TD Tower

700 West Georgia
Pacific Centre, Vancouver
Chiller System Upgrade

Client: Cadillac Fairview
Mechanical Contractor: Davidson Brothers

Proud recipient of 2005 American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Region XI & BC Chapter Technology Award in 'Existing Commercial Buildings Category' for TD Tower (Tower 1) Chiller System Upgrade.

Cadillac Fairview retained Jade West Engineering Co. Ltd. to upgrade the building's aging chilled water systems. Improving efficiency and addressing environmental concerns by replacing equipment that used CFC refrigerant were of primary importance.

The design involved re-piping with a more efficient series-counterflow chilled water piping arrangement; installing more efficient chillers using variable speed drives to improve part load efficiency; installing pumps with variable speed drive motors on the chilled water pumping system; installing a heat exchanger to provide sufficient cooling for the chilled water system by using cold water from the cooling towers, in lieu of using the building's chillers, for approximately three winter months per year; installing more efficient cooling towers with variable speed drive motors on the fan motors; and installing new DDC controls to optimize the operation of the variable speed drive chillers, chilled water pumps, and cooling tower fans, based on building load and ambient conditions.

A simple payback calculation for the additional costs to upgrade above the minimum ASHRAE 90.1 standard compared to the projected energy savings is less than four (4) years. The system has been fully operational since the summer of 2004 and trend logs show that it operates at efficiencies that are at least as good as projected.