The following article was published in ASHRAE Journal, November 2007.

Copyright 2007 American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and AirConditioning Engineers, Inc. It is presented for educational purposes only. This article may not be copied and/or distributed electronically or in
paper form without permission of ASHRAE.

Connecting
Buildings
To Central
Chilled
Water Plants
By James B. (Burt) Rishel, P.E., Fellow/Life Member ASHRAE

he desire to save energy and eliminate costly piping has necessitated that we ensure that the connections of the buildings to

the central chilled water system are adequate and do not waste the
pumping energy of either the central chilled water system or the buildings themselves. Unfortunately, many of the building connections used
in the past have wasted energy and did not provide adequate comfort
conditions in the buildings. With variable speed pumps, state-of-the-art
software and better cooling coil control valves, we are able to provide

This article evaluates the building connections. No design evaluation is made

of central plant design even though variable primary pumping has become the
preferred arrangement for central plant
pumping.1
All of the building pumps shown in the
figures are variable speed except those
in Figure 3. The building connections
to be evaluated are presented in Figures
1 to 8. Manual valves and other piping
appurtenances are not shown for clarity.
The central plant chilled water pumps,
regardless of arrangement, are defined
as loop pumps herein.

efficient and adequate building conditions regardless of the complexity About the Author
James B. (Burt) Rishel, P.E., is director of mechanical systems for tekWorx in Cincinnati.

of the chilled water system.

24

ASHRAE Journal

ashrae.org

November 2007

FIGURE 1

FIGURE 2

DP1

DP1

Figure 1: Building with adequate pressure and temperature from loop pumps.

To Loop Pumps

To Loop Pumps
at Light Load

Supply

Supply

Return

Return

FIGURE 3

Check Valve

Figure 2: Building pump provides needed pressure.

FIGURE 4

Three-Way Coil Valves

DP1

Figure 3: Small building with

constant speed pump.

Valve Positioners
Tall Building

Balance Valves

HX
Small Constant
Speed Pump
DP2
Supply

Supply

Return

Return

Basic Design Parameters

Before we get started in our evaluation, we need to establish

the goals of a building connection. Once we have set them, we
can evaluate each connection and offer guidance to where each
one should be used. There is no one building connection that
best fits all types and sizes of chilled water distribution.
1. Connect the building so that (a) it receives adequate
chilled water supply, both in flow and temperature, to meet the
buildings cooling loads, and (b) its control system can provide
the desired internal air temperature and humidity.
2. Impose no undesirable pressures on the central chilled
water system or receive excessive water pressure on the
building from the central chilled water loop pumps. In
the past, little care was given to the design of cooling coil
control valves that ensured that the valves were capable of
November 2007

Figure 4: Building with heat

exchanger to isolate building
pressure from central chilled
water system.

withstanding the physical or differential pressures exerted

upon them.
3. Return the water to the central chilled water system at the
design return temperature at design cooling load on the building.
This must be done without artificially increasing the return water
temperature to the detriment of the humidity control in the building. With the high quality of coil control valves now available,
no excuse exists for low-return water temperature that increases
pump horsepower and causes inefficient chiller operation.
4. Avoid the use of crossover bridges with building pumps that
are variable speed. Properly controlled variable speed pumps
can be connected in series without the crossover bridge. These
bridges generally increase pump horsepower, installed costs and
reduce return water temperature where used unnecessarily.
5. Eliminate the need of multiple duty valves on variable
ASHRAE Journal

25

speed pump discharges. The normal

check valve and shut-off valve are all that
are necessary.
Typical Building Connections

Figure 1 represents the simplest building connection. The chilled water supply
pressure from the central loop is adequate

for the entire building under all loads on

either the building or the entire chilled
water system. If the building is large and
located far from the central chiller plant,
the differential pressure transmitter, DP1,
should be provided to control the chilled
water loop pumps. If the building has
several large branches, more than one

Advertisement formerly in this space.

