Edward Hines VA Hospital Central Utility Plant
Overview
Originally constructed in 1921, the central energy plant was reaching the end of its service life when the 2010 flooding of the Des Plaines River impacted the below grade plant. Construction of the new plant began in 2016 and includes four boilers generating 540,000 lbs/hr of 125 psig saturated steam, which powers a steam turbine generator producing 850 kW, an emergency generator and underground steam distribution system.
Features
Extensive coordination and phasing was required to connect the new plant to the existing campus steam grid with a new network of vaults, steam and condensate piping. The plant features include a flue stack economizer heat recovery system, SCADA and DDC systems. The plant serves the entire 3.3 million square foot hospital and administration campus located on 170 acres in the western Chicago suburbs. The team provided full plant commissioning through all phases of the project – including A/E design peer review, value engineering design optimization, construction administration, systems performance verification, and occupancy acceptance. Before acceptance, the plant was required to be tested and commissioned through a 30 day consecutive operation trial and a power blackout test.