Leadership AGC Class Visits Iconic Thermal Energy Plant In Texas Medical Center
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Pictured from left are Steven Swinson, President & CEO, Thermal Energy Corporation; John Barnes, Rogers-O’Brien Construction; Paul Wilhelms, Senior Associate, Gensler; and Manoj Adwaney, PE, Principal, Walter P Moore. At right, Leadership AGC participants tour the facility.
Early this morning, Leadership AGC Class of 2020 participants headed to the Thermal Energy Corporation headquarters in the heart of the Texas Medical Center and spent a memorable time discovering this unique facility. They also heard from panelists Steven Swinson, President & CEO, Thermal Energy Corporation; John Barnes, Rogers-O’Brien Construction; Paul Wilhelms, Senior Associate, Gensler; Manoj Adwaney, PE, Principal, Walter P Moore; Patrick Kiley, FMI Corp.; and Abbey Roberson, VP of Planning, Texas Medical Center.
"The people of TECO take their mission seriously as it is aligned with all the missions of the medical institutions in the Texas Medical Center: to save lives," stated Charlene Anthony, AGC Houston. This is the fourth year in which Leadership AGC class participants have taken part in touring this exceptional facility and it continuously receives top marks as one of the program's best modules.
"AGC Houston is grateful to TECO for opening their doors to us," stated Anthony. "This facility shows the impact great contractors like Paul Bell and George Bellows still have on the largest medical center in the world.They were the masterminds behind TECO."
The plant was originally built and operated by Houston Natural Gas in 1969 to serve St. Luke’s Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital. In 1975, the Texas Medical Center helped bring many of the institutions together to create TECO.
The TECO plant produces thermal energy — chilled water and steam — in a closed loop system for 50 buildings and 16 different institutions in the Texas Medical Center, reusing and recycling everything it pushes out. This energy-efficient system means that individual institutions do not have to house and operate their own cooling and heating equipment. With approximately 36 miles of pipe, TECO is the largest district energy chilled water system in North America.
