Success story on a renovation of chiller type equipment in a renowned shopping center in Brazil.
By Trane
The GV Mall was inaugurated in December 1999 and is located in the central area of the city of Governador Valadares, near three main roads in Brazil (BR 116, BR 381 and BR 259). With a total area of 70 thousand square meters (m2), of which 37,340.68 thousand m² were built, this shopping center was created to boost income generation in the city of Governador Valadares. Currently, the company generates approximately 1,500 direct jobs and 2,500 indirect jobs, improving the local economy.
Challenge
GV Mall's heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system had two Trane chillers with a capacity of 270 tons each. Over the years and with the natural wear and tear, the equipment finally began to present operational problems. Therefore, the customer had doubts about whether the best solution would be to modernize, repair the old equipment or replace it with a new system. The customer turned to Trane to find the best solution. It was necessary to present a quick solution, since the mall has a large circulation of people and is located in one of the warmest temperature regions of Brazil.
Solution
After conducting an energy study, Trane demonstrated to the customer the benefits it would have by replacing old equipment with two new water-cooled chillers. In addition, knowing the importance of maintaining the thermal comfort of customers, Trane offered the customer the possibility of renting a chiller through Rental Trane Services, which operated in parallel throughout the construction period, adequately supplying the HVAC system of GV Mall.
Finally, Trane updated the equipment automation system with the installation of the Trace SC manager, a panel that communicates with environmental control units and provides management of HVAC equipment through Internet access.
Results
The amortization of the investment made by the customer to replace the old equipment with a new one happened in three years, generating savings of approximately 30 percent of the energy consumed by the old facilities.
Edson Ferrara, Trane's energy services manager in Brazil, stressed that the company provided the customer with the solution they expected. "In addition to ensuring a better quality of thermal comfort for the mall, with lower operating costs, we guarantee the operation of the entire system and the proper supply of the HVAC system to the project throughout the construction period, through the rental of a chiller."
For his part, Jeferson Mendonça, supervisor of Trane Rental Services in Brazil, commented that "the Trane customer is also guaranteed to have at his disposal a team of engineers and technicians trained to provide all the necessary support before and during the process. The new automation system with Tracer SC provided greater mobility in the provision of information, as it allows authorized users to access from any computer over the Internet. In this way, all components of the HVAC system in shopping malls – chillers, cooling towers, pumps, valves and fan coils – work optimally, further improving the efficiency of the system."
