Service

Year-round chilled water for air conditioning

Provider

District Cooling St. Paul Inc., an affiliate of District Energy St. Paul, Inc.

Signed customers and building area served

More than 95 signed customers with building facilities ranging in size from 12,000
to over 650,000 square feet, totaling more than 18.8 million square feet, located in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota

Timing

1993: Start-up of cooling operations and ongoing expansion construction

1994: 2.5-million-gallon chilled-water storage tank operational

2003: 4-million-gallon chilled-water storage tank and two electric-drive chillers operational at new cooling plant

Benefits

• No use of CFC refrigerants or groundwater
• Capital and operating cost savings
• Flexible building operation
• Improved tenant comfort
• Less space required for cooling equipment
  
  

Current
system

35,300 feet of twin supply and return chilled-water pipelines (up to 30 inches in diameter), circulating 975,000 gallons of water; six electric and two steam-absorption chillers at District Energy's main plant, two electric chillers at the Tenth Street cooling plant, and several satellite chillers; 6.7-million-gallon chilled-water storage systems

2004-Engineering Excellence Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Minnesota for the design and construction of the Tenth Street chiller plant

System expansion

Additional electric-drive chillers at the new chiller plant located at 215 East Tenth Street in Saint Paul, Minnesota

System cost
and financing

Phases I - VII, totaling $55 million, funded by revenue bonds plus a $3.0 million subordinated loan from St. Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority

District cooling systems elsewhere

District cooling systems serve numerous U.S. cities including Hartford, Chicago, Nashville, San Diego, New York City and Minneapolis, as well as many college campuses, airports and military bases.