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Campus Planning and Construction

Vanderbilt to expand utility capabilities

by Lew Harris
Vanderbilt will expand its central power plant so that it can provide steam and electricity needed to support the planned growth and renovation of the Medical Center and University central over the next five to 10 years.

Projected growth for the campus and Medical Center is estimated at 2.7 million square feet within the next three years, with an additional 1.3 million square feet in the two years after that for a total of 4 million square feet within a five year span. Vanderbilt’s current steam and electrical systems cannot accommodate such growth.

The existing central plant will be expanded by construction of a co-generation plant, consisting of two large gas turbines, which will produce both steam and electricity. The new facility will be constructed in the existing power plant yard.

The present coal-based plant will continue in use, but environmental regulations prohibit increasing its capacity. In addition, a new rock-bored underground utility corridor will be constructed to intersect with the Medical Center’s central utility corridor.

“This was a great opportunity for the central campus and the Medical Center to work together to meet common utility needs,” said Jon Gullette, associate vice chancellor for operations. Gullette said construction on the new project will begin in mid-October and will continue for 18 to 24 months.

The $25.2 million project, the first part of a program to expand the University central utility infrastructure, will include the following elements:

• Power plant expansion for added steam and electrical co-generation capacity
• Expansion of the University’s electrical substation by adding a new transformer to handle the increased electrical needs
• Construction of interconnecting rock-bored tunnels to link the Central power plant to the Medical Center utility corridors. Subterranean drilling will be used to avoid trenching streets and other surface excavation disruptions,
• Use of less costly Vanderbilt central utilities, rather than local utility companies, to provide gas and electricity for a number of existing campus buildings now purchasing from outside utilities,
• Routing natural gas from the local utility company via the new tunnels to the central plant from the perimeter of the campus,
• Establishment of a loop system for redundant feeds to the Medical Center for electrical and steam networks, thus increasing service reliability.

The project will also provide redundant pathways for telecommunications and data lines to the Medical Center and other existing buildings not currently served. It allows the option of relocating portions of the chilled water network, utility networks and overhead services in the underground utility corridors.