Comfort Link®, a general partnership between Constellation Energy subsidiary Baltimore Gas and Electric Company and EMCOR Group, Inc., has been providing cooling to buildings in the downtown Baltimore business corridor since 1996. Its 48 customers include federal, state, and Baltimore City government buildings, entertainment and retail establishments, commercial office buildings, hotels, hospitals, and religious and other non-profit facilities. These customers include: City Hall, the Baltimore Convention Center, The Rouse Company's Harborplace, the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, Clarence M. Mitchell Courthouse, Peoples' Court, Garmatz Courthouse and Fallon Federal Building, the U.S. Customs House, U.S. Appraisers Stores and the Central District Police Station.

Delivering more than 32,000 tons of cooling capacity and approximately 40 million ton-hours of low-temperature chilled water to cool over 11.5 million square feet of conditioned space, the Comfort Link system is one of the largest ice thermal storage systems in the country.

Founded in 1996 to provide cooling to downtown Baltimore at a time when building owners were facing the expense of replacing aging cooling plants to meet more stringent environmental regulations, Comfort Link presented a cost-effective alternative to replacing, operating and maintaining their own equipment - a central, competitively priced, comfortable, and reliable district chilled water system owned, operated and maintained by a third-party.

Today, with nine full-time employees and three "networked" chilled-water chilling facilities, Comfort Link continues to grow as more customers discover its benefits.

• Began service in July 1996
• Peak cooling capacity (including ice thermal storage) - 10,800 tons

Chillers


• Three field-erected, built-up, rotary screw compression refrigeration chillers
• Each of six compressors is rated at 625 tons in ice duty and 900 tons in standard duty
• Total chiller capacity - 5,400 tons
• Refrigerant HCFC-22

Thermal Storage


• Ice on coil thermal storage - 48,000 ton-hours

Distribution Pumps


• Three variable speed distribution pumps
• Design flow - 10,500 gpm

• Began service in June 1999
• Peak cooling capacity (including ice thermal storage) - 12,750 tons

Chillers


• Three 2000-ton centrifugal chillers
• Three rotary-screw industrial chillers, 935 ton each in ice duty and 1,250 ton each in standard duty
• Total chiller capacity - 9,750 tons
• Refrigerant: centrifugal/screw chillers - HFC-134A/HCFC-22

Thermal Storage


• Ice on coil thermal storage - 27,000 ton-hours

Distribution Pumps


• Five distribution pumps, four variable speed and one constant speed Design flow - 18,300 gpm