LOS ANGELES, CA — In 1990, construction began on 801 Towers, a 24-story, 430,000-sq-ft office building in downtown Los Angeles. The building was designed to include 8,300-ton-hrs of thermal energy storage (TES) to shift peak loads in order to qualify for incentives and off-peak rates offered by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP). The system is capable of approximately 11,000-ton-hrs of capacity, according to Victor Ott, president of Cryogel in San Diego, CA.
Flack and Kurtz of San Francisco, the principal engineer, and LADWP may not have foreseen the energy crisis coming, but in hindsight, the system has proven to be a prime example of engineering foresight, says Ott.