Utilities Separation Study

Erdman Anthony evaluated the feasibility and associated cost of separating the utilities of a 455,000-square-foot manufacturing plant owned by a leading medical diagnostics company. The plant, in an industrial campus in Rochester, NY, had a self-contained utility structure.
The utilities involved in the evaluation were:

• A 2,220- to 2,400-ton independent chiller plant for building cooling
• A 1,500 HP independent boiler plant for building heating
• An independent compressed air plant for process systems
• Domestic water sourced from the local public water authority
• Fire-protection water sourced from the local public water authority with a local fire pump
• An independent nitrogen plant
• An independent reverse osmosis water plant
• Natural gas sourced from a local utility company
• Stormwater and sanitary water systems connected to the local county-operated collection systems
• An independent industrial waste treatment plant discharging to local county-operated collection systems
• Dual 34.5kV electric services from a local utility company
• Emergency generators to provide life safety systems and critical load systems
• Telecommunication services from a local provider
• Parking and employee access to the building
• Removal/relocation of utility piping, telecommunications systems, and a sewer pump station

Erdman Anthony prepared a report summarizing the concepts and options, evaluated the feasibility, completed life-cycle benefit cost analyses for chiller and boiler options, and established a general scope of work required to separate these systems. The report also included rough order of magnitude cost estimates for various options.
Working with Erdman Anthony, the client considered building a cogeneration plant but determined the option would not provide an economic benefit due to the plant’s size and results of a life-cycle cost benefit analysis.