As part of a recent renovation at Flagler College in St. Augustine, an innovative new air conditioning chiller was installed in Kenan Hall, the main academic building of the campus. Because this 50,000-square foot building houses classrooms, lecture halls, and faculty offices, it was important to maintain the quiet atmosphere while trying to reduce energy costs.

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Flagler College is located on 19 acres, the centerpiece of which is the grand Ponce de Léon Hall, a former luxury resort hotel now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Phase I of the renovation included replacing an old inefficient chiller in portions of the building originally constructed in 1888. A new Daikin 150-ton Magnitude, magnetic bearing compressor chiller was installed to deliver both energy savings and ultra-quiet operation.

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"This is the first Magnitude chiller to be installed in northeast Florida and only the second in the entire state," said Clarke Story of Brooks Air Systems, the Daikin representative firm in Jacksonville. "It was installed a few weeks ago but the quiet sound level was immediately noticeable. The Magnitude centrifugal compressor chiller was installed next to an older screw compressor chiller and the new chiller is dramatically quieter than the other machine. In fact, when the Daikin Magnitude chiller is running, the pumps in the mechanical room are louder than the chiller."

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The magnetic bearings of the Magnitude compressor eliminate the metal-to-metal contact noise of conventional bearings. And the direct drive design means inherently quieter operation because there is no gear noise. The overall result is sound pressure ratings for the Magnitude chiller as low as 77 dBA per ARI Standard 575.

In addition to the quiet operation, the Magnitude chiller provides high energy efficiency with part load performance as low as 0.375 kW per ton by eliminating the high friction losses of typical centrifugal compressors. Variable frequency drives and digital controls further improve efficiency through the entire operating range.

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Frank Riggle, owner's representative for construction on the project, confirmed the energy savings that he has seen. "The Daikin chiller uses very little power draw. I check the unit's touch-screen control panel power screen everyday and the most the unit has drawn so far was 40 amps on an 80-degree day."

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How much energy savings does the college anticipate? "Using the Daikin Energy Analyzer^® analysis program, we were able to project annual energy savings of $25,000 a year compared to the air-cooled reciprocating chiller that the Magnitude chiller replaced," Story said. "In the first 20 years of operation, that would mean more than $500,000 in savings. Considering that chillers typically operate 30 years or more, the college's energy savings could be even more significant over the life of the chiller."

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