26

ASHRAE Journal

ashrae.org

differential pressure transmitter may be required. Large buildings with several wings
require multiple differential pressure
transmitters to ensure that adequate differential pressure is maintained with variation
in sun load or internal occupancy.
Figure 2 describes a building whose
friction loss at times may be greater than
the pump head available from the central
chilled water loop pumps, so a building
pump must be installed. The pump is
variable speed and controlled by the differential pressure transmitter, DP1. Again,
large buildings may require more than
one transmitter. The software should shut
off the building pump on light loads when
the loop pumps can pump the building.
It should be determined if the building
pump operation software is adequate so
that the building can function properly
with the central chilled water loop pumps
when the building pump is shut down.
If not, a check valve should be installed
around the building pump as shown.
If the building is small but still in need
of pump head at times that is provided by a
constant speed pump, it should be connected as shown in Figure 3. The bridge is necessary since it eliminates any interference
between the constant speed pump and the
loop pumps. The control valve separates
the loop pressure from the small building
pump and does provide some temperature
reset for the coils controlled by three-way
valves. Design the building cooling coils
for a temperature slightly higher than the
loop chilled water temperature to avoid
hunting by the control valve.
If the pressure in the central loop is
excessive or if the building is a high-rise
that will impose unacceptable pressure
on the central loop, a heat exchanger is
the best way of isolating them as shown
in Figure 4. If DP2 is required to maintain the pressure drop through the heat
exchanger, it can be reset by the use of a
valve positioner and adaptive control. The
use of such reset on coil control valves is a
great way to reduce off-peak energy consumption. For example, a typical setpoint
for chilled water distribution is 20 ft (58
kPa) differential pressure. If all loads on
a system are reduced at night with all coil
valves near shutoff position, the control
system can reduce the differential pressure

November 2007

Advertisement formerly in this space.

FIGURE 5

FIGURE 6

DP1

DP1

Figure 5: Blending water temperature in building.

Building Temperature45F

Figure 6: Blending water temperature in a building on a

distributed pumping system.2

45F

Supply

Supply42F

Return

Return

FIGURE 7

FIGURE 8
DP1

DP1

Figure 7: Return temperature

control.

To Loop Pumps
at Light Load

Close
Bypass
Open
Full

56F

Supply

Supply

Return

Return

until the valves begin to reopen. The differential pressure can be

increased when any coil leaving air temperature is not maintained.
Lowering the setpoint to a value such as 7 ft (20 kPa) can reopen
the coil control valves and greatly reduce the off-peak energy
consumption of the central chilled water system.
Generating chilled water at lower temperatures such as 40F
(4C) and blending it upward in the buildings is a questionable
process, energy wise, as shown in Figure 5. If the insulation on
the loop supply and return piping is poor, it may be impossible
to achieve adequate building supply temperatures without lower
chiller temperatures. In these cases, studies should be made to
determine the energy saved by improving the insulation. On
large district cooling systems, the first-cost savings may be
achieved by reducing the temperature at the central energy plant
28

ASHRAE Journal

Figure 8: Conversion of return

temperature control to normal
building pump operation.

and blending it upward at the building. Also, if chilled water or

ice storage is involved, blending water in the buildings may be
justified. Obviously, this is an economic evaluation that must
be made on a case-by-case basis. The argument against having
reduced chiller temperatures is the higher chiller kW/ton that is
required with lower chiller supply temperatures. The buildings
must be connected properly to reduce the energy consumption
as shown. The blending valve can be installed on the building
supply, and the temperature transmitter controlling this valve
should be on the building pump discharge.
One of the advantages of distributed pumping where no loop
pumps are required is that the blending valve is in the bypass
as shown in Figure 62 and does not add its friction loss to the
distribution system friction. This works since the return pressure
ashrae.org

November 2007

Advertisement formerly in this space.

in distributed systems is always greater

than the supply pressure. The use of distributed pumping continues to be a point
of discussion in the design of chilled water
systems. Distributed pumping is as flexible
for future expansion of the chilled water
system as any other type of pumping. The
same planning must be made for expansion regardless of the type of pumping.
There appears to be a continuing argument regarding distributed pumping in the
industry, and its use should be clarified.
Distributed pumping offers appreciable
energy savings on chilled water systems
where the distribution head is great, such
as airports where some buildings may be
a mile away from the central energy plant.
It saves no energy on facilities where all of
the buildings are near to this plant. Again,
we must avoid the tendency to brand some
water distribution designs as always good
and others as always bad.
The previous figures describe most of
the building connections that may be en-

countered in central chilled water systems.

