Two organizations have honored Cornell University's Utilities Department for its energy technology and efficiency in supplying heating and cooling to a university community of nearly 30,000 people using environmentally sound methods.

The university's Lake Source Cooling (LSC) project, which was launched in 1994 and began operating in 2000, was honored June 8 by the New York State Society of Professional Engineers (NYSSPE) as the society's outstanding engineering achievement of the year at a reception in Manhattan. LSC uses cold water from Cayuga Lake to cool a separate water supply that is pumped to the Cornell campus and circulated to cool campus buildings. Cornell's chilled-water cooling and its steam heating also have been named District Energy System of the Year by the International District Energy Association (IDEA). The award was presented at the IDEA's annual conference and trade show in Las Vegas June 19. Last year's winner of the award was Consolidated Edison Co.'s steam business unit in New York City.

James R. Adams, director of Cornell's Utilities Department, who accepted the IDEA award, noted that recognition of Cornell's heating and cooling systems is a tribute to the cutting-edge technology used by the university.

"We at Cornell Utilities have worked hard to make our systems one of the homes of best practices within the district energy industry. Our professional staff of managers, engineers, operators and maintenance personnel take a great deal of pride in the efficiency and dependability of our systems," Adams said.

IDEA promotes energy efficiency and environmental quality through the advancement of district heating and district cooling and cogeneration. District energy systems produce steam, hot water or chilled water at a central plant. The steam or water is then piped underground to multiple individual buildings within a designated area for heating, cooling or industrial use. Cornell's cooling comes from the deep, cold waters of nearby Cayuga Lake. Its heating is provided by a coal-fired central steam plant that pipes steam into buildings across campus. The plant's excess energy is captured by a cogeneration system that provides 15 percent of the campus's electricity at more than twice the efficiency of conventional electric generating plants.

"Both the LSC and cogeneration systems have allowed Cornell to meet its needs while reducing the impact from emissions to the environment," Adams said in accepting the IDEA award.

LSC replaced an aging system of huge water refrigerating machines known as chillers. The new system uses 87 percent less electrical energy than the chillers it replaced, thus reducing the amount of fossil fuels burned and the amount of pollution released into the atmosphere by regional electric generating plants. The LSC system also eliminates the need for ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants or their replacements.

William S. "Lanny" Joyce, chief engineer for LSC, who accepted the NYSSPE award, estimates the cooling project will eliminate the need for some 20 million kilowatt hours per year to be generated by regional electric power plants, or enough power to serve 2,500 homes, while preserving and protecting Cayuga Lake.

The long-term LSC benefits extend beyond the Cornell campus. In return for a pipeline right-of-way easement, the university has provided a chilled water feed to Ithaca High School.