Building Utilities Projects Add Up to Billions of Dollars of U.S. Construction

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Projects to replace or add building utilities such as boilers, chillers, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment often represent some of the most sizable investments made by a building owner. Industrial Info is tracking billions of dollars of projects in the U.S. that aim to install these systems at institutions as diverse as hospitals, universities, prisons and airports.

The U.S. government is getting in on the action by replacing steam boilers at the Hill Air Force Base in Layton, Utah. Earlier this year, general contractor SAW Contracting (Virginia Beach, Virginia), known for its work with federal agencies, broke ground on the project, which includes the removal of two existing 70,000-pound-per-hour (lb/hr) chillers and six 40,000-lb/hr chillers, replacing them with five new 50,000-lb/hr chillers, in addition to performing equipment upgrades. The project will help the facility adhere to Best Available Control Technology (BACT) guidelines and is expected to be completed in the second half of next year. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Industrial Manufacturing Project Database can learn more by viewing the project report.

But that's not all that's happening at the air force base. In addition to the replacement of the chillers, boilers in the steam plant also are being replaced. One 60,000-lb/hr boiler and 40,000-lb/hr boiler are being replaced with two new 50,000-lb/hr boilers to upgrade the facility's reliability. This portion of the project is expected to be completed before the chillers, coming to a close early next year. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the project report.

A much-loved Texas grocery store chain is adding boiler capacity to a San Antonio campus. H-E-B Grocery Company (San Antonio, Texas) is underway with an 8,000-square-foot building addition that will house three 800-horsepower Cleaver-Brooks oil-fired boilers providing 82,800 pounds per hour of superheated steam. The project began at the start of 2024 and is expected to run through next summer. Subscribers can click here to learn more about the project.

Among the universities with utilities projects underway is Miami University of Ohio, (Oxford, Ohio), which is replacing two existing centrifugal chillers with two new 1,000-ton chillers and upgrading the building system to be fully automated at its Oxford, Ohio, campus. A well will be dug under the front lawn of the campus' Millet Hall connecting to the new chillers. Work on the project started this summer and is expected to last for a period of about two years. Subscribers can click here to learn more.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has a few active boiler and chiller projects occurring at its network of medical centers. At the VA campus in Albany, New York, the agency is in the process of removing three 25,000-lb/hr boilers with replacements and a 400-horsepower firetube steam boiler. Work began early this year and is expected to last into early 2026. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the project report.

The Wisconsin Department of Corrections for some time has been planning to decentralize the heating system at the Oakhill Correctional Institution in Oregon, Wisconsin, by removing four existing water tube boilers at a central heating plant and replacing them with two condensing boilers in each of approximately 10 buildings. The project has been delayed for a number of years since its inception, but recent updates suggest it could begin toward mid-2027, taking a little more than year to complete. Subscribers can click here to learn more about the project.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Database can click here to view reports for all of the projects discussed in this article and click here for the related plant profiles.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).