Mjcpr
8/2/2006, 09:17 AM
I'm sure I'm the only one, but I found this interesting. I don't think I've ever heard this before.
Keeping Downtown Tulsa's Buildings Cool
When it comes to beating the heat, one company practically controls the thermostat downtown. That's because much of downtown's air conditioning comes from one building and News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan shows us how it works.
It's the largest air conditioner in Tulsa - a unit with 22,000 tons of cooling power. It cools more than half of the office space downtown.
"They like it very cool, and in the winter also they want it hot." Sam Kumar runs Trigen in Tulsa and Ken Adams runs this plant. They don't mind that most people have never heard of them. "Well as long as we do a good job, we stay unknown."
Trigen provides air conditioning and heat for the Tulsa County courthouse - and the Tulsa County jail. City Hall is hooked in - so is the 320 South Boston building, the Kennedy Building, and the Oneok building.
Many of downtown's most notable addresses use Trigen - and the arena will soon. The system uses four massive chilling units to cool water down to 40 degrees. It's really just a giant version of a home air conditioner.
The cold water is pumped through pipes all over downtown, where it's run through air exchangers in the buildings. It's downtown's central heat and air.
At the midway point of the system, all the hot air that comes out of downtown comes back to the midpoint.
Water runs over the whole system, keeping it cool, so it can keep most of downtown Tulsa cool.
In Trigen's control room - there's a thermostat on the wall - but the real controls for downtown are on a computer screen. They can crank down the A/C, even on the hottest day - even if the power goes out. It's how Tulsa's downtown stays cool.
http://www.kotv.com/news/?108619
Keeping Downtown Tulsa's Buildings Cool
When it comes to beating the heat, one company practically controls the thermostat downtown. That's because much of downtown's air conditioning comes from one building and News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan shows us how it works.
It's the largest air conditioner in Tulsa - a unit with 22,000 tons of cooling power. It cools more than half of the office space downtown.
"They like it very cool, and in the winter also they want it hot." Sam Kumar runs Trigen in Tulsa and Ken Adams runs this plant. They don't mind that most people have never heard of them. "Well as long as we do a good job, we stay unknown."
Trigen provides air conditioning and heat for the Tulsa County courthouse - and the Tulsa County jail. City Hall is hooked in - so is the 320 South Boston building, the Kennedy Building, and the Oneok building.
Many of downtown's most notable addresses use Trigen - and the arena will soon. The system uses four massive chilling units to cool water down to 40 degrees. It's really just a giant version of a home air conditioner.
The cold water is pumped through pipes all over downtown, where it's run through air exchangers in the buildings. It's downtown's central heat and air.
At the midway point of the system, all the hot air that comes out of downtown comes back to the midpoint.
Water runs over the whole system, keeping it cool, so it can keep most of downtown Tulsa cool.
In Trigen's control room - there's a thermostat on the wall - but the real controls for downtown are on a computer screen. They can crank down the A/C, even on the hottest day - even if the power goes out. It's how Tulsa's downtown stays cool.
http://www.kotv.com/news/?108619