Electronic Drives and Controls, Inc. Provides Successful Energy Efficiency Upgrade with Harmonic Mitigation for Major Jersey City Commercial Property

EDC Jersey City Project

EDC acted as general contractor, providing the electrical design, installation services, harmonic mitigation and analysis for an upscale waterfront commercial property in Jersey City.

Electronic Drives and Controls, Inc. (EDC), a leading control systems integrator and field service company for industrial automation and variable frequency drive (VFD) technology, today announced the company has successfully completed a major energy efficiency modernization of the HVAC motor controls for a class-A commercial property on the Hudson River in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Electronic Drives and Controls served as general contractor for the 11-month long project which was won in a competitive bid, partnering with union electricians from Arbor Electric.  EDC engineers modernized the building’s cooling water control system with the addition of 28 energy-efficient fan and pump VFDs and assisted with the replacement of an eight-cell cooling tower, heat trace wiring and temporary controls while the building management system (BMS) was being retrofitted.  After a power quality analysis, EDC engineers completed the electrical design with harmonic mitigation according to IEEE 519 guidelines.  To minimize electrical noise at the facility, EDC’s design included active harmonic filters maintaining optimum power quality, minimizing power-related issues with client computer systems and maintaining unity power factor to provide savings in power cost. Additional savings were realized when EDC engineers retrofitted the drives into existing motor control centers avoiding the cost and lost physical space of wall-mounted drives.

“Between the savings on utilities and the New Jersey energy rebates earned, this project had a quick ROI,” said Chuck Dillard, vice president, Systems Group at Electronic Drives and Controls.  “The client was proactive in modernizing the building’s HVAC VFDs, greatly benefiting the marquee tenants in this upmarket property with better comfort, improved power quality and reliability.”

Electronic Drives and Controls serves premier high-rise commercial real estate clients in the greater New York metro area, specializing in upgrades and preventive maintenance (PM) while also offering 24/7/365 emergency services.  

“In these big properties, when something goes wrong or we lose a critical piece of equipment, it can be very difficult to try and provide services that are necessary without affecting the tenants. It can be daunting at times,” said Kevin Ridder, Chief Engineer of 52 Broadway in New York City.  “I know that when I pick up that phone and call EDC, I’m going to get somebody that’s going to handle it – that will be there as soon as they can, and is going to take care of it with the best solution possible. I can’t give them a higher rating than the highest rating. They are excellent.”