1. TAS Middle East, LLC (Dubai, UAE) believes that
owners and engineers focus on five primary decision
criteria in the selection of a central plant system: 1) the
strength of the initial design, 2) the quality of
construction, 3) operating performance achieved relative
to the initial design and contractual obligations, 4) first
cost, and 5) operating cost- the largest cost item over the
plant’s useful economic life.
Why Design Matters
The value of a central plant system is in the design. TAS
has invested significant R&D into developing and
standardizing the most efficient and reliable central plant
systems for the value of an owner’s investment. By
assuming a standardized design approach, and allowing for
customizations, TAS is able to cost reduce individual
central plant projects by minimizing the time and expense
associated with custom designs.
TAS’ advancements in designing packaged central plant
systems has resulted in a standardized product offering
ranging from 400 to 8,000 tons. TAS’ innovative designs
allow for multiple packages to be installed on a single
project site to achieve the desired central plant tonnage.
Two great examples of this are the district cooling projects
at the Jumeirah Beach Residence (60,000 tons) and The
Crescent of The Palm, Jumeirah (120,000 tons). Both
projects are in Dubai, UAE.
Why Packaging Matters
TAS’ central plant systems are pre-engineered and factory
manufactured in a controlled environment, which allows
for greater design reliability, better construction quality,
and higher installation safety than field constructed central
plants. Packaging is differentiated from field constructed
central plants in that architectural & engineering (A&E)
firms typically design the central plant. Then a separate
general contractor (GC) builds the plant based on the
A&E’s design specifications. Both the A&E and GC work
on behalf of the owner until the physical plant is constructed,
component-by-component, on the owner’s site.
Packaging simplifies the process by removing risks.
Rather than working with two firms, owners work with
one company that has beginning-to-end responsibility for
the installed system. The design, specifications,
component selection and construction are tightly
controlled. In the case of TAS, ISO 9001:2000 quality
manufacturing processes are strictly followed.
Working with pre-designed and engineered systems helps
manage first cost capital investment by minimizing the
unexpected financial impact of change orders to the
original project scope. The financial impact of change
orders is rarely considered at the point of contract signing
and is a common occurrence with field constructed,
custom projects.
Change orders mostly occur due to changes in project
scope. Project scope changes frequently occur with highly
customized projects that are laid out by pre-determined
specifications. Especially when multiple suppliers are
involved with a project – design vs. build – scope changes
may occur as project responsibility shifts from design to
specification bidding and then finally to the field
construction phase.
Valuing Performance with
Packaged Central Plants

2. With field construction, the key exposure to change order
risk is the existence of multiple “suppliers” in a highly
competitive design, component selection and field
construction process. Each “supplier” in the process has
the incentive to maximize profit as they competitively bid
on their respective piece of the project. And while
contract cost is not likely to change, component selection,
change orders and other factors can affect first cost and
just as importantly, the operating efficiency of the plant,
which is an even greater cost exposure. The use of
standardized, pre-engineered central plant designs, in a
quality controlled manufacturing process, helps to
minimize owner change order risk and its associated first
cost impact.
An additional risk with field constructed central plants is
the weather. When building on-site, weather can
frequently delay construction and construction delays
impact the bottom line. This is especially the case in
revenue producing projects involving life sciences,
healthcare, gaming, semi-conductor and other time
sensitive industries. The value of one day’s construction
delay can be significant. In the life sciences industry, one
revenue-generating day lost due to construction delays
may mean millions in revenue lost for a patented new
drug, which has a fixed market life due to a set patent
expiration date.
In addition to minimizing construction time risk, the
factory manufactured packaged central plants approach
also reduces the amount of physical site disruption by up
to 75% of the traditional construction time associated
with field-constructed plants. With minimal site
interference and lower site labor required, site
construction scope and risk are greatly reduced, benefiting
both the contractor and the owner.
Why Performance Matters
When an owner purchases a central plant system – he
purchases an operating performance expectation. Owners
expect the system to operate as designed from both a
reliability and operating efficiency perspective. In short –
owners want the assurance that they get what they paid for.
For owners and operating engineers, central plant
performance can be quantified and is frequently defined
by the following key metrics: total first cost upon project
completion, on-time installation, operating efficiency, cost
of operation, and system reliability. These metrics are
commonly used to ensure that actual performance is
consistent with the customer’s expectations.
The most important performance metric should be the
owner’s largest cost exposure – operating costs over the
useful life of the central plant system. Operating
efficiency should be the #1 decision criteria in any central
plant purchase decision, as it helps to manage and
minimize this risk by reducing energy consumption in
support of the cooling application. Packaging versus field
constructing the central plant helps maximize owner
performance satisfaction. The value of the packaged
central plant is inherent to the system design and not the
individual parts. TAS’ design philosophies optimize
package efficiency and lowers total package costs. TAS’
integrated system approach enables system efficiency
(kW/ton) and completion date (months) guarantees.
Factory manufacturing in a controlled environment,
utilizing pre-engineered designs and ISO 9001:2000
quality processes allow TAS to guarantee both delivery
date and operating efficiency upon commissioning with
liquidated damages as specified in the terms and
conditions of the contract, as required. Performance
matters – TAS Packaged Central Plants is committed to
design, packaging and performance – Guaranteed!
Peter Armstrong
Director
Marketing, Business Development & Regulatory Affairs
Keith Evans
Director
TAS Middle East, LLC