CU's Lake Source Cooling project wins prestigious Governor's Award

William S. "Lanny" Joyce, right, chief engineer for the LSC project, receives an inscribed pen from Department of Environmental Conservation research scientist Carlos Montes following a ceremony Monday in Albany. Shirley Egan, left, Cornell associate university counsel, looks on. Robert Barker/University Photography

By David Brand

Cornell's Utilities Department has won yet another prestigious accolade: the 2001 New York Governor's Award for Pollution Prevention in the institutional/educational category for the university's Lake Source Cooling (LSC) project, which uses cold water from the depths of Cayuga Lake to cool the campus. It was one of four organizations in the state to win the awards.

On Jan. 14 William S. "Lanny" Joyce, chief engineer and team leader of the LSC project, accepted the award on behalf of the Cornell engineering team from Erin M. Crotty, commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) at a ceremony in the DEC's Albany headquarters.

Said Crotty: "The 2001 Governor's Pollution Prevention Awards recognize innovative environmental projects that benefit all New Yorkers, and we are pleased to honor these four organizations for their valuable contributions to pollution prevention efforts."

Others from Cornell attending the ceremony included Robert R. Bland, university environmental engineer and director of environmental compliance; Patrick O. McNally and Sarah C. Zemanick from the environmental compliance office; and Charles Kruzansky, associate director of government affairs.

The Governor's Award recognizes institutions and companies that voluntarily go beyond the requirements of compliance with anti-pollution legislation. The DEC also honored the LSC project because of its highly innovative nature and because the technology easily can be transferred to other institutions, which is one of the main criteria for selecting winners.

Cornell also won a Governor's Award in 1996, for dealing with traffic congestion and parking demand on campus.

The LSC project was launched in 1994 and began operating in 2000. The cooling project is estimated to have eliminated the need for some 20 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year, or enough power to serve 2,500 homes, while preserving and protecting Cayuga Lake.

LSC uses cold water from the lake to cool a separate water supply that is pumped to the campus and circulated to cool campus buildings. LSC uses 86 percent less electrical energy than the aging system of water-refrigerating machines, called chillers, that it replaced, reducing the amount of pollution released into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels by electric generating plants.

"Use of lake source cooling provides a passive and technologically simple cooling option for Cornell University, using a natural, nonpolluting and renewable resource," said Joyce. "It is designed and operated with great care to protect the lake."

The Governor's Award was one of two presentation ceremonies attended by Joyce this week. He also was in Atlantic City for the 2002 Winter Meeting of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers to accept the society's Technology Award for the LSC project.

And on Dec. 11, the project was presented with an award for regional first place for design excellence from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Joyce accepted the award from Bill Merwarth, former District 1, ASCE, director and past Ithaca ASCE section president.

Earlier last year, LSC was named by the New York State Society of Professional Engineers as the society's outstanding engineering achievement of the year. Cornell's chilled-water cooling and its steam heating and electricity cogeneration also were named District Energy System of the Year by the International District Energy Association.