Services
Introduction
The services distribution diagram shows that it is the intent of this Master Plan that all services to buildings are reticulated underground, and that chilled water be distributed from (ultimately) two locations.
Services Strategy
It is the intent of this Master Plan that the University will manage its demand for town services proactively with a view to constantly minimising this demand. Despite this, self-sufficiency is not feasible and is not contemplated. Nevertheless, where opportunities exist for demonstrating steps towards reducing demand, the demonstration should be highly visible.
To the maximum extent possible underground services will continue to be reticulated via the designated service routes, and in any event will always follow the building grid.
Sub-topics
Electricity
Communications
Water supply
Chilled water
Electricity
Existing situation
Presently the University has one main source or supply route of power supply from the local electricity utility Energex. A secondary supply to the site is provided at the Innovation centre building from Sippy Downs Drive . This connection is a one off situation installed for convenience and cost reasons and will not be extended.
The existing system is a single high voltage (11KV) underground cable system which initially connects to the pad mount transformer at the administration building and then travels in two different locations to supply various pad mount transformers at various buildings on site and one main chamber substation at the central energy plant.
The cabling is located in the allocated electrical conduits that are installed in the services corridor. These conduits were laid as per the original master plan prepared by MGT and have been extended for each subsequent additional building in accordance with the plan.
There remains adequate but not excessive spare capacity in these conduit clusters.
Future development
There is presently only one high voltage connection to the University however conduits are in place to allow a redundancy connection to the south west residential area Energex network and the current plan is to connect to a ring network to the north east in Claymore Road. If this occurs then a dramatic improvement in supply continuity should occur. This should occur at the earliest possible opportunity as the operations of the University are at risk.
There are presently no alternative sources of power generation on site other than three diesel engine based standby power sets. The three generators are for use in emergency situations to maintain critical systems including Information Technology and laboratory services and refrigeration. They are not used for fire services functions.
Although for a fledgling campus the padmount transformer was an economical solution for providing the power supply to the campus the integration of the transformers into the building form for future buildings is considered highly desirable to minimise the disruption to free open space. This also would apply to the standby generator units currently plinth based external to the buildings. All future buildings should be provided with a standby power source unless the nature of the building use is minor or occasional.
It is recommended given the availability of land that renewable sources of power eg solar arrays, wind turbines, etc be considered either concurrently with new building projects or a separate project. The University now has the critical mass, situation, and the opportunity to provide these initiatives.
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Communications
Existing situation
Presently the University has two points of entry to the campus for communications services providers. The conduits installed have 100 percent spare capacity for the future.
Generally the original Master Plan for services has been followed however there are several minor conduit and cable deviations for specific solutions.
The current standard cluster of communications conduits in the main services trench alignments remains adequate with 100 percent space capacity existing.
Future development
The current standard of four 100mm conduits in each designated services corridor should be maintained. Each new building should have two points of entry via cast in situ pits from different building frontages whenever practical. With the future development to the north or north east the conduit cluster should be advanced to the boundary of Claymore Road or Old Mountain Creek Road to allow an alternative point of entry to the University for communications services.
In the future wireless services eg microwave or high bandwidth RF services should also be considered to elevate the campus to as close to 100 percent reliability as can reasonably be achieved.
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Water supply
Existing situation
At present the University has two complete ring mains: a 100mm diameter potable water supply and a 150mm diameter fire main. Pressure in these mains is presently considered adequate towards the top end of the range.
Any major high rise building proposed will require sprinkler protection, which will invoke the requirement for a water storage tank due to the potential for future low-pressure flows to the site.
The current supply is adequate for the immediate future but will eventually need duplication to meet continued growth. This is likely to be required beyond 10,000 EFTSU.
Future development
The original Master Plan should be maintained in its intent however the water main size should be increased in at least one corridor (northern) to allow the future duplication capacity to be brought to bear. The duplication of the connection to the site is a priority to prevent water storage facility for fire fighting purpose is a priority and may precede the proposed building program.
The current water storage on site for irrigation should be maintained.
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Chilled water
Existing situation
The existing central energy plant consists of three chillers, one of which is a light load unit. The plant is serviced by a dedicated chamber substation which has capacity for another transformer. The switchboard is sized to accommodate this.
The chilled plant heat rejection is via two water cooled cooling towers. The chilled water reticulation to the various buildings is via an underground network of flow and return chilled water pipes in the allocated services corridor alignment. Both HDPE and copper piping have been employed in the current network.
The current building C construction works has extended the piping network to the Administration building to allow the existing plant to be converted to central chilled water when funds and time permit.
Future development
The master plan layout details the proposed future central energy plant circuits proposed. The existing plant is proposed to be upgraded for several reasons: the redundancy of a single main plant with multiple chillers is desirable; the existing plant is established and aesthetically remote and reasonably concealed; the power supply is economically scaleable quickly; and the location is reasonable central and future piping installation is via 'back of house' road corridors.
It is envisaged that a minimum of 300mm chilled water ring mains be installed on all main runs.
The centralised large plant, will also allow in the future the economy of scale for ice or other thermal mass storage options. Phase change materials (PCM’s) are preferable to ice storage as an energy efficient way to reduce peak demand. Provided the risk of Legionella bacteria growth is managed cooling towers are generally preferable to air cooled heat rejection systems because of their superior energy performance. The University should be proactive in investigating opportunities to supply non-potable water to the cooling towers. If cooling towers are deemed undesirable in the future due to Legionella risk then ground or pond heat rejection should be investigated in preference to air cooled or combined air/water cooled systems. This also follows for heat rejection options should the use of water cooling towers be deemed undesirable.
The current Building Management Strategy is sound and should be maintained. It is essential that all new air conditioning plant should be centrally controlled and monitored unless this is impractical and uneconomical.
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