Energy Services Programs

Project Profile:  Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center

In upgrading Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center’s outmoded central chiller and boiler plant system, the Power Authority’s foremost concern was avoiding disruptions to the 24-hour operation of one of New York City’s busiest hospitals.

The center offers vital services to the people of the Bronx, within one million square feet of facilities, including more than 600 beds, a trauma center and a constantly busy emergency room.

A NYPA analysis revealed that the hospital’s aging chillers and boilers required relatively dirty No. 6 oil as secondary fuel and utilized a refrigerant that was in general use when the complex was built in 1974 but is not permissible today. Lincoln faced the increasingly strict requirements of the Federal Clean Air Act. In addition, the poor efficiency of the chillers and boilers increased fuel costs, and their quarter-century-old status dictated high and growing maintenance costs.

NYPA’s Energy Services department installed new high-efficiency electric chillers and dual-fueled (natural gas and cleaner No. 2 fuel oil) boilers, and an emergency diesel generator to help meet Lincoln’s critical loads in the event of a power failure. Emissions were dramatically reduced, and the new chillers utilized non-ozone-depleting refrigerants.

During the yearlong project, the four-unit, 5,400-ton capacity chiller plant was brought in through an opening in a second floor wall, and each of three boilers was positioned in a room adjacent to the emergency room. These efforts were carefully planned and coordinated, resulting in no interruption to the hospital’s normal daily operations.

Lincoln will save more than $625,000 a year in energy and maintenance costs from the $6.9 million project. NYPA provided financing to the hospital through its long-term energy partnership agreement with the City of New York.

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