University of Washington’s Central Plant Upgrade Reduces Emissions and Boosts Efficiency

A more sustainable and environmentally friendly facility is now powering the University of Washington campus in Seattle. McKinstry partnered with Stanley Consultants to replace an aging steam turbine with a diesel generator rotary-powered UPS (DRUPS) for backup power. The system requires less fuel to produce the same amount of energy, reducing the carbon footprint. It also improves operation by allowing all five boilers to connect to a common 185-psi steam header, eliminating unnecessary and inefficient superheaters. These changes simplify the facility’s operation and reduce emissions, contributing to cleaner air. Additionally, the project provided extra redundancy and operational options, ensuring the plant can run more reliably and sustainably, minimizing the risk of energy waste due to system failures.

The central utility plant serves the heating needs of 240 buildings on the campus. About two-thirds of these buildings require 185-psi steam, while the remaining one-third need 12.5-psi steam. To accommodate this, McKinstry installed a new steam turbine that reduces the pressure from 185-psi to 12.5-psi for the 80 buildings that need lower pressure. This turbine also generates up to 3 megawatts of power, which is distributed across the campus.

The work was completed in less than two years with minimal downtime for the 700-acre campus, including the UW Medical Center, demonstrating the UW’s commitment to maintaining continuous, efficient operations while upgrading to more sustainable systems.