Chilling in Honolulu

Honolulu is moving ahead with an ambitious plan to use deep seawater as a natural air conditioning for downtown buildings. The system should be in place for up to 40 clients by 2010.

1 minute read

October 18, 2008, 5:00 AM PDT

By Tim Halbur

"Chilled deep water has been used for two decades to cool buildings at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii at Keahole Point on the Big Island. Other systems have been in place for years at other areas - including Cornell University, Toronto and Scandinavia - where the location provides a deep-water source.

The Honolulu project - estimated at about $152 million - is perhaps one of the most ambitious."

"The system would draw water from the ocean floor four miles off the Kakaako coast at a depth of 1,600 feet, where water temperature is 45 degrees year-round.

That water would be sucked up to a 25,000-square-foot pumping station, to be located near the Gold Bond Building in Kakaako, where it then would be distributed to the air-conditioning systems of public and private buildings in an area roughly bounded by Nuuanu Avenue, Vineyard Boulevard and Ward Avenue along the Kakaako shoreline."

FULL STORY: Plan to cool downtown by sea water advances

Monday, October 13, 2008 in Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Energy Environment Hawaii Sustainability Ocean Water Cooling

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