Johnson Controls has released a new offering to help reduce energy consumption in central chilled water plants in buildings by up to 60 percent. Integral to achieving these savings is new system-level automation software, Johnson Controls Central Plant Optimization™10 (CPO 10) and Central Plant Optimization™30 (CPO 30), which is designed to enable persistent peak performance and energy savings in central plants in both new construction and existing buildings.

Depending on climate, region and equipment configurations, a central chilled water plant can consume more than 30 percent of the power required to run a building. To achieve peak efficiency performance, a facility’s central plant equipment and independent components can now be designed and operated as a single integrated system with Johnson Controls Central Plant Optimization™ software.

“Building owners and operators have the biggest opportunity to realize savings where the facility consumes the most energy-the central chilled water plant,” said Joseph Walicki, vice president and general manager, Systems, North America, Johnson Controls. “A holistic approach to plant design and operations is necessary to drive efficiencies that minimize operating costs, reduce environmental impact and lead to a better return on investment.”

Traditionally, energy efficiency in the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) industry has been driven by the capabilities of individual components. Central Plant Optimization offers a holistic system approach with the potential to achieve and sustain ongoing savings throughout the entire lifecycle of an HVAC system.

Both CPO 10 and CPO 30 feature innovative control technologies that are designed to provide system performance improvements based on real-time building loads. When incorporated with a modern building automation system and efficient HVAC equipment, CPO software solutions can help a chilled water plant system achieve maximum energy savings.

Central Plant Optimization 10 (CPO 10)
Johnson Controls CPO 10 maximizes a facility’s HVAC system and equipment performance by selecting the most efficient combination of pumps, chillers and cooling towers needed to meet building cooling load. Ideal for new construction projects as well as upgrades to existing buildings, CPO 10 works with virtually all types of central plants and can achieve up to 15 percent in energy savings over a standard automation approach in an otherwise identical plant.

Powered by the Johnson Controls Metasys® building management system, CPO 10 leverages proven, tested and documented logic and standard programs to control the sequencing of pumps, isolation valves and chilled water plant equipment, while maintaining the timing delays for safe and stable operation.To monitor plant operation, the Metasys Ready Access Portal provides customized and easy-to-access plant operating information via standard browsers and Apple iPhone® and iPod® Touch platforms.

Metasys Energy Essentials reporting enables visibility of energy use, including equipment runtime, starts and stops, energy consumption and energy cost details, weather details and daily load profiles, helping to monitor plant performance over time.

Central Plant Optimization 30 (CPO 30)
Johnson Controls Central Plant Optimization 30 (CPO 30) powered by OptimumHVAC™ incorporates a software application from Optimum Energy that continuously optimizes central chilled water plant operation to achieve peak energy efficiency and performance. Central to CPO 30 is patented relational control technology that makes it possible to operate variable speed central plants holistically based on the power relationships between each piece of equipment and real-time cooling load conditions. When combined with CPO 30’s built-in measurement, verification and management services, CPO 30 is proven to provide stable, reliable and persistent energy reductions of 20 to 60 percent in existing plants when coupled with plant upgrades.

The CPO 30 software application is platform neutral for seamless integration with virtually any building automation system (BAS), including Metasys, Johnson Controls building management system.   Every 30 seconds, the software automatically gathers current operating and building load data from the BAS. The application then applies relational control algorithms to calculate optimal system operation, and directs control sequences back to the BAS for execution.

Web-based measurement, verification and management services provide system operators the information they need to sustain energy reductions. Graphs and charts make it simple to track real-time energy use, manage system operations and find and correct system faults as they occur.

For more information about Johnson Controls Central Plant Optimization and Metasys 5.1 building management system, visit http://www.johnsoncontrols.com/CPO.