Ashrae Journal - December 2008 - 84

New Product Preview Advertising Section LUXURY RESIDENCES IN PUERTO RICO COME EQUIPPED WITH TACO’S LOADMATCH® SYSTEM A resort-style residential project called MonteLago Estates outside San Juan, Puerto Rico is under way and is being equipped with a Taco LoadMatch® cooling system for enhanced energy savings. MonteLago Estates is being developed on a 108-acre lot across from La Plata Lake in Toa Alta, about a twentyminute drive outside of San Juan. A total of 87 three and four- bedroom residences in three styles are being built in two construction phases. The developer of MonteLago Estates, SilverLake, Inc., selected LoadMatch for the project because of its projected energy savings. According to Gabriel Perez Sepulveda of SilverLake (shown at right), using the latest technological products, especially “Green” products, is part of his company’s mission. “LoadMatch is a very energy efficient system,” he says, “and it came to our attention with very good recommendations. When it was presented to us by Taco’s representative Jorge Hernandez and MultiAqua Puerto Rico general manager Rodrigo Caicedo, we were amazed. Taco’s LoadMatch single pipe system is usually specified for commercial, industrial and institutional buildings. LoadMatch can provide both heating and cooling capabilities in single pipe circuits, using common terminal units. Under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification process LoadMatch can help gain points for energy efficient heating/cooling systems. Regardless of the type of building, LoadMatch is estimated to save up to 30 percent of life cycle costs for a typical project. LoadMatch is a self-balancing single pipe system that can be used for both heating and cooling. It replaces all control valves with small, low KW circulators (Taco’s “00” LoadMatch circulator). The circulators help deliver system water to where it needs to go as opposed to forcing the water to go where it doesn’t want to. All loads in a LoadMatch system operate separately from one another, and the secondary flow that circulates through each terminal is independent of the system’s primary distribution pumps. Because it eliminates all control valves, most balancing valves and up to 40 percent of piping, first costs are reduced with a LoadMatch system. Lower pump head and operation of the circulators to match the load reduce operating and maintenance costs. Use of LoadMatch for private residences or large residential projects is also growing. A luxury home in Puerto Rico has an installed LoadMatch system, and SilverLake intends to use the system in its next development on the island. According to Greg Cunniff, Taco’s Application Engineering Manager and LoadMatch expert, LoadMatch is well equipped for residential applications: “Besides its energy savings, the real advantage of the LoadMatch system is increased comfort,” he explains. “The system is self-balancing and doesn’t require the more skilled balancing needed for hydronic systems. A homeowner with a LoadMatch single pipe system can be assured that the system will perform from its initial start-up without any need for contractor call-backs.” Multiaqua, Inc. of Mirimar, Florida, through its exclusive representative for Puerto Rico, MAPR, Inc., supplied the chillers for the cooling system. Multiaqua manufactures singlephase chillers in three-four-five and 10-ton capacities for residential and light commercial applications as well as ductless and ducted chilled water fan coils. Each MonteLago Estates residence completed to date is equipped with two five-ton chillers in parallel connected to a single pipe along with 10 Taco LoadMatch circulators to cool the bedrooms and living areas with hi-wall Multiaqua fan coils, providing individual control for each area and allowing the homeowner the ability to cool only the areas of the house he desires, and at different temperatures, according to MAPR’s Caicedo. Information supplied by Taco, Inc. and SilverLake, Inc. 84 ASHRAE Journal ashrae.org December 2008

Ashrae Journal - December 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ashrae Journal - December 2008