LA CROSSE – The world’s most efficient chiller is now available to provide steady and reliable cooling to environments with smaller cooling load demands. The CenTraVac centrifugal chiller from Trane, a leading global provider of indoor comfort systems and services and a brand of Ingersoll Rand, can now be configured in the 120- to 350-ton capacity commonly required by K-12 school and government buildings.
High fuel costs, rebates, and other incentives for more sustainable building solutions are driving many schools and government leaders to upgrade their infrastructure for greater efficiency using solutions such as the CenTraVac chiller to serve their chilled water system. Heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration systems typically consume 60 percent of the energy used in an existing building, according to the Energy Information Agency.
In late January, President Obama also announced the Better Buildings Initiative, which focuses on making commercial buildings 20 percent more energy efficient over the next decade. The White House states that by making buildings more energy efficient, building owners will reduce their energy bills by about $40 billion annually.
“Especially in K-12 and government buildings, customers are more pressed than ever before to find HVAC solutions that allow them to lower energy costs and increase sustainability,” said Randy Newton, global leader of applied systems at Trane. “Now, even when buildings require smaller load capacity, customers can depend on the CenTraVac chiller for unmatched efficient, reliable, cost effective cooling.”
The CenTraVac chiller’s semi-hermetic, multi-stage, low-pressure design produces the industry’s lowest documented emissions while delivering the industry’s best efficiency rating—15 percent better than competitive chillers. CenTraVac performance can also assist school and government leaders in achieving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building certification and in meeting environmental codes. By further leveraging the capabilities of this chiller into a Trane EarthWise system, owners can achieve the most environmentally considerate chilled water systems in the industry.
Direct-drive chillers such as the CenTraVac, feature the industry’s fewest moving components. They do not require speed-increasing gears and shaft seals, which can require significant attention to maintain; therefore, the CenTraVac chiller achieves the industry’s best design reliability rating of 99.7 percent, calculated according to the ASHRAE Applications Handbook, “Operations and Maintenance Management.”
Facilities managers can further customize the CenTraVac chiller to meet the needs of their buildings. Energy saving options include: adaptive frequency drives to optimize compressor performance, heat recovery to reduce operating costs and a free cooling feature which can provide up to 45 percent of nominal chiller capacity without running the compressor.