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Engineering & Utilities
Engineering & Utilities (E&U) manages the production, procurement, distribution and billing of utilities for much of the University's Cambridge and Allston campuses including chilled water, steam, electricity, water, sanitary/storm drainage, natural gas, and fuel oil.
Blackstone Steam Plant
Harvard’s Blackstone Steam Plant supplies the University’s central distribution system with 400°F, 100 psig steam. The service area covers a substantial portion of Harvard's campuses extending from Athletics and One Western Avenue in Allston, across the river to the Harvard Kennedy School, along the River Houses, through Harvard Yard, reaching the Law School and Divinity School in the North campus.
The plant's four boilers operate on natural gas nearly 100% of the time, however the ability to utilize fuel-oil has been retained to ensure reliability and redundancy. Before exiting the plant, the steam can be used to power two turbines with the ability to generate a combined maximum output of 12MW of electricity.
Allston District Energy Facility
Harvard’s 58,000 sq. ft. District Energy Facility (DEF) is a lower-carbon, climate resistant system that provides heating, cooling, and electricity to support Harvard's academic and research activities in Allston. This includes the University’s new Science and Engineering Complex (SEC). The DEF has also been designed to support future academic and institutional growth in Allston.
The facility has a 1.3-million-gallon tank for storing chilled water that is used to cool buildings with some limited other applications to support research. The tank is analogous to an enormous battery because the chilled water will be produced and stored during off-peak hours, typically nights and weekends, when electricity is cheaper and less-polluting. It can then be used during the daytime when needed, lowering the burden on the power grid during peak times.
Chilled Water
Chilled water for air conditioning and other uses is supplied to approximately 75 buildings across the Cambridge campus. Chilled water is produced by a 13,000 ton central plant located at One Oxford Street and a 7,500 ton satellite plant located in the Northwest Building. Services include: utility billing/administration; maintenance; and expansion of the University’s central chilled water plant and distribution infrastructure from the point of generation to the building interface.
