SUSTAINABILITY
Magnetic Bearing Chiller Helps Atlanta Property Lead in Sustainability By: Joe Crawford Quick: what’s the first thing you think of when you think about commercial building sustainability upgrades and improvements, beyond the basics of LED lighting, waterefficient fixtures, and other improvements the average tenant today might notice (and perhaps even expect)? If you didn’t say “game-changing magnetic bearing water cooled chillers”…don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s easy to call out the high-visibility and publicity-friendly capital improvements: solar photovoltaics, low energy elevators, water-bottle filling stations and more. But at the Palisades Office Park, where Atlanta Property Group received the 2022 Building of the Year: Earth Award, it’s what you don’t hear that’s having a big impact (it’s incredibly quiet). In 2021 APG made a major investment to upgrade the HVAC distribution system at its LEED Gold Palisades Office Park, furthering company goals to become “the premier choice of companies seeking a reduced carbon workplace in the Central Perimeter.” Producing no Scope 1 emissions, the site is 100 percent electric, including an all-electric commercial kitchen. And while it’s easy to see the 1 megawatt of solar photovoltaic panels already under construction, you must head below ground to see one of the real ‘wizards behind the curtain’: an industry-leading Trane Agility
18
Insight • Issue 2, 2022
Magnetic Bearing Water-Cooled Chiller. Wesley Parr, the Chief Engineer on site, pointed out that this incredible piece of equipment is delivering over 40percent better IPLV than the ASHRAE 90.1-2016 requirement, with a 25 percent lower refrigerant charge than other medium pressure chillers. To put that in dollars and cents: this marvel is beating other high efficiency chiller solutions on the utility bill by 9 percent. Trane designed the Agility to increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Palisades Office Park is one of fewer than a dozen buildings in the Southeast to boast this innovative technology. But this unique solution doesn’t just perform better, it also avoids the use of R-134a refrigerant, instead using R-513A a nextgeneration
