Steam Plant & Distribution Piping

University of North Dakota

Grand Forks, North Dakota

Secured through a 40-year public-private partnership (P3), the new plant was entirely funded by the university’s existing budget, without costing taxpayers a dime. And now, the natural gas plant is expected to deliver more than a million dollars in savings.

– Chuck McGinnis, Performance Infrastructure™ Vice President of Sales, Johnson Controls

The new natural gas steam plant replaced the existing 100-year-old plant that had reached the end of its useful life. The aging facility was no longer operating efficiently — it even contained different sized boilers that required specialty parts due to discontinued production.

In addition to the new facility, CMTA completed roughly 8,000 linear feet of high-pressure steam distribution piping throughout the campus. The project included three new steam distribution vaults and the expansion of another 4 vaults. The design team completed Pipe-Flo modeling of steam and condensate systems to determine final distribution design as well as vault piping drawings. We also completed valve and insulation replacements in manholes around campus and installation of a natural ventilation system in a number of existing manholes. All piping was Perma-Pipe premanufactured piping system.

The project is the first non-housing university project funded through a public/private partnership (P3) between UND and Johnson Controls.

Project at a Glance

Completion: 2021

Size: 24,000 SF (Facility)

Project Type: New Facility