Metropolitan Partnership frees up amenity space for residents

The customer

Located in the heart of Baltimore with extensive views of the harbor, 10 Light Street is one of the most architecturally significant buildings dominating the city’s skyline. Built in 1929, the 34-story, 482,000-square-foot Art Deco building has a long history of leveraging district energy for reliable heating and domestic hot water.

The challenge

Originally used for banking and commercial offices, 10 Light Street was renovated into 400 luxury apartment units by the building owners, Metropolitan Partnership, in 2014. As part of the renovation project and effort to accommodate the growing housing market, Metropolitan Partnership sought a creative cooling solution to address its antiquated chilling and cooling towers—all while reducing capital costs and carbon footprint.

The solution

Because of its longstanding partnership with Vicinity, Metropolitan Partnership removed the building’s failing chilling and cooling towers and seamlessly tapped into Vicinity’s district chilled water network. This network incorporates thermal storage systems that produce chilled water from ice made using off-peak electricity—taking pressure off electrical grids during summer peak capacity periods and helping reduce electric capacity charges.

Removing bulk and adding cutting-edge amenities

By converting to Vicinity’s chilled water system in 2014, the building removed onsite chillers and cooling towers and freed up valuable space no longer needed for large onsite mechanical equipment. As a result, residents could enjoy new amenities, including a roof-top pool, skyline lounge, a 42,000-square-foot Under Armour Performance Center, and indoor and outdoor dog parks. These amenities are essential in attracting and retaining residents by making the building a desired, premium-level living experience.

Achieving a greener future

Because Vicinity leverages renewables to generate approximately 50% of the steam delivered to Baltimore customers and 100% carbon-free electricity via emission-free energy certificates (EFECs), 10 Light Street benefits from 99.99% reliable thermal energy that provides uninterrupted service to tenants while also contributing to a greener future. District energy not only helped reduce the building’s carbon footprint, but also its impact on the surrounding Baltimore community and planet.