In this issue
		Energy Services Bulletin home page
		Online Key Account Tool Box supports public utility programs
		Fuel cell plant joins Alameda County renewable energy collection
		Revitalized communications promote efficiency, ease rate hikes
		New cooling technology aids South Dakota's pursuit of efficiency
		Fort Mojave tribal casino gets cooling system makeover
		Brigham City bike promotion raises energy efficiency awareness
		Lompoc LED light rebate promotes efficient holiday decorating
		Dairy, utilities learn from South Dakota's first digester
		Outreach programs help busy utilities educate consumers
		Energy Services seeks customer input
		Topics from the Power Line: Radiant heater a good choice for auto repair shop
		Energy shorts
		Technology spotlight: Low-mass, surface-mounted radiant heating panels in homes and offices
		Calendar of events

Fort Mojave tribal casino gets cooling system makeover

A modular chiller plant replaced 25 rooftop air conditioning units on the Avi Resort and Casino, reducing the energy costs and allowing for future facility expansions. (Photo by TAS)

The calendar says winter, but some of Western's customers, like the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe, contend with year-round cooling loads. During the expansion of its successful Avi Resort and Casino in Laughlin, Nev., the tribe evaluated several efficient cooling strategies and settled on the whole-system approach.

Switching to chill-water plant

The complex is one of the top two energy consumers at Fort Mojave, with 800-plus slot machines, three restaurants, a food court, movie theater, bingo hall, bar and additional gaming and meeting areas.

According to an energy audit of tribal buildings done by the Council of Energy Resource Tribes in 2005, cooling is the facility's only space-conditioning need. The report also noted that using 25 rooftop air conditioning units to do the job was a big waste of energy, said Bill Cyr general manager of the tribal Aha Macav Power Service.

"The casino expansion gave us a chance to correct that," said Cyr. "We were increasing the casino's floor space by 33 percent, adding 300 guest rooms and doubling the size of the conference facility. The scope of the project made it practical to install a central chiller plant."

"It's common for casinos to go through expansions," said Jim Riesenberger, western regional sales manager with TAS, a company that specializes in designing, manufacturing and installing modular chilling plants. The tribe contracted with TAS to provide the casino's new cooling system, rather than hiring one vendor to design the new cooling system and another to build it.

"That's one of the reasons a modular chill-water plant is a good fit for casinos," said Reisenberger, who worked with Aha Macav on the project. "The systems can easily be expanded to accommodate facility additions."

Integrated approach improves efficiency

That integrated approach makes a big difference in energy performance, said Riesenberger. "It doesn't matter how efficient a plant is on paper, the design changes when it gets into the contractor's hands," he asserted.

When a system is designed and built by the same company, Riesenberger continued, the manufacturer can look at how components function together.   For example, TAS designers determined that increasing the water temperature a few degrees reduced the amount of work the pumps do by 40 percent. "It more than offsets the extra work the chiller has to do," he insisted. "If you are just looking at the efficiency of individual components, gains like that get overlooked."

TAS has an established relationship with equipment vendors and rarely substitutes components in any of its 22 platforms, according to Riesenberger. "That consistency allows TAS to offer guarantees on the plant's energy performance," he said.

Depending on local conditions, a TAS chill-water plant uses 0.6 to 0.8 kW/ton, compared to 1.2 to 1.4 kW/ton for rooftop units and 0.8 to 0.9 kW/ton for even the most efficient "stick-built" systems, said Riesenberger. If a plant under-performs, the company calculates what a kW is worth to the business over 20 years and pays that amount to the system owner.

Tribe spreads word about system's benefits

The guarantee, combined with the fact that a modular system can cost up to 20 percent less to install than a "stick-built" plant made the chill-water plant a cost-effective choice for the Avi Casino. "The cost analysis on the payback for installing the chiller plant showed that it was definitely worth the investment," said Cyr.

Beyond energy efficiency, the chill-water plant offers other benefits of particular interest to casino operators. "The ventilation is much better than with rooftop AC. The smoke on the gaming floor has noticeably decreased" said Cyr. "Good for business and good for the lungs."

The tribe was so satisfied with its new chill-water plant, that it recently organized a conference on chillers with CERT. Cyr said that 15 tribes, many of them with casinos, attended the event. "The Fort Mojave Tribe believes in sharing, and we believe that this information will help others in Indian country make solid business decisions," he said.