NYC Buildings Use Ice to Keep Cool

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2007/jul/24/072409480.html

NEW YORK (AP) - As the summer swelters on, skyscrapers and apartments around the city will crank up air conditioners and push the city's power grid to the limit - but some have found a cool alternative.

Some office towers and buildings are keeping their AC use to a minimum by using an energy-saving system that relies on blocks of ice to pump chilly air.

"If you take the time to look, you can find innovative ways to be energy efficient, be environmental and sustainable," said William Beck, the head of critical engineering systems for Credit Suisse.

The systems save companies money and reduce strain on the electrical grid in New York, where the city consumes huge amounts of power on hot summer days.

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I wonder what Grandma would say..."Get me another block of ice! The butter is melting!"



Peace.

And FEMA had what 85 tons of the cool clear stuff left over from Katrina just melting away. Why couldn't it be used for something like this!

it sucks.

The temperature is hot in the morning then gets cool, then hot at night when they turn the system back to ice manufacturing. On super hot days (in the 90s) the place never cools off because they can't make enough ice at night to last through the day. The situation is made worse whenever we have warm nights as well.

The reason our office uses this is so they can buy electricity cheaper at off peak hours to make the ice, then just use the fans during peak hours. While this works in spring and fall - in the dog days of summer I sit with a fan on and temps of 85 to 90 in the office.

I live near a lake where ice was harvested in the winter by teams of horses pulling big saws, and the blocks stacked close together in the huge ice-house for storage. In the summer the ice wagon came around and sold ice to people, which we used in the clever device shown above.

Total electrical consumption = 0. Horse power usage would have been measured in how many days the harvest required, I suppose.....:D