CMU’s Central Energy Facility packs a powerful punch
The whirring sound of machinery in Central Michigan University’s Central Energy facility is akin to standing near a jet engine. Though those on the university’s campus may not hear this symphony of equipment, their on-campus experience would not be possible without it.
Jonathan Webb, the associate vice president of facilities management at CMU, provided an inside look into the facility that keeps the university running.
The operators of the Central Energy Facility monitor the boilers in use on Thursday, Dec. 12, Central Michigan University's campus. (CM-Life | Mia Kerner)
CMU’s 65,000 square foot Central Energy Facility, or power house, was built in 1961 and produces half of the university’s electricity. The power house is an integral part of CMU’s heating, cooling and water systems.
The facility itself is secure and clean, which Webb said is an indicator of the level of care that the plant’s operators take in maintaining the facility.
“You could pretty much eat off the floor in there,” Webb said. “We are very fortunate, we have a wonderful union skill trade workforce here that does a phenomenal job taking care of the university.”
The plant is filled with color coded pipes and machinery, a repair station for minor maintenance that is completed in-house and the hum of various equipment hard at work. The plant’s operators conduct routine checks and run tests to ensure that all machinery is running smoothly.
The Facility is also home to a utility tunnel that spans 4.2 miles under the campus, which is regularly inspected, Webb said.
“We don’t want to just address issues, we want to prevent them”, Webb said.
Color-coded pipes line the ceilings of the Central Energy Facility on Thursday, Dec. 12, Central Michigan University's campus. (CM-Life | Mia Kerner)
Though constant inspections and maintenance is required to operate the facility, the benefits of CMU creating its own energy seem to be worth the labor.
Webb said that the plant’s four megawatt turbine burns natural gas that produces the university’s electricity. The heat byproduct from that process is then put through a heat recovery steam generator and into a boiler, which provides heat in the winter and cooled through an absorption chiller to produce chilled water.
This process allows CMU to produce both heat and chilled water from a single energy source, cutting costs and saving energy.
In addition to being financially beneficial, the U.S. Department of Energy found that combined energy systems such as CMU’s produce far less fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions than conventional power plants, making them an environmentally friendly alternative.
The energy used on campus that is not produced by the Central Energy Facility is procured through the Wolverine Power Marketing Corporation, which is an alternative energy supplier, Webb said. The university purchases the electricity and pays for the transmission and distribution, as is done with its natural gas broker.
In total, out of 101 buildings on CMU’s campus, 58 facilities are serviced by the Central Energy Facility’s steam system and 37 by the Satellite Energy Facility chilled water system, Webb said. At a peak of 4.5 megawatts of electrical power, the Central Energy Facility is constantly working to keep CMU’s campus up and running.
Large turbines sit atop the roof of the Central Energy Facility on Thursday, Dec. 12, Central Michigan University's campus. (CM-Life | Mia Kerner)
“Our point of pride here is providing a welcoming and functional campus,” Webb said. “We do that from our custodian Union workforce, to our contractor team that assists also in keeping our campus clean, to our skill trades that do our outside landscaping operations, to our skill trades for the buildings and utility operations, it's everybody working together. We have a beautiful campus.”
