SISTERS OF MERCY

The Sisters of Mercy – South Central Community is headquartered in Belmont, NC, on an historic campus of ten buildings, including residential, administrative, religious, recreational and classroom facilities totaling some 227,762 square feet of space.

The Community was seeking an integrated heating and cooling solution that would make the campus highly efficient in keeping with the Sisters’ mandate to provide excellent environmental stewardship. Also included was upgrading the heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment, and in some cases introducing those amenities to buildings that lacked them.

In addition, the project included integrating formerly isolated equipment into one manageable, high-efficiency system that honored the historic nature of some of the campus buildings.

Solution

Carrier assisted with the design and installation of a Central Energy Plant to serve the entire campus. Using an i-Vu® Open Control System and web-based user interface to access and manage two high-efficiency Carrier 23XRV Evergreen® chillers, multiple Variable Frequency Drives and an array of other equipment from a variety of manufacturers, the system allows Engineering Services staff to keep the occupants of each building comfortable while monitoring system activity from any web-enabled location.

The equipment, piping and ductwork was installed in a manner that preserved the historic and visual integrity of the facilities. And thanks to the industry leading efficiency of the equipment and the fine-tuning enabled by the i-Vu® interface, the Sisters of Mercy – South Central Community has seen a $115,000 decline in natural gas costs in the system’s first full year of operation.

In environmental terms, this efficiency translates to lower greenhouse gas emissions and a smaller carbon footprint for the campus, as well as better stewardship of the Earth’s fossil fuel resources, thus fulfilling the Community’s “green” mandate.