Heat Plant Renovation

For more than a century, Virginia Military Institute’s Heat Plant has served the Post and its cadets, supplying steam and serving as a critical source of heating and hot water for the VMI population. To address aging infrastructure and capacity needs, we teamed up with VMI to upgrade the Heat Plant and the steam distribution system. However, our goal was to do more than just recommend changes; we wanted to partner with them on these efforts to design a plant that would meet both their current needs and long-term goals.

As part of our early load forecasting efforts, we determined that the plant needed about 25 percent more capacity. Based on the age and condition of the existing boilers, and available project budget, we elected to inspect the existing boilers before making the decision to replace them all. What we found was that the boilers were in surprisingly good shape based on age due to meticulous maintenance. This meant that VMI could maximize their budget by making strategic upgrades: install a larger boiler to boost capacity and refurbish the others to keep them in use, longer.

As we evaluated the rest of the Post’s system, we also improved the reliability of the condensate return system by modifying the return configuration and utilizing steam-powered return pumps. Our team designed upgrades to significant portions of the steam distribution system to increase capacity and address aging infrastructure.