Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/834093
t m c » p u l s e | j u n e 2 0 1 7 6 Powering the TMC TECO cools and heats the Texas Medical Center B ehind a brown brick façade decorated with black and white double helixes—an homage to the district it serves—the Thermal Energy Corporation (TECO) is busy cooling and heating the Texas Medical Center. "In reality, we're a big part of the med center, but we're a quiet part," said Charlie Michalak, maintenance man- ager and long-time TECO employee. "Two hundred thousand people come in and out of this place every day. You would think they would know a little bit about us, but we don't make a lot of noise. We just stay back to the side and do what we've got to do and make sure B y S h a n l e y C h i e n Located at 1615 Braeswood Blvd., TECO's central plant includes an 8.8 million-gallon thermal storage tank and a modified jet engine that can power a Boeing 747. Facing page: TECO's East Chiller Building contains four 8,000-ton chillers. At 120,000 tons of generating capacity, TECO is the largest district cooling system in North America. the medical center gets 24/7 coverage." Much like the heart supplying blood to the body through the veins, TECO pumps chilled water and steam to the medical center through a vast network of pipes. Thirty-six miles of steel pipe turn and wind below the TMC campus. How far below? The equivalent of a five-story building. Sometimes, that massive under- ground infrastructure requires a dis- ruption above ground. Recently, TECO construction crews have been hard at work outside the John P. McGovern Texas Medical Center Commons on Bertner Avenue, and up the street on E. Cullen in front of Baylor College of Medicine, occasionally delaying and rerouting traffic, to the frustration of medical center employees. But as TECO's CEO Steve Swinson said: "If we don't do what we do, then they don't do what they do." TECO's state-of-the-art central plant, which sits on six acres between Pressler Street and Brays Bayou, houses a district energy and combined heat and power (CHP) system that produces chilled water, steam and hot water that is piped out to 46 buildings in the medical center. The not-for-profit also holds bragging rights as the largest producer of chilled water in North America, housing 27 chillers (including four 8,000-ton chillers) and a 150-foot tall thermal energy storage tank that holds nearly nine million gallons of water. There's even a jet engine—strong enough to power a Boeing 747—that can generate backup electricity in the event of an electrical blackout. TECO's services play an import- ant role in medicine, patient care and research. Chilled water provides air conditioning to keep buildings cool. Not only does this give patients and employees respite from the oppressive heat and humidity during Houston