University is using the LEED rating system to gage project sustainability
Siemens Building Technologies recently announced that it will design, build, operate, and maintain a combined heat and power plant (CHP) to serve Oregon Health and Science University’s (OHSU) new River Campus in Portland, Ore. Scheduled to open in 2006, the CHP will provide OHSU with a clean, flexible, reliable, and efficient source of heat and electric power.
The plant will serve Building One, a 400,000 square-foot facility that will house medical offices, outpatient surgery, research laboratories, a wellness center, an imaging center, conference center, retail outlets, and parking. It will feature five natural gas-fired microturbines, which will produce all of the heat required by the facility, as well as 34% of its electric power.
The company is also designing a chilled water production plant to serve the cooling needs of the building. Both the CHP and chilled-water plants will be integrated and controlled as a coordinated central utility plant. Other features of the new OHSU facility include using rainwater to flush public fixtures and an internal bioremediator to treat waste.