Boca West CC Builds “Chiller Plant”

The plant, which will enable the Boca Raton, Fla., club to eliminate the use of older Freon-based air conditioning systems with a single plant and produce chilled water and ice for the club, is being built as part of a $50 million new Golf and Sports Center renovation. The energy savings will provide a payback of the initial cost of the system in five to seven years.

Boca West Country Club in Boca Raton, Fla., is maximizing energy efficiency by building a state of the art “chiller plant” for the club’s air conditioning facilities, as part of its $50 million new Golf and Sports Center renovation.

C&RB featured the club’s quartet of golf courses in the April 2016 issue (“One ‘Four’ All”).

The chilling plant will enable the club to eliminate the use of multiple older Freon-based air conditioning systems with a single plant and produce chilled water and ice that is used throughout the club.

The main chiller plant, the club’s primary source, consists of refrigeration equipment that produces ice that is stored in 45 large containers. This ice is made at night and other off-peak times when the electricity rates are low. Water is circulated through the ice tanks where it is cooled to approximately 42°F and then circulated to the Sports Center and Golf & Activities Center.

In each of the buildings, the chilled water is circulated to the air conditioning units where air is cooled and delivered to the various rooms. After the chilled water leaves the air conditioning units, it returns to the ice tanks to be cooled again. As ice melts in the cooling process it is again frozen during the next cycle by the chiller plant.

The benefits to the chiller plant include:

• Environmental benefits in the elimination of 34 Freon-based split systems with a central plant with capacity to replace additional systems as they need replacement
• Removal of equipment from the roof areas
• Higher efficiency and lower operating costs
• Lower maintenance with one central plants versus multiple air conditioning systems
• A new and more effective control system for temperature and humidity
• Longer life of water cooled chillers (20-25 years) versus air cooled chillers (8 to 12 years).
• The savings in energy provides a payback of the initial cost for the ice storage system in 5 to 7 years