Constitution Health Plaza is a 6-story, multi-purpose medical campus located in South Philadelphia. It is situated on one square block (3.5 acres), comprises four buildings, and runs its cooling system through a central chiller plant.  

The facility was originally built in 1920 and underwent new construction in 2012, bringing the total square footage to over 400,000. More than 1.5 million patients come to Constitution Health Plaza for their healthcare needs each year.

Hospitals and medical care facilities are critically dependent on their HVAC systems to ensure healthy and safe operations, as well as comfort for staff and patients. They must also comply with ASHRAE Standard 170, which requires adherence to specific ventilation system designs for individual rooms based on their purpose. 

With many maintaining 24/7 operations, it’s not hard to believe healthcare facilities consume nearly 10% of the total energy used by commercial buildings in the U.S. That amounts to more than $8 billion in operating spend annually. As a result of their massive energy requirements, healthcare systems are responsible for 8.5% of the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions.

Alongside our partner Ecosave, a leading energy service company, Tagup approached the Constitution Health Plaza team to explain the significant economic and environmental savings they could realize by optimizing their cooling operations. 

Like most commercial buildings, Constitution Health Plaza's cooling system controls were fixed, which means significant savings opportunities were being missed. Systems with a fixed set point control strategy essentially ignore the multitude of factors (internal and external to the building) that impact cooling system performance, whereas a modern AI optimization strategy can operate the system dynamically.

‍Beacon, Tagup’s machine learning software for optimization, improves building efficiency by automating the complex task of optimizing interconnected HVAC systems. This AI-driven approach allows for frequent, automated setpoint adjustments that maximize efficiencies.

In its first nine weeks of operation, Beacon reduced energy consumption by 38,000 kWh. This represents 12% of the total energy consumption of the chiller, pumps, and cooling towers, covering the total cost of installation in the first month alone. Beacon will save Constitution Health Plaza 15% of its cooling operating costs in the first year, with results improving over time.