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PP-CS Energy Engineering & Technical Services
Technical Services maintains and supports all computerized systems that provide
and store all financial data for Physical Plant, energy conservation data, Energy
Management monitoring, SCADA and Utility mapping.
Technical Services consists of the following subgroups:
Utilities & Energy Engineering
Manager, Paul Black
(pblack@berkeley.edu)
The Utilities Engineering group, in collaboration with Utilities Operations, Technical Services, and Energy & Engineering provides professional engineering (electrical, civil, mechanical and fire protection) oversight of the operation, maintenance, and modifications of the University's centralized systems and utility infrastructures: steam, electrical, gas,water and sewage. Utilities Engineering is also involved in Campus utility master planning, and in updating of the Campus underground utility maps.
Utilities Engineering consists of four sections: Electrical, Mechanical, Civil and Fire Alarm. A description of each follows:
Electrical Engineering provides technical assistance to the Utilities Electricians in the operation and maintenance of the campus electrical power distribution system. Support is given to the Capital Projects Department in providing new or upgraded electrical service to buildings undergoing construction. For information on Electrical Engineering, please contact Jerry Jimenez at 642-3307.
Mechanical Engineering provides assistance on matters pertaining to campus steam and gas. The central campus is heated by a district steam distribution system. The basic function of the system is to deliver steam from the Central Heating Plant (a.k.a. Cogeneration Plant) to buildings for space conditioning, heating water for domestic uses, absorption space cooling, laboratory equipment sterilization and laboratory experiments.
Since the campus is heated by steam, there are very little gas needs. The limited amount of gas is primarily used on small buildings (residential type homes converted into offices) and at the science buildings where gas is used for experiments. If you need additional information on steam or gas, please contact Wayne Jin at 642-8009.
Civil Engineering provides support to Utilities Operations trades people in dealing with the underground pipes that are affected by ground movement due to the nearby earthquake fault. The unit also continually updates the maps of the underground utilities. For information on Civil Engineering, please contact Fred Karampour at 642-5673.
The Utilities Planner is responsible for providing the required short term and long term infrastructure planning, scheduling and funding administration support for the underground and above ground utility distribution services provided to the Berkeley Campus. The Utility Planner operates closely with the Planning Office of the Capital Projects Department.
The Energy Engineering group has a full-time staff of four that provides support in the following areas:
Purchased Utilities. The group monitors use, and authorizes payment, for campus expenditures on steam, gas, electricity, water and sewage. Part-time student employees record the readings of building meters to monitor electric, gas and steam consumption. Records of utility usage and payment are maintained, verified against accounting ledgers, and used to project future consumption and costs.
Electricity Curtailments. In response to the state electricity crisis, in the Spring and Summer of 2001, this group coordinated PP-CS planning efforts to ensure that our campus could comply with electricity curtailments that might be required by state agencies. Brief test curtailments were held in many buildings to help determine the effort needed to reduce campus electric consumption by 5% -15% within one half hour of receiving notice. The primary means that can be used to reduce load are: notifying building occupants to switch off unneeded equipment; using the energy management system to switch off selected ventilation fans; using emergency generators to remove selected building circuits from the utility grid; and, as a last resort, removing entire buildings from the utility grid.
Energy Conservation. This group is the center of efforts to decrease campus energy use by
replacing older equipment with modern higher efficiency equipment. Projects were implemented
in the areas of variable frequency drives (for HVAC motors), high efficiency electric motors
(for HVAC motors), and the installation of high frequency efficient ballast in fluorescent
lighting fixtures throughout the campus. For more information on this $6 million retrofit
project see the campus lighting retrofit report
and ballast performance report.
Energy Engineering also works with the Capital Projects department on energy-related aspects of buildings during the design and commissioning phases of new construction.
Our Campus Energy Update page
can give you the up-to-date information on the status of the campus energy situation as well as
tips and information on energy-related issues and links to other resources.
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SCADA Group
SCADA Engineer, Howard Trent
(htrent@berkeley.edu)
SCADA systems are an integral part of the University's Operations Control Center. These integrated computer and communications systems provide for the remote monitoring and control of very diverse primary campus infrastructure support systems. A new SCADA system is currently being installed to monitor and control the Campus 12kV main electrical grid that feeds all the primary buildings on campus. This system will eventually monitor and provide control capability for Utilities Electrician to better maintain the Campus Electrical distribution system. This monitoring will assist in providing earlier detection of problems which can result in faster recovery from electrical outage. Another benefit of SCADA will be energy savings by profiling usage for conservation efforts. Thirty percent of the Campus Irrigation system has been converted to centralized SCADA control, providing a substantial savings in labor for monitoring, control, and modification to service schedules. These systems provide the computer and communications systems base for expansion to monitor and control steam, gas, water and effluent discharge systems on campus and to continuously monitor local weather conditions.
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Energy Management Systems
EMS Supervisor, Venzi Nikiforov
(venzin@berkeley.edu)
The EMS unit uses a proprietary building automation system based on Barrington Systems to control and monitor the heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems in about fifty campus buildings. A new software upgrade is being installed that features web-based access with graphical user interface. The unit focuses on programming mechanical systems to provide building occupants comfort balanced with energy conservation. The group also provides guidance and assistance in the design and construction of new campus buildings' controls.
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CAD/GIS/Mapping Group
Manager, Fred Karampour
(fredka@berkeley.edu)
This group is responsible for the following functions: Mapping and
preparing the as-built drawings of ongoing projects; updating underground
utility maps for water, sewer, storm, and electrical systems; updating the
floor plans of all campus buildings; creating a computerized filing system
for old maps; creating a GIS system for underground utilities that relates
pictorial drawings to the database; managing computerized plan-check system
for PP-CS.
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Information Systems Group
Associate Director, Dennis Arrigan
(arrigan@berkeley.edu)
The Information Systems Group serves Physical Plant - Campus Services staff through the installation, maintenance and repair of computer hardware and software, as well as training and assistance in their use. Information Service Group maintains hardware and software to provide online services to customers.
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