ice storage tank is charged during peak off hours and discharges when cooling loads peak. Using this thermal storage system reduces the demand on the chiller and electrical grid compared to a traditional VAV system. This allows for decreased demand charge as well as a level building load profile. This innovative design of the cooling system ensured low life cycle cost and better overall mechanical costs for the owner. The design also created excellent tenant flexibility and maximum sustainability for the life of the building. It's also good for the city, as it lessens demand on Murray City's overall electric grid.

It was also apparent during design that the ice storage tanks and supplemental equipment would be an eyesore and take away from its aesthetics, given the building's visible location just west of I-15. A screen wall was designed to conceal the mechanical roof equipment, one that was painted to match the building and maintain the attractiveness of the building's design.

Federico believes this system could be utilized effectively across many building types.

"This was a great project for us," he said. "The best markets for this are industrial, manufacturing, life sciences [...] anything that has technical processes, chilled water for manufacturing. I could see this in the industrial market."

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