by Peggy Rhodes
Daily Lobo
A new, state-of-the-art chiller plant, designed to replace what officials say was an outdated central heating and cooling system, is providing the additional cooling to keep a growing UNM campus comfortable well into the future.
Numerous University dignitaries including several members of Lobo Energy Inc. dedicated the $12 million, 19,000 square-foot Lomas Chilled Water Plant on June 25.
Lobo Energy is a subsidiary of UNM formed for the exclusive purpose of supplying energy utility services to UNM after the University realized it was facing a major problem of maintaining an old and limited capacity utility system.
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"The completion of the plant marks the completion of the first of three projects to upgrade and renew the utility infrastructure at the University," said Mary Vosevich, director of UNM's Physical Plant. "It will provide us with reliable capacity to cool the campus effectively for upwards of the next 20 years."
The plant, which houses state-of-the-art electric chillers with a current capacity of 7,300 tons, was funded entirely through UNM revenue bonds.
Larry Schuster, physical plant utilities engineer and project team director responsible for planning and implementation of the plant, said it boasts one of the newest, largest and most efficient cooling systems in New Mexico, producing chilled water at nearly twice the rate and efficiency of the former plant.
"What we plan to do as we're introducing energy conservation projects is to have the University community support the project and make them aware of energy conservation measures," Schuster said.
The facility, at the corner of Las Lomas Road and Campus Boulevard, contains 7,350 tons of refrigeration, enough to cool 2,000 homes and pumps up to 9,000 gallons of chilled water per minute at twice the efficiency of the equipment it replaced, said Jeff Easton, chief executive officer of Lobo Energy.
The architecture of the new building housing the plant blends UNM's traditional pueblo-revival design into an industrial building and serves as a beautiful and functional anchor to the campus, he said.
"The plant was designed to provide the water needs of both main and north campuses and to renovate the infrastructure to provide better utility efficiencies and reliable heating, cooling and electrical service now and in the future to UNM buildings that would include the health care facilities, students, faculty, staff and research activities on campus," Easton said.
Vosevich said UNM's Physical Plant had sought a viable solution for several years to replace the World War II-era utility equipment and systems. It was not until UNM was issued a $60 million bond package to upgrade, improve and renovate the University's utilities infrastructure that the State Board of Finance and the Commission on Higher Education approved the project.
