Napa Valley Community College Greens Its Campus With Hybrid Cooling

Electricity Bill Savings to be Directed to Classrooms

NAPA VALLEY, Calif. and WINDSOR, Colo., Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ — Ice Energy(R), the premier provider of hybrid cooling technologies, today announced that Napa Valley Community College has installed the latest in green building innovation: six Ice Bear(R) hybrid cooling systems. Installed at the school’s Child Development Center, the Ice Bear systems reduce the daytime power consumption of the facility and lower greenhouse gas emissions while improving indoor comfort for the children and staff learning and teaching there.

“As a public education institution, we believe it is important to make campus improvements that both lower costs and promote sustainability in our community,” said Dan TerAvest, Director of Campus Planning. “California’s colleges spend undue amounts of money to keep classrooms cool and comfortable. Napa Valley Community College found a way to lower the cost of cooling and reduce our carbon footprint without compromising comfort.”

The Ice Bear system uses an efficient, sustainable ice-storage technology that shifts 95 percent of the on-peak electricity used for cooling to evening hours, when electricity from the power grid is cleaner, more efficient and less expensive to produce.

The project with Ice Energy is part of Napa Valley Community College’s continued commitment to renewable energy and green building practices. In June 2006, the school installed a 1.2-megawatt solar system that supplies 40 percent of its daytime power. The combination of this solar system and the six Ice Bear systems reduces the school’s peak power consumption by more than 1.5-megawatts, enough to power over 1,000 homes in the US.

The Ice Bear systems will generate $5,100 in annual savings at current utility rates and insulate the school against potential price increases. Similar savings can be attained at other colleges throughout the California Community College System, when they take advantage of the incentives offered through both PG&E and Southern California Edison, for the Ice Bear hybrid cooling system. The California Community College system is made up of 109 colleges, serves more than 2.5 million students and is the largest system of higher education in the world.

“We are excited to be a part of Napa Valley Community College’s efforts to green their campus and save on energy expenses,” said Frank Ramirez, CEO of Ice Energy. “We look forward to supporting additional colleges and businesses to implement hybrid cooling and help permanently reduce stress on the power grid and emissions related to the production of peak power.”

Napa Valley Community College also received a rebate from Pacific Gas & Electric through the utility’s “Shift & Save” program, which offers rebates for technologies that reduce peak demand from commercial facilities and institutional buildings.

“Early on, PG&E recognized the potential for Ice Energy’s technology to balance California’s power load,” said Steve De Backer, Senior Program Manager at PG&E. “PG&E prides itself in being a leader in using new approaches to help customers manage energy use and in deploying new technologies that improve grid efficiency.”

About Ice Energy

Ice Energy(R) is a clean technology company focused on developing distributed energy storage solutions and advanced hybrid cooling products and technologies. The company manufactures and markets a new Hybrid Air Conditioner for residential and commercial applications that reduces electric bills, improves energy efficiency, provides superior cooling comfort, and benefits the environment.

The company’s hybrid cooling solutions address the increasing demand for electricity by shifting the largest component of residential and commercial demand – air conditioning – from expensive “on-peak” times to “off-peak” periods, when energy is less expensive and less polluting. By combining conventional air conditioning with Ice Energy’s ground-breaking energy storage technology, hybrid cooling increases efficiency, saves money and lowers greenhouse gas emissions.

Visit www.ice-energy.com for more information.

SOURCE Ice Energy