Texas Tech Optimizes Utility Plant Performance

Texas Tech Utility Plant Optimization Saves Money, Resources

A program of continuous energy monitoring and chiller plant optimization implemented in early 2014 at two Texas Tech University district chilled water and steam plants has saved more than $200,000 in energy costs as of June 2015 – exceeding both the universi­ty’s initial capital investment in the program and the performance guarantee under its three-year contract. The monitoring system serves the Texas Tech Uni­versity Campus, the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) and University Medical Center. all in Lubbock. Texas.

Supplied by New York-headquartered utiliVisor and installed by TDIndustries of Dallas, the system is an effective tool for the analysis of large district cooling and heating systems, steam plants and chiller plants. The web-based, networked solution, built on open standards, works in real time and defined timeframe increments to collect and format data, monitor opera­tions and equipment errors, and deliver oversight via web-based alerts. Based on the data, operators can track and improve performance to optimize energy efficiency.

Texas Tech University (TTU) was created by leg­islative action in 1923 and the college opened in 1925 with six buildings and an enrollment of 914. In 2015- 2016, TTU had an enrollment of 35,158 with a set goal of reaching 40,000 by 2020, and many experts predict that could happen by 2018.

The TTU Utilities group has focused on addressing and meeting the challenges of optimizing the com­plex district utility plants that serve its two Lubbock campuses.