Building Owner Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited
Using AI solution and data mining technologies to optimise energy efficiency and operational performance for major equipment and building services systems
Installation of Thermal Energy Storage (TES) System
Building/Project Name International Commerce Centre
Systems HVAC - Waterside Air Conditioning System
HVAC - Airside Air Conditioning System
Smart control Platform
Building Types Commercial - Office
Commercial - Retail
Commercial - Hotel & Hostel/Apartment
Description of the building:
ICC stands 118-storey high and 490 metres above sea level. Inside, it houses The Ritz Carlton Hotel Hong Kong, the sky100 Observation Deck, SkyDining 101, and 2.5 million square feet of premium Grade A office space which is managing by Kai Shing Management Services Ltd.

Six identical centrifugal chillers are installed to supply the building with chilled water. Each chiller is connected to a primary evaporator chilled water pump and a condenser cooling water pump.

Plate heat exchangers are used to separate chilled water supplied to different zones. All secondary chilled water pumps are equipped with variable speed drivers (VSDs). Eleven variable speed cooling towers are installed on a mechanical floor inside the building.

PAUs and AHUs are designed for all the air-conditioned spaces. There are two AHUs for each office floor. Each connected with around 50 VAV terminals.		  


Retrofitted initiative:
PolyU team has been studied and proposed a wide range of control strategies, worked with ICC management team to implement various smart control strategies to optimize the operation of ICC HVAC system and achieved remarkable saving. Here are the three major retrofitted initiatives:
  1. HVAC Air Side System: replaced the conventional supply air static pressure set-point reset logic with an innovative optimization strategy based on statistic models. The new fault tolerant control strategy could deal with faults in VAV terminals or improper temperature settings in air-conditioned spaces.
  2. HVAC Air Side System: Developed a model-based control strategy to recover cooling energy from building thermal mass. The strategy is activated before the end of office hours to recover the cooling energy which is often wasted.
  3. HVAC Chilled Water System: Developed a new control strategy to utilize system intrinsic thermal storage (Chilled Water Battery) to enhance chiller plant efficiency. By utilizing the chilled water delivery network as a thermal storage system, the chiller plant efficiency could be significantly improved during low load conditions.

Note: Beside of the three initiatives, many other energy efficiency enhancement measures have been implemented in the large and complex HVAC system.


Observed benefits other than energy saving:
  • Lower noise level since the AHU fan operate at lower speed.
  • Nil complaint for indoor thermal comfort.
  • Reduced operation time of equipment (chillers, primary chilled water pumps, condenser water pumps and cooling tower fans). Therefore, prolonged lifetime of equipment.


General observations of the retrofitting project:
  • Before the RCx, the AHU supply air pressure set-point was always at the upper limit. After the RCx, AHU static pressure set-point varies with the actual cooling demand, and the fan speed has been significantly reduced.
  • Before the RCx, the cooling energy stored in building thermal mass was wasted. After the RCx, the cooling demand is reduced significantly, and the indoor air temperature increase was controlled within 1 K.
  • Before the RCx, the large constant speed chiller was operating at very low part load ratio (PLR) in extreme low load conditions, resulting very low COP. After the RCx, the chiller is either operating at higher PLR or fully stopped. When the chiller is off, the building is cooled by the cooling energy stored in the chilled water delivery network. Primary chilled water pump, condenser water pump, and cooling tower fan are also off when the chiller is off.


Other information:
 
     
   

Cost Saving
Total cost: HKD 0.3 million for programming the control strategies into BMS Total savings/year: HKD 3.6 million
Saving/year breakdown:
  • AHU Fan energy was reduced by 16% while maintaining the space thermal comfort.
  • The model-based control strategy to recover cooling energy from building thermal mass could reduce daily energy consumption by 7.2%.
  • The chilled water battery strategy could save 2500 kWh per day.
Payback: 1 month
Name of consultant and contractor
Building Energy and Automation Research Laboratory, Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Awards
Awards received by the project:
  • CLP Smart Energy Award 2023 Innovation Award (Grand Award)
  • CIBSE HKG Awards 2023 Winner Project of the Year Award - Commercial & Industrial Building
  • HKIE The Excellent Building Award 2023 Carbon Neutrality Achievement Award (Existing Building)
  • GBA Low Carbon Building Top 100 Award
  • LEED O&M V4.1 & WELL Performance Rating 2024
  • BEAM Plus Existing Building V2.0 - Platinum
  • HKAEE 2023 - Property Management (Commercial & Industrial) - Gold
  • IAQ Certificate Scheme – 10-year commitment
  • PropTech Excellence Award 2024 - Diamond


Using AI solution and data mining technologies to optimise energy efficiency and operational performance for major equipment and building services systems
Installation of Thermal Energy Storage (TES) System
Building Owner Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited
Building/Project Name International Commerce Centre
Systems HVAC - Waterside Air Conditioning System
HVAC - Airside Air Conditioning System
Smart control Platform
Building Types Commercial - Office
Commercial - Retail
Commercial - Hotel & Hostel/Apartment
Description of the building:

ICC stands 118-storey high and 490 metres above sea level. Inside, it houses The Ritz Carlton Hotel Hong Kong, the sky100 Observation Deck, SkyDining 101, and 2.5 million square feet of premium Grade A office space which is managing by Kai Shing Management Services Ltd.

