Case Study - Higher Education

Santa Clara University

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UNIVERSITY DISCOVERS A LITTLE-KNOWN FEATURE OF TRANE—INVISIBILITY

SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY HAS A SERENE AND BEAUTIFUL CAMPUS; TRANE HELPS KEEP IT THAT WAY

OVER 200 VARIETIES OF ROSES, NUMEROUS BOTANICAL GARDENS AND A FEW NEW ENERGY PLANTS.

Santa Clara, California’s oldest institution of higher learning, is quite a sight. Nestled in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley, its adobe tan buildings with red roof tiles hark back to simple mission life. Olive, palm, avocado and citrus trees, many over 150 years old, dot the landscape. Visitors can enjoy numerous gardens including the famous Mission Church Rose Garden, home to over 600 bushes and 200 species—many one of a kind. Amid all this botanical beauty is a very modern plan to update the campus HVAC system. Santa Clara is moving in the direction of “Energy Centers” or mechanical plants that deliver chilled water to multiple buildings from a single point. The system allows the University to take advantage of the cost savings offered by more efficient centrifugal chillers, smoother chiller loading, and better building space utilization. But Santa Clara officials were very clear that they didn’t want the new cooling towers to intrude on the eye, the ear, or the landscape.

ZERO ACOUSTIC IMPACT HAS JUST THE RIGHT RING TO IT.

The chillers Santa Clara chose as the centerpiece of these “Energy Centers” were the TRANE CenTraVac™ Model CVHEs. Ed Walsh, Santa Clara’s HVAC leader, said his past experiences with Trane helped shape their buying decision: “We’ve had good experience with [Trane] machines, and they have excellent efficiency. We also get good support from the Trane San Francisco office…” But another important factor was the low sound levels of Trane CenTraVac chillers. Most engine rooms are located in the basement areas of campus buildings, and CenTraVac chillers have virtually zero acoustic impact. Because of the growing number of Energy Centers, Santa Clara needed a way to operate everything efficiently, so they also installed a TRANE Tracer™ Summit system. “We worked directly with Trane to customize this unit to our specific needs,” said Walsh. Now the status of chiller plants, emergency generators, freezer boxes, switch gear, even individual room temperatures and CO2 levels can be observed and adjusted at Walsh’s office or at any of the Energy Centers around campus.

THE SUCCESS IS SPREADING, ALTHOUGH NO ONE WOULD EVER KNOW IT.

The smooth, reliable operation the Trane CenTraVac chillers and Trane Summit system have provided the university has received from has to plans for expansion of the system. New projects, including the renovation of a multipurpose athletic facility and moving HVAC capabilities to the dorms, were planned. The TRANE Tracer System the university installed is one of the largest on the West Coast, and is a crucial part of their present and future plans because of its ability to “help conserve energy, reduce operating costs,and maximize efficiency,” according to Walsh. All of this has helped make the Trane-powered Energy Centers a huge, if completely unnoticed, success.