Siemens to Help Oregon Medical University Capitalize on New Energy Technologies; New Power Plant Will Benefit the Environment While Saving Energy Dollars.

BUFFALO GROVE, Ill. -- Siemens Building Technologies, Inc. will design, build, operate, and maintain a Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHP) to serve Oregon Health & Science University's (OHSU) new River Campus in Portland, Oregon.

The CHP will provide OHSU with a clean, flexible, reliable and efficient source of heat and electric power. It will feature five natural gas-fired microturbines, which will produce all of the heat required by the facility, as well as 34% of its electric power.

The CHP will serve Building One, a 400,000 square-foot facility that will house medical offices, outpatient surgery, research laboratories, a wellness center, an imaging center, conference center, retail outlets, and parking. Scheduled to open in 2006, it is the first building being built in the university's expansion along the Willamette River in the new South Waterfront District.

"Combined Heat and Power is gaining momentum as a means of improving energy efficiency, power quality and reliability," said Bob Davis, group operations manager at Siemens Building Technologies. "Projects like this are transforming the way businesses think about energy production and building designs," he added.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a CHP design will reduce the amount of fuel consumed by almost 40% when compared to a traditional fossil fuel-fired utility power plant and customer-owned boilers. In addition, OHSU estimates that CHP will reduce its CO2 emissions by roughly nine million pounds per year.

"The technology of CHP has been proven in Europe," said Mark Van Buskirk, OHSU associate vice president for Facilities Management and Construction. "However, the Siemens and OHSU innovation was in designing and sizing a plant that would reduce the use of higher priority space within Building One, while being flexible and scalable enough to efficiently match our constantly changing load and demand profile."

Siemens is also designing a highly efficient chilled water production plant to serve the cooling needs of the building. Both the CHP and chilled-water plants will be integrated and controlled as a coordinated central utility plant.

OHSU and its design and construction team are utilizing the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) rating system to gauge the sustainability of the project. OHSU's goal is to achieve a gold LEED rating. Innovative features of the new OHSU facility, such as using rainwater to flush public fixtures and a internal bioremediator to treat waste, might just earn it LEED's highest platinum rating.

As part of its turnkey services offering, Siemens is helping OHSU to secure financial incentives for the CHP. State tax credits from the Oregon Department of Energy, combined with financial incentives from an Energy Trust of Oregon pilot project, contribute to making the project an effective choice for OHSU.

Headquartered in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Siemens Building Technologies, Inc. makes buildings comfortable, safe, productive and less costly to operate. The company focuses on improving the performance of its customers' buildings, so that its customers can focus on improving their business performance. In the U.S., Siemens Building Technologies employs 7,500 people and provides a full range of services and solutions from more than 100 locations coast-to-coast. Worldwide, the company has 29,000 employees and operates in more than 42 countries.

For more information on Siemens Building Technologies, Inc., visit: www.sbt.siemens.com.