Rhode Island School of Design Central Power Plant

Location:  Providence, RI

Market:  Education / Power

GC:  Arden Engineering / Gifford Consulting

Timeline:  March – December 2019

Services Provided: 

  • Engineering
  • Mechanical Construction
  • HVAC
  • Electrical
  • Fabrication
  • Building Automation Controls

Project Overview

Mechanical – Installation of three (3) new 300HP flexible water-tube style steam boilers capable of firing on natural gas and No. 2 fuel oil, new generator, chemical treatment, and UG FO storage tank conversion. Associated boiler equipment was also replaced, including a deaerator, condensate tank, fuel oil pump skid, blowdown tank, and breeching.

HVAC – Furnished and installed new unit heaters and exhaust fans.

Electrical – All wiring required for three (3) new boilers and associated equipment, new emergency generator, distribution panel, and lighting.

Building Controls – (Earthwise Energy Technologies) Design and integration of boiler monitoring controllers for gas, steam, and oil meters; deaerator and condensate receiver systems. Integration into a new JCI FX Niagara supervisory web-based controller for graphical navigation.

The reconstruction of the boiler plant has improved efficiency, cleanliness and reduced pollution. The smaller boiler footprint enabled by the new boiler technology in conjunction with the new LED lights provided RISD with a safer, more organized boiler room and working area.

Replace existing central steam generator plant due to age and inefficiency. A deteriorating 100-ft chimney stack was re-pointing and new liner installed. This required an intricate cabling system installed within the chimney. In addition, the existing underground fuel oil storage tank needed to be converted from No. 6 to No. 2 fuel oil.