Founded in 1845, the Brooklyn Hospital Center is a 464-bed full-service community teaching hospital. Its administration was facing the need to replace the chiller cooling system in Brooklyn’s oldest hospital, serving more than 300,000 patients each year. The hospital was seeking a reliable solution that would create redundancy in case of equipment failure and achieve cost savings at the same time.
In devising a comprehensive solution, Ecosystem not only considered equipment issues but also looked at the entire water and distribution system. After many rounds of brainstorming, Ecosystem’s integrated design and construction team decided to relocate the chiller plant from the basement to the roof of the hospital, resulting in improved efficiency of chilled water production and easier maintenance. The improved chiller system integrated two technologies — a 200-ton absorption chiller powered by steam and a 1000-ton dual compressor electric chiller with variable frequency drives — providing redundancy not only in equipment but also in energy source.
The new chiller network is future-proofed, designed to accommodate new projects, including a steam to hot water conversion, cogeneration, or even eventual hospital expansion. The project benefited from $64,000 in incentives, far above the $25,000 that was originally guaranteed in the proposal.
Chiller replacement
Chilled water network optimization
‘‘Max (the Construction Manager) took the project on as though he worked for the hospital himself.’’
– Paul Y. Wong, Vice President of Facilities Management
