Chiller Plant Lifecycle Cost Assessment

The project involved evaluating a proposed central chiller plant at the University of Michigan North Campus. The lifecycle cost of the 4,000-ton central chiller plant was compared to the cost of distributed, stand-alone chiller installations located in individual buildings. The comparison considered installed, maintenance and operating costs, construction of new buildings, and future load growth in existing buildings. This task required the application of lifecycle metrics, equipment efficiency parameters, and operating profiles to generate a complete cash flow analysis of the two alternatives.

• Characterize condition of existing chilled water equipment
• Characterize existing operating profiles based on historical data
• Identify future load changes
• Characterize efficiency of existing and future equipment
• Create customized software-based lifecycle analysis tools
• Quantify lifecycle cost impacts for central CHW plant versus distributed chillers