CASE STUDY WHISTLER OLYMPIC VILLAGE Building Building
Heat
Supply -18o
Variable speed drive pumps
temperature 10o
C
Standby boiler
Return -13o
C
Treated effluent
Wastewater treatment plant
Heat Outfall Cheakamus river
Whistler Athletes’ Village district energy-sharing system (DESS) schematic Two-pipe closed loop can provide both heating and cooling
Although there have been some hitches caused by start- up, control system adjustment and effluent filtering, they compare favourably with the original calculated figures
District energy vs natural gas heating
5.0 4.5 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0
DESS Natural gas heating
DESS natural gas DESS pumping electricity Building heat pump electricity Building electricity heat Building natural gas
42 CIBSE Journal February 2014
maintained in the DESS. It is estimated that the design life of the system will be at least 50 years, and will require minimum maintenance. The first year’s operation demonstrated it would be inexpensive to operate. The system, when completed, is projected
to have provided a 70% reduction in greenhouse gases over a comparable district heating system, and up to 3,200MW hours of building energy per year, using energy that would otherwise be wasted.
Air quality and thermal comfort Indoor air quality and maximum outdoor rate for the housing and hostel was determined using ASHRAE Standard 62.1.2004. Controls were set in each building to provide comfort
conditions, according to ASHRAE Standard 55-2007. Each of the attached residential units has its own heat pump or pumps, taking energy from the DESS and distributing it to the individual spaces. In the summer, when the heat pumps
are in their cooling mode, the excess heat in the DESS system is returned to the sewage plant effluent through heat exchangers. The domestic water is heated by the energy drawn from the DESS. Domestic water maintained at 54.4°C is heated by the energy drawn from the DESS. The hostel is somewhat different. The ground floor
has been converted into a restaurant, while the upper floors are fitted with bunk beds, which are independently rented. Heat pump recovery units reclaim the heat from all of the exhaust air and use this air as ventilation for the rental areas. An air-to-water heat pump on the roof provides hot or chilled water for the ground- floor fan coil units. To get the optimal thermal comfort of 60% thermal radiation and 40% thermal convection (ASHRAE HVAC Application 2007), heating is provided by radiant floors. Control set points for temperature are always within acceptable ranges that provide the thermal comfort, according to ASHRAE Standard 55-2004.
Actual results Phase 1 of the project has completed two full years of operation, with the actual loads experienced being monitored. The connected buildings are 82% residential and 18% commercial/industrial. The loads used in arriving at the savings are actual and, although there have been some hitches caused by start-up, control system adjustment and effluent filtering, they compare favourably with the original calculated figures. The savings experienced were in part,
as a result of the energy extracted from the sewage, the use of variable-speed drives
www.cibsejournal.com Building
Future phase 2
exchanger
temperature 5o
Building
exchanger
Energy input (GWh)
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