Industry
News
White Oak campus. According to the
General Services Administration, the plant
could reduce the energy consumed at
White Oak by 30 percent.
York Stops Offering
HCFC-123 Chillers
Citing the globally mandated transition
away from ozone-depleting refrigerants,
York International Corp. stopped offering
new chillers using HCFC-123 refrigerant as
of Nov. 15, 2004. York Americas President
Iain Campbell noted that HCFC-123 was
designated by the Montreal Protocol and
the U.S. Clean Air Act as a transitional
refrigerant, to be used only for a limited
time to enable manufacturers to develop
centrifugal chillers utilizing refrigerants
with zero ozone-depleting potential (ODP).
York will continue to actively support
all brands of installed CFC and HCFC
chillers with maintenance, parts, enhancements and service. “Further, if a customer
has already placed an order for a York
HCFC-123 chiller, there is no reason to
change that decision,” said Campbell.
“York’s current action is only to stop offering new HCFC-123 chillers. All orders
already received will be executed normally.”
For future orders, the company recommends that customers continue transitioning to its line of zero-ODP, high-efficiency
HFC centrifugal chillers with no phase-out
schedule.
Tabreed Signs New
Customers
Tabreed, the National Central Cooling
Co. of the United Arab Emirates (UAE),
was recently awarded two new contracts.
It has signed an agreement to supply cooling to Capital Towers, a major new residential and hotel development now under
construction on Sheikh Zayed Road. The
10-year contract signed with parent company Capital Investment International LLC
makes Capital Towers Tabreed’s second-largest client on Sheikh Zayed Road after
the Shangri La Hotel. The cooling capacity
supplied to the project will total 3,000
tonnes of refrigeration. Service is slated to
begin in 2005.
In addition, Tabreed has signed an
AED 240 million (more than $65 million)
agreement with the UAE Armed Forces to
equip their development at some military
camps and other facilities to enable them
to receive district cooling services.
Steam Energy Training
Schedule Set
Spirax Sarco has published its 2005
schedule of steam energy training courses
to be held at the company’s training centers in Columbia, S.C.; Chicago; Houston;
Los Angeles; and Allentown, Pa. The
courses, which cover all aspects of steam
energy, are designed for steam users
involved in engineering, operation and
maintenance. Details on course offerings
and registration are available at www.
spiraxsarco.com/us.
Venture Capital in the
Energy Industry
A new report is on the market that
offers a detailed look at venture capital
funding of emerging energy technologies.
The fourth edition of Energy Info Source’s
Venture Capital in the Energy Industry is a
190-page sourcebook that covers general
information about venture capital, investing in energy technology and receiving
venture capital funding. It also includes
company profiles on 54 key venture capital firms and 35 portfolio companies. The
report, which is $499, can be purchased
at www.energypromotion.net.
Comfort Link Growth
Continues
Baltimore’s Comfort Link continued
record-setting growth during 2004. Coming
close to doubling capacity sales in the city
center, the company signed an additional
11 buildings in 2004, bringing its total
capacity under contract to more than
30,000 tons. In March 2004, Comfort Link
commenced service to all Baltimore city
government buildings, which required the
installation of more than 10 blocks of
electrical mains and seven energy transfer
stations. The Bank of America’s Center-point residential high-rise project also
became a new Comfort Link customer.
Camden Station, formerly a historic train
station now being used as Baltimore’s sports
museum, also has connected to the system.
FVB Evaluates International
Energy Research
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
has hired FVB Energy to evaluate the quality
and relevance to the United States of the
research projects undertaken by the International Energy Agency program on district
heating and cooling, including integration
with combined heat and power (CHP). The
company is preparing summaries of all the
research projects and, in cooperation with
IDEA, will develop and implement a plan to
promote the most relevant projects within
the country. The project will also include a
survey of IDEA membership regarding priorities for district energy and CHP research
and development.
U.S. Agency To Investigate
Foreign Market for
Renewables
The International Trade Commission
will investigate barriers to the sale of renewable energy services into foreign markets.
The ITC’s investigation will provide an
overview of foreign and domestic markets
for renewables and examine trade and
investment in those markets, including any
barriers affecting trade and investment. It
will also discuss existing regulatory practices that generate demand for renewable
energy services.
The investigation was requested in July
2004 by the U.S. Trade Representative under
the Tariff Act of 1930. The USTR wants
the report finished by October 2005 and
will make the report publicly available in
its entirety. The first hearing of the investigation has been scheduled for April 19,
2005, and written statements will be
accepted if the party supplies 15 copies of
the comments. Requests to appear at the
hearing should be filed no later than 5: 15
p.m. on April 5, 2005, with the Secretary,
