Developing an internal utility network to cater for the future upgrading and expansion of the University of Malta, Msida Campus

Abstract

The research presented in this dissertation focuses on developing a proposal for an internal utility network for the Msida Campus of the University of Malta, with the main focus being on providing a centralised or ‘district’ space conditioning system. Research was carried out both to acquire the right knowledge to be able to compare and evaluate the different scenarios of services that cater for buildings individually, or collectively in the form of a cluster, and specifically for this research, the necessary information characterising the said campus. An in-depth understanding was also achieved for the various plant equipment that is typically used in district solutions such as CHP – Combined Heating and Power, Vapour Absorption Chillers, and Vapour Compression Chillers. Research was also carried out on various case studies that implement a similar district approach for their respective development. The applications range from universities and educational facilities such as the James Cook University, Australia to whole cities such as the King’s Cross Development and the Finnish Capital, Helsinki. This approach is also implemented in various residential and commercial developments such as the Riverlight Development in London. As highlighted above, the case study used for this dissertation is the Msida Campus of the University of Malta. The buildings considered are the buildings enclosed by the ring road, the boundary that is set by the topology of the development. The necessary information on these buildings was gathered, including details on the type of building fabric, type of glazing, dimensions, HVAC equipment catering for the buildings, presence of renewable energy sources etc. Once the data of the existing development was gathered, a district solution was proposed to cater for the present demand of the development. In order to establish a comparison between the current situation and the proposed district solution, iSBEMmt was used to carry out calculations and to achieve values for total annual energy consumption per unit floor area and total annual CO2 emissions per unit floor area for both the current situation and the proposed solution respectively. The proposed district plant consists of a Natural Gas Fuelled CHP, that caters for the electrical demand of the plant, mainly consisting of circulating pumps and chillers. The CHP also provides thermal output for the Vapour Absorption Chillers. The excess electricity that is generated and not utilized by the plant is exported to the national grid. From the results, an overall reduction in the annual energy consumption of 5% which is equal to around 86 kWh/m2 .yr was achieved. However, when considering that the current situation consumes around 715 kWh/m2 .yr of electricity, which equals 1,350 kWh/m2 .yr of fuel at 53% generating efficiency of the power station, and the fuel consumption of the CHP being around 800 kWh/m2 .yr, a 40% reduction in fuel consumption is achieved. Based on these results, the district solution appears to be more efficient and produces less CO2, and hence, seems to be an ideal solution for such developments. The applicability and limitations of such solutions were also discussed in detail.