INGENIEUR
development schedules. There are cases where
the DC operators complete the chilled water
distribution infrastructure many months ahead
of the completion of the development due to
delays in the building construction. In such a
case, the financial risk is borne entirely by the DC
operator. Other risks associated with the provision
of chilled water services is the cost of providing
stand-by provisions which may be required by the
customers.
Infrastructure Specifications
The DC business is a long-term service business.
Very often the service life of infrastructures
exceeds 50 years. The DC business also carries
greater financial risks in the event of disruption
of service compared with conventional in-house
chiller systems. Repairs and upgrades are more
difficult to undertake when the DC infrastructures
are buried under soft and hard landscapes.
These necessitate higher level of specifications
than in-building chiller systems. Therefore, higher
equipment and material specifications are needed
to ensure these risks are mitigated. Some building
designers fail to recognize this issue due to lack
of understanding of the DC requirements. As a
result, DC has been portrayed as more expensive
than owner-installed chiller system.
In short, failure to recognize front-loading
capital investments distorts any meaningful
comparison by the developers and building
designers.
CURRENT ISSUES ON BUILDING
DEVELOPER PRACTICES
Hidden Cost of Cooling
Common building developer practice is to
incorporate the capital and fixed operating
costs of owner-installed cooling system into the
purchase price or rental/management service
rate. Operating costs of cooling are normally
hidden due to the non-existence of sub-metering
for in-house cooling plants. In addition, usage or
energy costs may be recovered indirectly through
rent or management fees. Although this method is
simple, it discourages implementation of energy
efficiency practices by the tenants or building
owners.
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VOL 55 JUNE 2013
Some developers who subscribe to DC also
pocket the capital savings of DC through smaller
electrical distribution systems, extra rentable
floor areas due to savings in the plant room area,
and capital expenditures for the chiller plant and
power systems. These developers then pass the
entire operational costs for the DC cooling to
the tenants. Maintenance cost savings through
less equipment to maintain, fewer maintenance
personnel, overhauls and upgrade costs, etc. are
a benefit to the developers.
Acceptance by the Building Designer Team
To some building designers, connecting to a DC
system is not favourable option. This is because
lower construction costs of building will result in
lower remuneration to the designers. Hence, some
designers view DC operators with enmity due to
the lack of monetary incentives to them.
Lack of understanding and knowledge of
building designers further compounds the
complexity. DC interfacing requirements are
not fully understood which creates disconnects
between the DC operator and building designer.
The intricate linkage between building’s chilled
water pumping performance to the DC plant’s
performance is not sufficiently understood to
create a win-win situation. As a result, finger
pointing situations often result in hostile situations
which some detractors may condemn as a
condescending attitude by DC operators.
Building Operation
Building owners and developers normally employ
third-party building management contractors
to provide the entire facility management (FM)
services. These FM contractors, more often than
not, lack the required personnel with the proper
knowledge of the operation of the DC services.
As a result, disputes between the DC operator
and building owner/contractor arise because of
these diverging objectives. Common issues such
as low delta T returning to the plant, clogging
of heat exchangers on building sites, lack of
maintenance of the energy transfer station (ETS)
room (inadequate ventilation and high humidity),
inadequate measuring instrumentation, lack
of controllability of valve and pumps etc., have
been blamed on DC operators. There are hardly
any clauses in FM contracts that reward FM