Ice used to keep New York office buildings cool - AP

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Ice used to keep New York office buildings cool

The Associated Press
Published: July 13, 2007

NEW YORK: As the summer swelters on, skyscrapers and
apartments around New York will be cranking up the air
conditioning and pushing the city's power grid to the limit.

But some office towers and buildings have found a way to
stay cool while keeping the air conditioning to a minimum
— by using an energy-saving system that relies on blocks
of ice to pump chilly air through buildings.

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Because electricity is needed to make the ice, water is
frozen in large silver tanks at night when power demands
are low. The cool air emanating from the ice blocks is
then piped throughout the building, more or less like
traditional air conditioning. At night the water is frozen
again and the cycle repeats.

-snip-

Ice storage at Credit Suisse lowers the facility's peak
energy use by 900 kilowatts, and reduces overall electric
usage by 2.15 million kilowatt-hours annually — enough
to power about 200 homes.

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Read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/13/america/NA-GEN-US-Ice-Cooling-Energy-Saver.php