Thermal Energy

Stanford “Thermal Systems” provide heating and cooling energy to Campus and Medical Center buildings and facilities. The thermal energy is generated at the Central Energy Facility (CEF) from gas fired boilers, steam turbine and electric motor drive chillers and waste heat recovery from the Cogen Plant’s gas turbine exhaust.

The thermal energy distribution systems consist of underground steam supply piping (with condensate return) and underground chilled water supply and return piping.
Both heating and cooling utility services are individually metered at each building, with steam measurement in lbs/hr (1 lb/hr steam = 1000 Btu/hr) and chilled water measurement in tons (1 ton cooling = 12,000 Btu/hr).

The thermal energy used at each building is continuously metered and totalized for monthly billings.

At some locations, clusters of buildings have their own underground hot water piping system, where the local hot water is generated from the steam supply system.
Buildings not within the steam and chilled water central service areas utilize natural gas fired boilers for heating and stand-alone dx type air conditioning for cooling.

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