Lehigh Valley Health Network

Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) is a regional healthcare provider with multiple hospital and primary care locations, staffed by almost 14,000 employees. Its headquarters, home to the administrators who manage this large operation, is located in a multi-story, 160,000ft² building in Allentown, PA. When LVHN acquired the facility, it was served by two chillers, one of which dated back to the building’s construction, circa 1970. The second unit was a more recent magnetic-bearing chiller. The original chiller had reached its planned lifespan, while the magnetic-bearing chiller had developed costly ongoing maintenance issues. Facilities staff sought to replace the original chiller with a reliable, efficient model that could also take over the load carried by the magnetic-bearing unit.

Project Solution

The LVHN facilities staff was familiar with the quality, efficiency and reliability of Carrier chillers from their experience with the Carrier AquaEdge® 19XR chiller that serves one of their other buildings. Thinking forward to the future phase-out of the older, ozone-depleting refrigerants used by some chillers, the staff selected an AquaEdge 23XRV screw chiller with chlorine-free HFC-134a refrigerant, which is not subject to phase-out. Carrier Commercial Service, which maintains the heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment for Lehigh Valley Health Network, was chosen to perform the installation. Since the 23XRV chiller came into service, reduction in electrical demand has led to approximately $24,000 lower utility costs at the facility per year.