Columbia Manhattanville Campus Energy Study

Atelier Ten’s recommendation to include strategies such as optimized cogeneration system and recovering site waste energy streams will help Columbia University reduce greenhouse emissions by 30% in the next 10 years.

Atelier Ten conducted a detailed analysis of Columbia Manhattanville’s new central heat and power plant to assess the energy efficiency benefits of different configurations and sizes of cogeneration including fuel cells and microturbines, and ice storage. Atelier Ten’s analysis and recommendations to the university factored in construction cost, below grade space availability, local emissions (especially particulate matter), and ongoing energy cost and energy use.

Additionally, our analysis showed that cogeneration provides a significant benefit for the campus in terms of energy cost savings and reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Atelier Ten also completed an analysis to show that ice storage gives modest benefits for energy cost due to the relatively small capacity under consideration.