Brewhouse Cuts Water Consumption

from commARCH - January 2018

Artful Zinc Clads Specialty School

Far left. The central-operations room houses controls, pumps, piping, and the Multistack condenser water-loop system.

Left. The Multistack units allow extensive variation in temperature management by shifting heating and cooling according to demand, with or without feed from the bore fi eld.

tion and workforce development.

In New York’s capital of Albany, the Empire State Plaza uses a geothermal surface-water exchange system that was constructed more than 50 years ago. The Hudson River serves as a geothermal heat sink for the massive chillers in that city’s central-energy plant, dramatically increasing the exchange efficiency with the cool river water, and eliminating the need for cooling towers and the related maintenance, noise, and replacement costs.

ROOM FOR GROWTH The Bloomberg Center’s geothermal exchange design provides considerable room for growth as occupancy at the Center grows to its maximum load of 3,000 students. For example, while the vertical loops have plenty of exchange capacity as designed, there is an annulus pumping system that can be engaged, increasing capacity by encouraging increased fl ow through the annulus of the boreholes. (The annulus is the space between the borehole wall and the exchange piping, usually fi lled with bentonite grout. Since no grout was used in this design, it naturally fi lls with cool ground water.) Intuitively, separate pumps are engaged by controls that monitor the borehole temperatures. When called for, ground water is pumped from the annulus of boreholes, promoting greater advective heat transfer.

The ground-loop system is decoupled from the condenser water loop inside the building, allowing separate operation of the condenser-water pumps for the chillers. Unlike air-sourced air conditioners and heat pumps, wateror geothermal-sourced systems have the ability to exchange rejected energy from one area and/or process it to another.

For example, south-facing building spaces will need

cooling most of the winter while some of the other spaces that don’t have natural solar and internal heat gains will need heating. The “waste heat” from cooling the southern exposures is piped to spaces that need heat, dramatically increasing overall system efficiency. This is called thermal-advantage load sharing.

In this symbiotic operation, the Center’s condenser water loop may operate at a stated capacity, such that there is no need to extract or reject heat to/from the 55 F earth. Because of the decoupled design, the loop pumps may remain idle for extended periods of time. During this type of operation, heat-pump efficiency, normally at a 4 or 5 COP (coefficient of performance) is dynamically increased.

It’s important to remember that geothermal HVAC systems are fundamentally hydronic, meaning that the heating (and cooling) energy is distributed within pipes filled with water. This provides a level of thermal-energy control and energy efficiency that is not available with air-sourced and forced-air distribution systems. Chilled-beam systems handle return air and sensible loads inside the conditioned space, reducing the volume of supply air, resulting in a significant decrease in the amount of distribution materials (ductwork) and installation labor requirements. Reducing space required for ductwork can yield construction savings and allow greater ceiling heights and/or reducing overall building height. A dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) handles the remaining ventilation and latent-load needs of the building and occupants.

CREATURE COMFORTS The creature comforts in Cornell’s Bloomberg Center are impressive. Radiant heating on the ground fl oor is a welcome feature walking in the front doors on a cold winter day. While all of the spaces have piped heating and chilled water available for simultaneous operation (useful for effective dehumidifi cation on muggy summer days) of variable-air-volume fan-coils (VAVs), the wide-open spaces employ chilled-beam technology.

The increase in overall comfort provided by chilled beams results from decreases in noise, draft conditions, and temperature inconsistencies. Typical air-distribution systems may produce sound levels in the range of NC 35 to 40, while chilled-beam systems operate with sound levels less than 20 NC.

Some of the other features in the facility include rainwater storage, automatic window shades, a green (planted) roof and, of course, photovoltaic modules covering most of the building. A walk along the rooftop reveals openings in the PV panels in strategic positions to allow natural daylight into the building through strategically placed skylights. Mayor Bloomberg wanted a forum to implement his “Applied Sciences NYC Initiative,” designed to transform New York’s innovation economy and Cornell’s Bloomberg Center is helping to make that a reality. CA

Jay Egg is a geothermal consultant, writer, and owner of EggGeothermal, Kissimmee, FL. Egg has co-authored two textbooks on geothermal HVAC systems published by McGraw-Hill Professional. He can be reached at jayegg.geo@ gmail.com

This article and accompanying podcast are part of our multi-month coverage of geothermal technology in commercial facilities in collaboration with the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association, Stillwater, OK, (igshpa.org). Visit commercialarchitecturemagazine. com/geothermal for more information.

Visit the online version of this article at commercialarchitecturemagazine.com/geothermal to hear a podcast in which Jay Egg and editorial director Gary L. Parr provide more detail about the Cornell Bloomberg Center geothermal system.

Brewhouse Cuts Water Consumption Craft-brewing entrepreneurs demand the best for facility drainage.

When three buddies traded in their corporate jobs for craft beers and their suitand-tie ensembles for beards, they never expected that four years later they would be co-owners of a 50,000-sq.-ft. brewery in the heart of Cincinnati.

Kenny McNutt, Brady Duncan, and Jeff Hunt began this adventure as home brewers. Weekends were spent huddled in their basements—the byproduct of which was a malty aroma that permeated carpets and curtains and small quantities of their now wellrespected beers.

Eager to ditch their corporate gigs for something they were passionate about, they also knew Rome wasn’t built in a day. And neither are craft-beer empires.

