Sustainability Timeline

 

One of the original boilers.
1970 – Construction of Central Plant
Completed in 1970, it housed two high-pressure steam boilers and two steam turbine chillers. It had a walled courtyard abutting to the east for the chiller’s cooling towers. One of the original boilers is shown in the picture above.
Flow diagram of the plant feed system
1979 – Groundbreaking Energy Projects support Campus Growth
In 1979, the University completed the southeast addition under a federal grant. This added the country’s first successful commercial fluidized bed-coal boiler. The southwest addition followed 197in 1983; it contained a high-speed turbine cogenerator driven by pressurized steam from the coal boiler.This cogenerator, and the coal boiler that powered it, were decommissioned in 1998 and replaced by a third natural gas boiler.
Fuel cell bus in front of Capitol Building.
1983 – Fuel Cell Bus Program (Advanced Vehicle Development Team)
Georgetown had three generations of fuel cell bus development projects, all supported by grants and contracts from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), with supporting funds from other interested federal agencies.. Five methanol-fueled fuel cell buses were built which proved efficient and quiet and functioned with near zero emissions.
Intercultural Center's Photovoltaic Rooftop Array.
1984 – Intercultural Center’s 300kW Photovoltaic Rooftop Array
The photovoltaic array at Georgetown University was installed in the summer of 1984 and turned on September of that year. The array spans almost 36,000 square feet of active area on the roof of the seven-storied Intercultural Center (ICC) that lies in the heart of campus. At the time, it was the largest rooftop array of its kind.
Construction of the thermal storage tank beneath Leavey Center.
1986 – Thermal Storage Tank
Under the lowest level of the parking garage beneath the Leavey Center lies a storage reservoir 200′ long, 60′ wide, and 24′ deep. Placed into service in 1986, it holds approximately 2.2 million gallons of chilled water. The thermal storage tank can deliver about 1,000 tons of cooling, over about eight to ten hours, before it needs to be replenished. The tank is drawn from during the daytime and mainly in summer, in order to supplement chiller capacity when cooling demands peak.
New chiller.
2009 – Addition of Chiller 8
In 2009, an eighth chiller was added, this one with a 3,750 ton load.
Delivery of chiller 9.
2015 – Addition of Chiller 9
In August 2015, another 3,750-ton chiller was installed to match growing campus demand. Chiller 9 is shown being delivered in the picture above.
Flow chart of optimized chilled water production.
2019 – Chilled Water Production Optimization
In 2019, GU completed an equipment and controls upgrade for the central plant chilled water production system. This project achieves 15% improvement in system efficiency through the implementation of equipment upgrades and programmable logic. These upgrades significantly reduce the electricity required to produce chilled water. The chilled water system optimization project provides savings of 2,551 Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (MTCDE) per annum.
Central plant's new steam boiler.
2021 – Central Plant Modernization adds Capacity and Increases Plant Efficiency
To support growing loads on Campus, Georgetown University installed a new 100,000 lb/hr steam boiler and replaced three old chillers with a modern and more efficient 3700-ton unit that carried more capacity as well.