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Catching up with energy-efficient cooling systems – Ice Bear
This is the second installment of a two-part update on energy-efficient cooling technologies covered in past issues of Energy Services Bulletin. Peak load management is not a problem that lends itself to a silver bullet—it all depends on the climate, the customer, the building and the utility itself. Take the summer cooling season for example: utilities offer incentives for high-efficiency air conditioners, swamp coolers or heat pumps. Time-of-use (TOU) rates and automated load control have their place, too. Ice Energy's Ice Bear energy storage system, first covered in the April 2006 Energy Services Bulletin, represents a specific opportunity to reduce cooling demand, but one that could have a major impact in the right application. Works with HVACThe Ice Bear is a rooftop, thermal energy storage (TES) system ideally suited for installation on buildings of three stories or less. In other words, many, if not most retail, light commercial, industrial, office, educational and municipal buildings are good candidates for the technology. The configuration of off-the-shelf components works with existing HVAC equipment to shift a facility's peak electricity demand. Using less expensive nighttime power, the Ice Bear system freezes water in an insulated tank to store cooling capacity for the next day. During the day, chilled refrigerant circulates through the tank to a modified evaporator coil in the air conditioning system, eliminating the need to run the energy-intensive compressor. The ice refreezes each night while the HVAC system operates as usual. According to the manufacturer, Ice Energy LLC, integrating the Ice Bear with a building's HVAC system can reduce daytime air conditioning energy demand by as much as 95 percent. Facility owners can take advantage of time-of-use rates offered by their utilities, and power providers can use the system as a load-shaping tool. New partners, expanded product lineIn 2008, Ice Energy introduced the second generation Ice Bear 30 and the complementary Ice-Ready Rooftop Units (RTU). The RTU expands applications for hybrid cooling with a dedicated evaporator coil and built-in connection to the Ice Bear. The components are designed to integrate into existing HVAC systems, and to be available to end-users as an out-of-the-box solution. Ice Energy is working with HVAC leaders Trane Inc., Carrier, York and Lennox to market cooling units with the Ice Bear 30 already integrated. The recent addition of smart grid-enabled "Cool Data Controller" software to its product line indicates another shift in Ice Energy's marketing strategy—to the supply side. In an interview with the Northern Colorado Business Daily, Ice Energy President Frank Ramirez envisioned utilities deploying the storage systems in the same way they deliver electricity. "The end consumer will be the beneficiary of the technology and the host of the technology," he explained, "But the utility companies will be Ice Energy's customers." "A large-scale deployment of Ice Bear units could feasibly shift 40 to 60 percent of a utility's peak load," said Randy Zwetzig, the company's vice president. "It can be done relatively quickly and inexpensively, making it an attractive alternative to building new peaker or mid-peaker powerplants." Industry recognitionIce Bear is steadily building its profile within the HVAC industry. At its 2009 conference, the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers gave Ice Energy the AHR Expo Green Building Innovation Award for developing the Ice Bear 30. That award coincided with another honor, the Ice Bear receiving 90 out of 100 points on Smart Grid News' Smart Grid Scorecard. The scorecard rates technologies for engineering that meets smart grid implementation standards. Buildings Magazine named the Ice Bear one of its Top 100 Products of 2008, and California Energy Commission gave Ice Energy and the City of Victorville a Flex Your Power Demand Response Award. More importantly, CEC is making the technology part of its permanent load shifting effort. Shifting California's peakThat inclusion is due, at least in part, to the support the Ice Bear garnered during Southern California Public Power Authority's 11-member demonstration program in 2006. Anaheim Public Utilities, one of the participants, now offers rebates to customers for deploying small-scale thermal energy storage. To date, seven customers at eight sites have installed 28 Ice Bears, permanently shifting a total of 259 kW of load to the off peak hours. Qualified customers also receive a special rate, providing further incentives in the form of lower energy bills. Time-of-use rates are where the Ice Bear really pays owners back, notes Paul Reid, public benefits manager for Azusa Light and Water. Azusa participated in the SCPPA demonstration, but does not offer incentives for the Ice Bear, even though the unit on the city library "runs like a champ," after an early glitch. "Our TOU rates apply only to customers with a demand of 200 kW or more—about two dozen, in all," Reid explained. "We are too small to design rates for special customer categories." At the other end of the size spectrum, investor-owned Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and Southern California Edison (SCE) see mass deployment as a way to reduce their peaks by megawatts. As part of PG&E's "Shift and Save" program, Ice Energy and Trane are retrofitting commercial buildings in PG&E territory with advanced cooling systems. The investor-owned utility's goal is to reduce peak demand by up to 1.2 MW. SCE's version of "Shift and Save" is aiming for 2.5 MW of power relief by installing Ice Bears on 300 mid-sized customers. Ice Energy is teaming with Honeywell Utility Solutions in SCE's territory. Participating PG&E and SCE customers will receive rebates to offset the installation costs, and they may save as much as 20 percent on their electricity bills. Some funding for "Shift and Save" is coming from CEC. Going forward, Zwetzig believes the stimulus bill could benefit Ice Bear installation projects, not only for individual customers, but on the scale of the "Shift and Save" program as well. "The Cool Data Controller can aggregate and dispatch units, so utilities can shift a large part of their load to a time when the grid is both underused and more thermally efficient," he noted. "In other words, they can change the way they use their systems for the better." It may not be a silver bullet, but the right-sized utility with a significant base of small-to-medium commercial and industrial customers could find a place on its list of cooling solutions for the Ice Bear.
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Previous issues
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ResourcesAHR Expo Green Building Innovation Award |
Resources (cont.)Flex Your Power Demand Response Award |
PeopleRelated articlesEnergy Services Bulletin, April 2006 California utilities test peak-shifting cooling technology Northern Colorado Daily, |
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