Tecogen’s natural-gas chillers to provide cost-efficient upgrade for New York hospital chillers

by Brianna Crandall — November 13, 2017 — Tecogen Inc., a clean energy company providing ultra-efficient, clean, natural-gas-powered on-site power, heating and cooling equipment, just announced that St. John’s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers, NY (just outside of New York City) has agreed to purchase two Tecochill 400-ton DTx series chillers. The sale includes a long-term service contract. The new equipment will replace two R-22 chillers that Tecogen installed and has serviced since 1995 and have reached the end of their useful lives. The move will also be an upgrade in cooling capacity from 700 tons to 800 tons.

Tecogen Tecochill chiller

Tecogen’s TECOCHILL STx Series and DTx Series product lines offer water-cooled natural-gas-engine-driven chillers, ranging from 150 to 400 tons of cooling capacity.

St. John’s has qualified for incentives from Con Edison’s Demand Management Program (DMP) that will substantially reduce the project cost and boost its overall rate of return. DMP seeks to reduce the load on the grid during periods of peak summer cooling demand by enabling Con Ed customers to install and utilize technology, such as Tecochill, that reduces the need to pull power from the grid. This contrasts with temporary load shedding via demand response.

Michael Palmiero, director of Plant Operations and Engineering for St John’s Riverside Hospital, stated:

The chiller plant is often considered the “heart” of a building’s HVAC system, which can equal 40 to 60% of the total building’s electric load. Using Tecogen gas-driven chillers allows us the ability to take a lot of strain off the grid and off our own electrical distribution system while providing us the ability to use a more reliable utility to power the facility’s chiller plant. The existing Tecogen equipment has been providing us almost a quarter century of reliable performance in a critical hospital environment. The proven reliability of the Tecogen equipment coupled with the company’s excellent support and service team made the decision to choose Tecogen easy when it came time to replace the existing units.

Jeffrey Glick, vice president of Sales for Tecogen, remarked:

It’s always reassuring when a long-standing customer such as St John’s Riverside Hospital decides to continue a relationship. The existing chillers have operated reliably for over twenty years. The fact that the hospital chose us when the time came for an upgrade speaks volumes to the quality of both our products and our service.

Co-CEO of Tecogen Benjamin Locke added:

Sales of our Tecochill line of water-cooled chillers continue to grow rapidly. Their unique ability to utilize inexpensive and abundant natural gas enables customers to dramatically reduce their electrical needs while at the same time ensuring a reliable and inexpensive supply of cooling and hot water. As this instance highlights, utilities such as Con Ed put tremendous value on de-stressing the grid through products like Tecochill. We’re happy to be part of the solution.

For more about Tecochill water-cooled natural-gas chillers, visit the Tecogen Web site.

Tecogen designs, manufactures, sells, installs, and maintains high efficiency, ultra-clean, cogeneration products including natural-gas-engine-driven combined heat and power, air-conditioning systems, and high-efficiency water heaters for residential, commercial, recreational and industrial use. The company is known for cost-efficient, environmentally friendly and reliable products for energy production that, through patented technology, are engineered to nearly eliminate criteria pollutants and significantly reduce a customer’s carbon footprint.

In business for over 30 years, Tecogen has shipped more than 2,500 units, supported by an established network of engineering, sales and service personnel across the United States, and offers free Site Assessments.