Last, but not least, of the factors causing
trouble in these buildings was the use of
return temperature control as shown in
Figure 7. The purpose of this arrangement
was to ensure that the return water temperature to the central chilled water was
always at design (such as 56F [13C]).
Its main purpose was to protect the chiller
plant even though some of the buildings
internal conditions, such as humidity, were
unsatisfactory. A number of cases exist
where this building connection has caused
the circulation of warm water, which resulted in high humidity in the buildings.
With the high quality of coil control valves
now available, there is no need for the
use of this building connection. Here are
several recommendations for eliminating
this type of connection.
1. Some buildings where this connection exists are close enough to the loop
pumps that they do not require a building
pump. In these cases, the control valve,

Advertisement formerly in this space.

30

ASHRAE Journal

bridge and building pump can be eliminated, resulting in a simple connection as

shown in Figure 1.
2. If the cost of removing the control
valve, bridge and building pump is excessive, merely relocate the temperature
controller to the discharge of the building
pump as shown in Figure 5, and set it for
the desired water temperature required
for the building coils. This will work
with the control valve on the return of
the building. Add valve positioners to the
coil control valves as shown in Figure 3,
if the software is available, to reset the
differential pressure transmitters and save
energy during off-peak loads.
3. If it has been proven that the building pump is needed, an alternative is to
open a gap in the bypass and fully open
the return valve as shown in Figure 8. In
all such cases, the building pump must be
variable speed. If the building is small,
and there is no need for variable speed
pumps, the connection can be similar to

Advertisement formerly in this space.

ashrae.org

November 2007

Figure 3 with the control valve on the

return pipe of the building.
4. When removing the return temperature control, check on the coils in the
building to ensure that they are clean and
that the control valves are adequate. With
clean coils and properly designed coil
control valves, the return water should
be at or above design temperature at partload conditions.

through the chilled water system. The

industry has field-proven software for interfacing building pumps with the central
chilled water system for almost any central
chilled water plant design without the
use of piping arrangements that consume
unnecessary energy and do not meet the
previous basic design parameters.

References

1. Kirsner, W. 1996. The demise of the

primary-secondary pumping paradigm
for chilled water plant design. HPAC
Engineering 11.
2. Rishel, J.B., T.H. Durkin, B. Kincaid.
2006. HVAC Pump Handbook, Second
Edition. N.Y.: McGraw-Hill p. 433.

Coil Control Valves

A discussion of building connections

would not be complete without a review of
the quality of coil control valves. The principle reason for using return temperature
control (Figure 7) in the past was the poor
quality of coil control valves that allowed a
great amount of cold water to flow back to
the central chiller plant. Fortunately, today
we have coil control valves that eliminate
most of the leakage of this cold water.
Also, we have an independent standard
that valve manufacturers can use to verify
the leakage rate of their valves. This
standard is ANSI/FCI 70-2-2003, Control
Valve Seat Leakage, which is published
by the Fluid Controls Institute. It provides
leakage test levels from Class I to Class
VI. The Class VI leakage test ensures that
little cold water passes from a cooling
coil back to the central chiller plant. Also,
the coil valves and their actuators should
have a high close-off pressure equal to
or greater than the shutoff head of the
chilled water pumps. The rangeability
of the valves should be adequate for the
application. Valves are now available
with rangeabilities as high as 300 to one.
These valve specifications provide more
than adequate water return temperatures
if return temperature control is eliminated, assuming that the temperature control is adequate in the building. In fact,
experience shows that the actual return
temperature increased above the design
temperature when such valves were used
to replace return temperature control.

Advertisement formerly in this space.

Summary

The proper connection of buildings to

central chilled water plants is essential to
ensure that the previous design parameters
are maintained with a minimum of energy
required by the pumps to move water
November 2007

ASHRAE Journal

31