Central Utilities Plant:
The two gas-fueled boilers that produce hot water. Only the one in the background was operating that day.The hot water is distributed across campus to heat the million square feet of classroom and office space on campus.
One of several chillers that provide cold water to cool the buildings on campus. The green pipes carry waste heat to the cooling towers.The silver pipes carry chilled water across campus to provide air conditioning to every building on campus.
Mechanical Room of the Student Union:
Our next stop was the "third" (or mezzanine) floor of the Student Union.
We could not resist a group photo in front of the arched window that is one of the architectural features of TCC buildings. This one can only be seen when you are in the "attic" of the building! Above our heads you can see the hot and chilled water pipes that come from the Central Utilities Plant we just visited.
Robert is explaining the other half of the system to the group, while Kevin turns to look at the camera. The large box contains fans, filters, and a heat exchanger. It heats or cools the air as needed, then distributes it around the building.Hot or cold water from the central utilities plant comes in through the pipes you see and is then recirculated back to the plant.
We also saw how mechanical and civil engineering meet in the building. The students were amazed at all of the things that are above the ceiling. Here we see pipes carrying hot and cold water to other parts of the building, air ducts, wires holding up the ceiling below us, and the roof structure.
There were also some things you would never suspect from the outside of the building. What looks like a roof behind Robert actually is a roof. Here we are standing in an addition to the original building. They just put a new roof over the old one and cut a hole in the end wall to get from one to the other.
Look closely and you can see the old roof and even the old rain gutter. No money was wasted removing the old roof. The frame for the new roof was put right on top of the old one. The gray material you see is fireproofing.
