In 1978, the East Campus Steam Plant closed. The West Campus Steam Plant had been retrofitted with increased capacity to carry the load of both campuses. It was deemed to be more efficient and cost-effec- tive to run a single plant and not invest in replacing the East Campus plant’s 50-year- old boilers.
In 2007, however, the university em- barked on a study to increase steam capacity to catch up with the growth of space on campus. After evaluating several options, renovating the East Campus Steam Plant was selected as the best use of the historic building and an opportunity to revitalize that part of campus. Initially the East plant was only to be used as a peaking plant to supplant the coal-fired boilers at the West Campus Steam Plant. However, as the reno- vation design was nearing completion in 2008, Duke University expanded its sustain- ability initiatives to include a commitment to reduce greenhouse gases.
This commitment was made by Duke
President Richard Brodhead as part of the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, which asks America’s higher-education entities to measure and re- port their emissions, take immediate steps to reduce them, and develop and implement a plan to go climate neutral. After more than a year of preparing a Climate Action Plan (CAP), the administration presented and received approval of the CAP by the Duke Board of Trustees in October 2009. The most significant and immediate action that Duke could take on campus was to stop burning coal. The effort to retrofit the East Campus steam plant took on a new goal of helping Duke become a climate-neutral campus. The design team quickly responded to this challenge and incorporated changes to make the East Campus Steam Plant a base
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plant. Because the plant was to maximize its output of gas-fired steam production, it required a higher level of reliability and maintainability. In conjunction with the CAP goal of not using coal, the Facilities Engineering staff had to plan for the future growth of campus and include additional steam capacity for a campus that grows approximately 200,000 gross square feet on average annually.
Renovation
The East Campus Steam Plant reopened in January 2010 after a $25 million renovation that marks another era at Duke: Natural gas—not coal—fuels the new boilers. The system increased steam capacity by 35 percent to heat academic and medical buildings, sterilize surgical equipment and maintain proper humidity for buildings, including an art museum and lab research
DETAILS
A] One of the goals for the East Campus Steam Plant was to provide a maximum amount of capacity without significantly impacting the building's Georgian architecture.
B] Fifteen nominal 10,000 pound per hour steam boilers fit into the building's limited horizontal but ample vertical space.
C] The plant's former office was turned into a lobby/museum that displays one of its salvaged iron coal boiler fronts.
D] The design team was committed to maintaining the steam plant's architectural features, including 2-story arched windows.
We took a building and added state-of-the-art technology to produce steam at high efficiency and ultra-low emissions.
— Floyd Williams, Duke University Facilities Management January-February 2013 // RETROFIT 39