American Center
THE AMERICAN CENTER SAVES SOME GREEN FROM A WISE INVESTMENT
Michigan office tower utilizes innovative Trane program to save money and energy
At 25 years old, The American Center office tower in Southfield, Michigan, was at a crossroads. Much of the equipment in the building was nearing the end of its useful life. Owners were facing increasing operating costs resulting from the aging infrastructure and high utility costs due to the building’s design. This led to discussions with Trane about taking a more comprehensive look at the building’s comfort systems; it was time to invest in a cooler idea.
Trane used its building-systems expertise to develop a custom project to lower operating costs and improve tenant comfort via the Performance Agreement for Comfort from Trane (PACT™) program. Once the project was approved, Trane assembled an experienced team to begin the work.
The original building design used the lighting system as a major source of heat. This design worked well when electricity was inexpensive. Unfortunately, electrical rates have increased significantly over the past 25 years. To reduce the cooling and electrical load in the summer and, therefore, the high cost of cooling a building, a high efficiency lighting upgrade was performed. The reduced summer load had a direct impact on the size of the equipment necessary to cool the building. Two new 640-ton CenTraVac™ chillers were installed to provide efficient cooling to building tenants. Electric boilers were replaced and extensive piping work was done to replace the electric baseboard heat with hot water radiation. Upgrades were made to the building’s air distribution system to improve the quality and efficiency of air delivered to tenants. The domestic water-pumping system was retrofitted to improve the efficiency of its operation. Finally, a TRANE Tracer Summit™ building automation system was installed to provide better environmental control.
“Trane was selected based on their demonstrated quality of service, excellent products and proposed project value. We have had experience working with Trane in a number of properties and knew they were excellent contractors,” commented Joe Mendez, Vice President of Operations.
The project created over $621,000 in annual savings and qualified the property to participate in the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Building® program. “The Trane PACT program has reduced our electric bill by one third!” raved Jim Jonas, Executive Vice President. “The local utility sent a representative to check the accuracy of our property’s electric meters. They found the meters working properly. The large electrical savings were a direct result of the Trane PACT program.”
Performance Agreement for Comfort from Trane (PACT™)
Two new 640-ton CenTraVac™ chillers
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