So the trio refined their mission and worked on a business plan—and recipes—for two years, with family and friends acting as willing guinea pigs. After countless recipe alterations, they perfected their product and on January 22, 2013, the first official batch of MadTree beer was brewed.

With a humble beginning, the first MadTree brewing facility was a 10,000-sq.-ft., 15-barrel/batch brewhouse with the capacity of brewing as many as 22,000 barrels a year.

Today, the finishing touches are being applied to the company’s new brewhouse. Located less than a mile from the original brewery, the new 126-barrel facility covers 50,000 sq. ft., with a 20,000-sq.-ft. production area that has the capability of brewing as many as 180,000 barrels of beer a year.

The two facilities don’t have much in common aside from the location and the beer. The new brewhouse could swallow the old one whole and still have room for several more. A 10,000-sq.-ft. outdoor beer garden invites patrons’ canines to join in on the fun, and with outdoor heaters, the beer garden is open year round.

COMMUNITY IS KEY According to Mike Stuart, MadTree’s director of people and social strategy, MadTree focuses on three pillars: beer, people, and community. “Beer quality and consistency is extremely important to us,” Stuart explained. “People—our employees—are treated with the utmost respect, and we firmly believe in supporting the community that supports us.”

Kenny McNutt adds, “Beer gives you an opportunity to discuss many things. It’s a catalyst for conversation; it drives and fuels community spirit. We’ve settled on a phrase that’s comfortable and realistic: ‘Beer builds community and community builds beer.’”

In fact, the majority of MadTree employees were once passionate patrons themselves, so enthusiastic about the atmosphere and end products that after time and many indepth discussions about beer and business, they were brought on board.

“Aside from my office job, I used to write a local beer blog,” Stuart explained. “So after getting to know Kenny, Brady, and Jeff through that outlet, I decided to burn my suits and ditch the corporate world.”

From top right.

MadTree’s new 126-barrel brewhouse facility covers 50,000 sq. ft, with a 20,000-sq.-ft. production area that has the capability of brewing 180,000 barrels of beer/year.

Head brewer Ryan Blevins takes water samples to check temperature and clarity before the mashing process begins.

Sanitizing solution is emptied to prepare for keg filling.

At the top of the must-have list when de

signing the new production facility was the desire to be more effi cient and install equipment that would cut water usage, which every brewer knows plays a key role in the brewing process. Water, especially in quantities needed by MadTree, doesn’t come without cost.

Head brewer Ryan Blevins said the old facility used 25 gal. of water to clear out a drain in four minutes. Not only were the old drains wasting gallons of water, cracks in the concrete around the edges of the drains had started to appear.

Never before installed in the United States, but installed by the kilometer throughout Europe and loved by brewers there, Blücher (Spindale, NC) HygienicPro trench drains were carefully selected for the new facility. Blevins reports that the new drains wash clear in 17 sec. with just a gallon of water.

“Out on the brew pad, anything from hops to barley to yeast can just hang out in drains and build up,” said Kyle Moore, brewery engineer. “We need to rely on our equipment to wash that stuff down because we don’t have the time to deal with having to spray it down all the time. Volume of water was no small consideration, either. We knew we wanted a product that would optimize water flow as well as the cleaning processes.”

“The design and engineering of the drains made them stand out,” added Stuart. “They proved to easily evacuate any waste going down the drain and used way less water in doing so. The HygienicPro drains save time, energy, and resources.”

The drains’ unique channel geometry results in efficient drainage, even when handling small amounts of water. The drains’ open sides, rounded corners, and lack of cavities contribute to prevent waste and residue from building up. Even the rounded floor joints reduce the risk of joint deterioration and flooring cracks in polyurethane floor surfacing.

The systems’ high-capacity filter baskets collect large amounts of waste, reducing downtime or slowdowns caused by emptying clogged filter baskets.

Finally, the extra-hard, ultra-smooth metal surfaces prevent bacterial growth. FLOORING FOLKS ARE FANS nati-based A.L. Miller plumber, Denny Peace.

“With this being the first ever HygienicPro installation in the U.S., I had no way of knowing what I was getting into,” admitted Peace, who installs trench drains regularly. “It’s turned out to be the best trench drain I’ve ever worked with; well made, intuitive, and extremely sturdy.”

Flooring installers, too, have recognized the technology behind the product.

Kevin Kipp, project manager at Cincinnati-based Hardig Industrial Services, the flooring contractor chosen for the job, appreciates the disposable molding that has a ridge to create a “keyway” around the perimeter of the drain, which is to be removed after the concrete has been poured and before the resinous flooring is installed.

“In a typical trench-drain flooring application, we have to manually cut back a keyway in the concrete to install more flooring at the drain,” explained Kipp. “The drain is where the highest rate of failures occurs, from expansion and contraction where concrete meets stainless steel. With the molding already taking care of that keyway for us, it’s one less thing we have to worry about.”

Kipp installed resinous flooring throughout MadTree’s production area. The twohardener, are mixed just prior to application, and a chemical reaction between the

two causes the mixture to begin hardening

immediately.

“It’s different from anything I’ve ever

seen,” Kipp added. “Drain and transition details are so important but are small de

tails, so many drain manufacturers tend to overlook them. It’s clear that Blücher developers paid a lot of attention to the de

sign and details of these drains when they

Head brewer Ryan Blevins washes debris into the HygienicPro trench drains. created them.”

“We try to be as transparent as possible

with our processes,” said McNutt. “I believe the industry as a whole will grow together when it comes to quality and efficiency. Now we not only get to save water, but

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