LA World Airport Central Utility Plant (CUP)

Los Angeles International Airport Central Utility Plant

Building Optimization + Sustainability, Commissioning

The new central utility plant, designed to replace the existing 50-year old facility, consists of a 4-story building housing the plant, staff offices, and an above-ground cylindrical 3-story chilled water storage tank adjacent to a low-rise structure with maintenance shops on the ground floor,and two large banks of cooling towers.

The plant will house 20,000 tons of cooling capacity to supply all eight LAX terminals delivered by systems that include electric-drive centrifugal chillers, cogeneration modules with heat recovery steam generation, absorption chillers, standby boilers, primary and secondary chilled water pumps, cooling towers, and thermal energy storage tank.

Notable features of the project include an above-grade thermal energy storage tank with capacity for 1.6 million gallons of water and 15,500 tons/h of cooling, the replacement of approximately 18miles of pipe and duct bank that service the entire central terminal area with utility distribution,electrical and communications systems as well as reclaimed water, fire water and potable water systems, and an upgrade of pump rooms and air handling equipment in 21 different locations.