UMass Chan plant and engineering staff worked with Wunderlich-Malec Engineering to build out a system with better equipment communication protocols and less susceptibility to utility company outages. Recent upgrades to the new central plant, above right, will be done by the end of 2022.
Perched on the shores of Lake Quinsigamond, the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School is a world-class research institution and the state’s only public academic health science center. Located in Worcester, UMass Chan is an integral part of the community health care system in central Massachusetts. It supports 400 registered beds, 20 surgical suites, a Level 1 trauma center, and specialty practices that include radiology, oncology, cardiovascular, orthopedic, and pediatric medicine.
For decades, the UMass Chan central power plant has provided reliable steam, electricity and chilled water to the 60-acre campus. Built in 1970, the original plant, with 5 MW of steam turbine generators and a low-pressure boiler system, served 2 million square feet with steam, electricity and chilled water distributed through an underground network.
A major expansion came in 2000 when the campus grew by 1 million square feet and added a new high-pressure boiler plant, a 5,000-ton chiller, cooling towers and a 5.5-MW backpressure steam turbine. Improvements in energy and economic efficiencies were also implemented…