Chillers Redesigned

Just as Hensel Phelps was adjusting its construction scope to the 26% cost reduction, the University of Arizona contemplated not using chilled water provided by NRG Energy, a downtown Phoenix district cooling system.

“You really can’t just plug and unplug. You have to really go through the whole process all over again,” Christian says.
Bagnoche says the biggest factor in deciding to go with district cooling was startup costs for the central plant, which was originally designed to be installed on the roof of the cancer center.

“We would have had a whole lot less of a building if we had to pay $25 million upfront for a central plant,” Bagnoche says.
To get the speed and efficiencies needed, Hensel Phelps made use of building information modeling for everything from the placement and use of Blue Bangers to the precise  installation of even the smallest tracks of conduit.

“We had to take BIM all of the way,” he says.

The University of Arizona Cancer Center at Dignity Health’s St. Joseph’s is expected to be completed in mid-2015. The center will welcome its first patients in late 2015.