Kai Tak District Cooling System

A district cooling system (DCS) infrastructure facility that aims to promote energy efficiency and conservation, its core function is vital for it to be the most energy-efficient system—it consumes about 35 per cent less electricity than traditional air-cooled air-conditioning systems, thus aiding to reduce carbon emission at a city-level scale.

SERVING THE NEW CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT
The facility aims to serve the Kai Tak Central Business District mega-sized urban development project. The system utilises seawater to produce chilled water at the central plants and distributes it to consumer buildings via a 40-kilometre-long underground water piping network.

 By using seawater for heat rejection, there is further energy saving and more open space released to the public through the removal of cooling towers. Additionally, with the intake of nearby seawater to produce chilled water, the water flow circulation and thus the water quality is also enhanced. The DCS also helps mitigate the heat-island urban effect by eliminating heat rejection of separate air-conditioning systems from individual buildings.

PROJECT DATA
Project Name
Kai Tak District Cooling System
Location
Kai Tak, Hong Kong
Completion Date
2020
Site Area
320 hectares
Client/Owner/Developer
Electrical & Mechanical Services Department, HKSAR Government
Civil & Structural Engineer
Arup
Mechanical & Electrical Engineer
Arup
Images
Arup

This is an excerpt. The original article is published in Construction+ Q3 2022 Issue: Urban Development.
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