As climbing summer temperatures continue to drive higher cooling demand across campus, Facilities Management’s Energy Services (ES) team has been focused on strengthening UCLA's chilled water system through a series of major reliability and capacity improvements. At the Cogeneration Plant, our maintenance team completed extensive overhaul work on two of our 4 500-ton chillers, including condenser retubing, controls modernization, and turbine and compressor rebuilding. These upgrades have improved the cooling capacity of these overaged units, improved efficiency, and enhanced system reliability, helping to better meet increased air conditioning demands during the hottest months of the year.

To provide additional support during peak demand, ES also deployed two temporary rental chillers: one behind Royce Hall and a second at the Cogeneration Plant. These trailer-mounted units give operators added flexibility and backup cooling capacity if permanent equipment requires maintenance or experiences an unexpected outage. The rental chiller program has added 800 tons of cooling, and the aforementioned chiller restoration program has restored roughly 2,000 tons of cooling capacity. Together, these efforts have significantly boosted FM’s ability to fill cooling service demand during the summer season.

Looking ahead, ES is preparing for the next phase of its chiller restoration program with the planned rebuild of a third 500-ton chiller in October. Building on the progress achieved with the two chillers already completed, the October rebuild will focus on restoring the nameplate 500-ton cooling capacity this chiller was designed for, thus improving long-term system resiliency. These ongoing investments will help position UCLA to better meet our cooling demands as our summers seemingly continue to get warmer each year.