Podcasts: March 23, 2015

A: I’m the CEO of Calmac manufacturing, and we make thermal storage equipment. I’ve been in the business for about 40 years, and I was recently the chairman of the board at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

Q: How does ice storage work and how is it beneficial in commercial settings?

A: Basically, with ice storage, you make a lot of ice at night and melt it during the day to cool the building. This helps shift the electric load from daytime to night time. On a day-to-day basis, if you were going to throw a party, it’s probably not a good idea to start making the ice cubes the day the attendees walk in the door. It turns out you need about 1 pound per person for the party. The following day, when they go to their office, you need about 150-400 pounds of ice per person. So, if it’s ludicrous to wait for 1 pound, why isn’t it hundreds of times more ludicrous for buildings to act like they didn’t know you were coming and turn on the cooling when electricity is expensive?

Q: How popular is this technology?

A: Our company has more than 4,000 installation in 37 countries around the world. In the U.S., the stronger markets are the areas where you’d need more air conditioning, such as Florida, California, Texas, etc.; however, it’s also popular in electrically challenged areas such as New York City, the Midwest, etc. We’re focused on areas where electricity is expensive, there is a large difference between day and night power, or there’s a need for a lot of cooling.

Mark MacCracken
CEO, Calmac
Fair Lawn, New Jersey
www.calmac.com

CLICK HERE to listen to the entire podcast. 

Publication date: 3/23/2015

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