Arkansas Valley Regional Medical Center

At Issue

The team explored reutilizing existing co-gen equipment and peak shaving opportunities. The hospital's current gas and electric rates did not warrant the use of co-generation. However, there were significant advantages to re-using the old generator, instead of shipping it off to the salvage yard. It was adequate in size to power an electric chiller, and thus provide peak shaving and demand avoidance to the medical campus. Also, should the main generator for providing emergency power lapse for whatever reason, that re-purposed generator could offer additional back up.

BGCE's Work

Construction management, MEP design, commissioning of:

• DDC controls system


• New CFC & HCFC-free steam absorption chiller


• High efficiency steam boiler burners


• Primary/secondary pumping

Client Benefits

The goals of the new design included having a plant that could be set up to accommodate co-gen functionality in the future should the gas and electric rate structure shift to make co-gen economically desirable. The new construction project included a new steam boiler plant, a new emergency generator for the site to handle all emergency loads, an absorption chiller coupled with an existing electric chiller, and re-use of an existing generator designed with power feed to serve the electric chiller. Additionally, the chiller plant was selected to strategically utilize steam absorption chillers and electric chillers so that the owner could operate the plant to utilize the most cost-effective energy source, be it gas or electricity. With gas currently being the most economical fuel, the primary cooling for the expansive campus comes from the absorption chiller system. Any additional cooling necessary, that the absorption chiller cannot handle, will be addressed by the electric chiller and that electric chiller will be powered by the on-site generator, thus avoiding the electrical demand charges of the electric chiller on peak cooling days. This unique strategy also allows change to the chilled water generation approach based on utility rates. Should electricity become a cheaper fuel source than gas, the electric chiller could be utilized as the first stage of cooling.