Corn Hill Landing is a mixed-use project containing 127 apartments and 14,000 sq.ft. of retail space. It is built on the Genesee River waterfront in Rochester, NY. Instead of building a conventional air conditioning central plant, our engineers opted to take advantage of the location, and cool the building with water from the River. By using river water as a heat sink, the amount of energy needed for summer cooling is greatly reduced.

The system consists of water source heat pumps rated at approximately 300 tons, with a SEER between 15-17. The system takes in 690 gallons per minute. The water is then circulated by duplex inline pumps, through a plate and frame heat exchanger where heat is transferred between the heat pump loop and the river water loop. The system operates when the river water temperature is between 45-80°F.

One of the important design considerations is the water intake. Using a wedge wire screen, the intake velocity of 1/2 foot per second is designed to keep the fry (little fish) out. To guard against zebra mussels, the screen is made of a special copper-nickel alloy and the river water loop piping is treated with a special inhibitor. To protect against other debris, a series of progressively finer strainers are used for filtering.

The savings generated by the system extend beyond the summer into the shoulder seasons as well. During winter, Corn Hill Landing utilizes gas-fired boilers to heat the loop. System in operation since 2005.