Matern Professional Engineering is proud to announce the completion of the design phase and ongoing construction oversight for the transformative renovation of the Collier County Main Campus Energy Plant. This ambitious project features a 2,000+ ton chilled water thermal energy storage system, including a 14,000 ton-hour Thermal Energy Storage (TES) tank. The modernized plant will efficiently cool all the buildings on the main campus while significantly reducing operating costs and environmental impact.

“This is the largest central plant project in my 30-year career,” said Todd Griffith, Vice President and Director of Southwest Florida at Matern Professional Engineering. “The unique challenges involved in designing this cooling system have led to an innovative, energy-efficient, and cost-effective solution that can be replicated at other institutions, benefiting both the environment and the bottom line.”

Because the central energy plant project, originally envisioned as a separate freestanding structure, proved to be cost-prohibitive, Griffith and his team reimagined the project as a complete central plant renovation. The team determined the system had additional capacity beyond the redundancy needed to add the main jail building to the new central energy plant, while keeping within the project’s original capacity constraints. In addition, the team designed the system with a planned switchover that will minimize cooling downtime for the buildings. The high-efficiency plant will soon serve the chilled water-cooling needs of the entire campus, including the jail, at a lower operating cost while saving natural resources.

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The thermal storage tank stores approximately 1.6 million gallons of 40-degree water, capable of providing 14,000 ton-hours of cooling. The system produces cooled water for the storage tank at night during Florida Power & Light’s off-peak energy usage hours. It then pulls from the storage tank to cool the building during peak energy hours, resulting in operational cost savings for the Collier County government.

This plant’s advanced cooling technology minimizes evaporative water loss, resulting in significant water conservation throughout its operational life. Upgrading the outdated central energy plant to a more efficient system quadrupled the generator capacity, enhancing the county’s emergency response abilities. The system also qualifies for the Florida Power & Light Energy Rebate program, which will help offset the initial cost of the upgrade.

“Our goal was to simplify and add some redundancy to the system that didn’t exist before, which was also needed to increase capacity for the county’s future growth,” said John McCormick, Division Director of Collier’s County’s Facilities Management Division. “We thank Todd and his team at Matern for applying innovative problem-solving techniques in their redesign of the Collier County Campus Energy Plant. The collaboration ensured we could update our facility while saving the county both energy and natural resources.”

About Matern Professional Engineering

Matern Professional Engineering provides building systems engineering, which provides services throughout Florida in addition to several other states. The firm embodies a personalized approach that prioritizes collaboration, solutions, and project success. With four offices across Florida, the firm is licensed in Alabama, Georgia, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Matern is client-focused, innovative, and driven to make a positive impact on its clients and community partners. For more information, visit https://matern.net.

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