CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - ERDC Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) Researchers Benjamin Barnes and Dr. Matthew Swanson recently briefed the results of an energy analysis to ERDC Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) Director Dr. Reed Mosher and ERDC Commander Col. Kevin Wilson. The analysis focused on the large energy consumption of high performance computing assets, which have demanding energy security requirements and account for the majority of the energy consumption at Vicksburg.
“The primary benefit was validation of ITL’s ongoing efforts to reduce energy consumption,” said Mosher. “The study validated our current efforts to separate process and comfort cooling, increase chilled water temperatures for process cooling, installation of better monitoring and control systems, and the installation of more energy efficient cooling systems that can take advantage of free cooling on cool days.”
The study also provided focus for future energy conservation efforts, identifying areas of potential energy savings, as well as those that are not cost-effective based on ERDC’s mission, climate, and local energy costs.
“That focus allows us to concentrate efforts on those areas that have the greatest potential for savings,” Mosher said. “The new facilities were designed with energy conservation in mind, and although there may be room for improvement, potential gains would be small. The larger benefit is insight into our older facilities and those things that we can do to reduce energy usage in those facilities.”
Energy consumption was analyzed using CERL’s Net Zero Energy Optimization tool, a computer program that looks at all possible combinations of equipment to meet cooling, heating and electric loads, reporting the one with the lowest life cycle cost.
“It’s exciting to use this new tool at such an important facility. I look forward to examining more possible outcomes than were included in the original study, such as increased gas prices,” said Barnes.
Several scenarios were created to represent different levels of load usage and cooling options. CERL conducted on-site energy audits of ITL that focused on computing loads and the possibility of using a heat engine or power station to simultaneously generate electricity and useful heat, known as cogeneration.
During the study, heating, cooling and electric loads were produced via simulations of buildings and equipment. Several energy supply architectures were analyzed, focusing on cogeneration.
These load scenarios were subjected to a rigorous life-cycle cost review, and the results ruled out natural gas cogeneration, favoring continued and increased use of high-efficiency electric chillers and identifying opportunities for chilled water storage as a reservoir for electrical load leveling. The results of this energy analysis are now being used in an energy audit of the entire ERDC-Vicksburg campus.