To address the Katz Jewish Community Center’s energy demands, Kinsley Energy Systems partnered
with Ecosave, Inc to conduct a comprehensive combined heat and power feasibility study, resulting in
the recommendation and installation of a TEDOM CHP system.

Project Details

• Customer: Katz Jewish Community Center, Cherry Hill, NJ
• Challenge: The hot water boilers used for space heating and domestic hot water at the Katz JCC were aging and needed replacement. Additionally, the facility was experiencing rising utility costs.
• Solution: TEDOM Cento T150 (Power: 146kW & hot water heat: 771,000 BTU/h)
• Equipment financed through long-term Energy Services Agreement (ESA). Comprehensive service plan for twelve-year length of the ESA.
• Primary Choice Factors: Employing a TEDOM combined heat and power system to generate electricity and hot water offsets the need for expensive capital upgrades to hot water boilers. An attractive no-capital financing mechanism and a 40% cost incentive through the New Jersey Clean Energy Program provided for a rapid return on investment with reduced risk.

Background

Promoting and enriching Jewish culture, heritage, values and lives, The Katz Jewish Community Center provides outstanding educational, social and fitness/wellness programs for their community.

Established in 1941, the Katz JCC served Jewish communities with facilities located in Camden and Pennsauken, New Jersey. An increase in membership brought a need for a larger facility, which opened its doors in June of 1997. Located on the Weinberg Community Campus in Cherry Hill, NJ, the Katz JCC is home to the award-winning Sari Isdaner Early Childhood Center for children as young as three months. The campus also includes a state-of-the-art health and wellness complex that provides fitness opportunities for all ages and abilities. Acclaimed after school programs Just4Kids and JCrew are sought-after destinations for children grades K-8, offering homework help, enrichment activities, computer lab, and creative arts. The JCC is a haven for Jewish organizations, children, adults, the elderly, and individuals with special needs.

The Challenge

The Katz JCC’s challenge was to avoid expensive equipment replacement by finding a way to generate heat and hot water while reducing annual utility costs.

The Solution

Kent McCord and Brent Voelker of Kinsley Energy Systems partnered with Ecosave, Inc to conduct a comprehensive CHP feasibility study, resulting in the recommendation to install a TEDOM CHP system.

Founded in 1964 and headquartered in East Granby, CT, Kinsley is an energy solutions provider specializing in collaboratively working with customers to ensure project success. Ecosave, Inc, with U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia, had an existing relationship with Katz JCC to implement energy efficiency and cost-saving measures throughout the facility. A CHP solution for the project included a 146 kW TEDOM Cento T150 with a hot water heat of 771,000 BTU/h.

The unit operates continuously, supplying electricity and heat to the facility and providing over 40% of annual electricity to the community center. Automatically following building electric load, the TEDOM Cento turns down the CHP at night when the building requires less than 146 kW. It also supplies over 3,500 MMBTU of hot water annually for space heating (through heat pumps), domestic hot water, pool heating and pool dehumidification.

The result is an estimated 70% annual efficiency achieved by converting natural gas to electricity and heat. In comparison, the average efficiency for the U.S. electrical utility grid is 33%. There is also a significant CO2 savings of over 500,000 lbs/year when compared to NJ electric grid and on-site gas boilers. The noise level is remarkably quiet at less than 63 dBA at three feet.

Unique Design Features

The CHP system is optimized for overall efficiency throughout the year using the following features:

• Electrical load-following controls, which automatically reduces the CHP power at night to match the facility load.
• Thermal load-following controls, which automatically controls the CHP power output to maintain a minimum total CHP efficiency. The load-following is active mainly during the summer months when there is a lower facility heat load, requiring less hot water and reducing CHP power levels.

The Result

The TEDOM Cento T150 was commissioned in February 2020 and is performing with high efficiency and reliability. “The addition of CHP to the Katz JCC has greatly reduced their overall energy costs while simultaneously avoiding capital expenditure on end of life hot water boilers for space heating and domestic hot water,” said a spokesperson for Ecosave when asked about the project.