The University of Nebraska-Lincoln hired Sinclair Hille Architects and Olsson Associates to provide design services for the construction of a chilled water Thermal Energy Storage (TES) Tank and its supporting Maintenance Building on the UNL City Campus at 1340 North 17th Street. The $12.1 million project includes both the design and construction of the 8.1 million gallon, 100 foot tall TES tank, and a 4,200 square foot support building. The 120-foot diameter tank rests on deep pile footings, and is made of welded plate steel skinned by a layer of insulation and covered by decorative aluminum paneling. The slab on grade Maintenance Building has a precast concrete and masonry exterior and houses chilled water pumps, electrical service and a staff restroom.  The support building is designed to allow for future additions to accommodate chillers, cooling towers, pumps and free cooling heat exchangers. 

New direct buried 36” chilled water mains from the TES maintenance building were installed to connect to existing 30” mains at the intersection of 16th and “W” Street. The new mains were directionally-bored under Antelope Creek and the four-lane Antelope Valley Parkway.

Due to its visual impact on the east side of the City Campus, the design of both the TES Tank and the Maintenance Building was required to follow the review process of UNL’s Architectural Review Committee. Design options were developed for each structure and presented to the committee. The approved tank design included a subtle vertical striping configuration in soft grey colors that minimize the large diameter of the tank. The selected Maintenance Building design consists of a mixture of precast concrete and brick masonry panels that respond to the architectural style guidelines from City Campus building design standards.