Six identical centrifugal chillers are installed to supply the building with chilled water. Each chiller is connected to a primary evaporator chilled water pump and a condenser cooling water pump.

Plate heat exchangers are used to separate chilled water supplied to different zones. All secondary chilled water pumps are equipped with variable speed drivers (VSDs). Eleven variable speed cooling towers are installed on a mechanical floor inside the building.

PAUs and AHUs are designed for all the air-conditioned spaces. There are two AHUs for each office floor. Each connected with around 50 VAV terminals.		  
Retrofitted initiative:

PolyU team has been studied and proposed a wide range of control strategies, worked with ICC management team to implement various smart control strategies to optimize the operation of ICC HVAC system and achieved remarkable saving. Here are the three major retrofitted initiatives:
  1. HVAC Air Side System: replaced the conventional supply air static pressure set-point reset logic with an innovative optimization strategy based on statistic models. The new fault tolerant control strategy could deal with faults in VAV terminals or improper temperature settings in air-conditioned spaces.
  2. HVAC Air Side System: Developed a model-based control strategy to recover cooling energy from building thermal mass. The strategy is activated before the end of office hours to recover the cooling energy which is often wasted.
  3. HVAC Chilled Water System: Developed a new control strategy to utilize system intrinsic thermal storage (Chilled Water Battery) to enhance chiller plant efficiency. By utilizing the chilled water delivery network as a thermal storage system, the chiller plant efficiency could be significantly improved during low load conditions.

Note: Beside of the three initiatives, many other energy efficiency enhancement measures have been implemented in the large and complex HVAC system.

Observed benefits other than energy saving:

  • Lower noise level since the AHU fan operate at lower speed.
  • Nil complaint for indoor thermal comfort.
  • Reduced operation time of equipment (chillers, primary chilled water pumps, condenser water pumps and cooling tower fans). Therefore, prolonged lifetime of equipment.

General observations of the retrofitting project:

  • Before the RCx, the AHU supply air pressure set-point was always at the upper limit. After the RCx, AHU static pressure set-point varies with the actual cooling demand, and the fan speed has been significantly reduced.
  • Before the RCx, the cooling energy stored in building thermal mass was wasted. After the RCx, the cooling demand is reduced significantly, and the indoor air temperature increase was controlled within 1 K.
  • Before the RCx, the large constant speed chiller was operating at very low part load ratio (PLR) in extreme low load conditions, resulting very low COP. After the RCx, the chiller is either operating at higher PLR or fully stopped. When the chiller is off, the building is cooled by the cooling energy stored in the chilled water delivery network. Primary chilled water pump, condenser water pump, and cooling tower fan are also off when the chiller is off.

Other information:

 
     
   

Cost Saving
Total cost: HKD 0.3 million for programming the control strategies into BMS Total savings/year: HKD 3.6 million
Saving/year breakdown:
  • AHU Fan energy was reduced by 16% while maintaining the space thermal comfort.
  • The model-based control strategy to recover cooling energy from building thermal mass could reduce daily energy consumption by 7.2%.
  • The chilled water battery strategy could save 2500 kWh per day.
Payback: 1 month
Name of consultant and contractor
Building Energy and Automation Research Laboratory, Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Awards
Awards received by the project:
  • CLP Smart Energy Award 2023 Innovation Award (Grand Award)
  • CIBSE HKG Awards 2023 Winner Project of the Year Award - Commercial & Industrial Building
  • HKIE The Excellent Building Award 2023 Carbon Neutrality Achievement Award (Existing Building)
  • GBA Low Carbon Building Top 100 Award
  • LEED O&M V4.1 & WELL Performance Rating 2024
  • BEAM Plus Existing Building V2.0 - Platinum
  • HKAEE 2023 - Property Management (Commercial & Industrial) - Gold
  • IAQ Certificate Scheme – 10-year commitment
  • PropTech Excellence Award 2024 - Diamond


Using AI solution and data mining technologies to optimise energy efficiency and operational performance for major equipment and building services systems
Installation of Thermal Energy Storage (TES) System

   


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