>> A floor was added in the sloped coal bunker that allows for new makeup air units.
>> The coal shed was turned into new me- chanical equipment space.
>> The train trestle became an emergency exit from a mechanical space.
>> The coal chutes were repurposed into vents to supply combustion air to the boilers.
The plant’s accompanying 175-foot-tall brick smokestack remains only as an archi- tectural feature and a campus landmark, and the former office space was gutted and turned into a lobby/museum that displays one of the plant’s salvaged iron coal boiler fronts. The 2-story space also includes origi- nal construction drawings and photos of the renovation, as well as a system diagram ex- plaining how the new plant works. It acts as a launching point for tours for engineering students, other institutions and consultants.
Campus Sustainability Converting the plant on East Campus to
natural gas isn’t the steam plant’s only sus- tainable feature, however. In hopes of earning LEED Gold from the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council, Duke University reused 87 percent of the original building and made use of recycled water, including rainwater from the new roof, to operate the plant’s toilet. “The reuse of this existing building and
its recommissioning as a steam plant repre- sents a major commitment to sustainability,” explains John Noonan, vice president for Duke University’s Facilities Management. “When we first started the renovation
process, we hoped for a Gold rating but didn’t know what to expect,” Williams notes. “Typically, LEED doesn’t work well with cer- tain types of buildings, like a steam plant, so earning the rating is pretty exciting.” The plant ultimately received a LEED Gold rating in 2011. It garnered 40 of a possible 69 points. The plant performed best (12 of 15 points) in the “Indoor Envi- ronmental Quality” section, which awards points for overall air and temperature quality and natural daylighting. “We used high- grade filters to increase air quality, and the
steam plant’s control room features a 2-story arched window with a vaulted ceiling— thanks to the sloped coal bunker above. We get so much sunlight you sometimes can’t see the computer’s monitor; we had to install some shades,” Williams adds. In addition to its LEED certification, the steam plant has received 14 other awards for sustainability, design, historic preserva- tion and reconstruction from a variety of or- ganizations, including the American Institute of Architects, Washington; the Society for College and University Planning, Ann Arbor, Mich.; Preservation Durham, N.C.; the Triangle Business Journal; and Associated Builders and Contractors Inc., Washington.
Next Steps
The next step for Duke University to meet its goal of mitigating the use of coal is the complete conversion and renovation of the West Campus Steam Plant. This project is currently underway and is slated to be com- plete by May 2013. Converting the West plant is more difficult than the East plant’s renovation because the university must keep the West plant running during the retro- fit. However, East Campus Steam Plant’s added capacity has provided the flexibility to allow the West plant’s conversion to be accomplished without a significant customer impact.
The two plants together virtually serve
the entire Duke University campus, which consists of approximately 13.4 million gross square feet of buildings on 1,200 acres con- nected by 32 miles of steam pipe. Together the two newly renovated plants provide a total capacity of 540,000 pounds per hour of steam, enough for current and future building needs through 2024. The renovations and conversions of the East and West Campus Steam Plants have allowed Duke University to take a significant step toward its goal of becoming climate neutral by 2024, the university’s centen- nial year. Avoiding the use of coal at Duke University has reduced greenhouse-gas emissions tied to steam by 40 percent, which has helped reduce the university’s overall emissions by 15 percent. “With this conversion, Duke was able to cut its coal consumption by approximately 70 percent,” Noonan adds.
C] D]
ABOUT THIS ARTICLE
This article includes informa- tion from a piece by Leanora Minai, editor of Working@ Duke, the award-winning publication for Duke Univer- sity staff and faculty.