Extreme weather events are getting more extreme. More intense events are happening more often and at shorter intervals. What used to be dubbed a “100-year storm” is now occurring roughly every 25 years. People and businesses rely on their buildings and critical infrastructure to bounce back. One piece of that puzzle: cooling towers.
An Overlooked Source of Disaster Distress
When a disaster displaces, hurts or kills people, it’s natural to dismiss downed HVAC units as “first-world problems.” But in extreme weather conditions, at shelters and for mission-critical facilities like hospitals, HVAC can make a life-or-death difference.
Life risks due to temperature extremes are an obvious concern. A malfunctioning HVAC can lead to heatstroke or hypothermia, especially for vulnerable individuals like children, the elderly, medically infirmed people and pets.
A less obvious but more persistent problem: HVAC systems impact indoor air quality and humidity levels. Poor air quality can stress those with respiratory conditions, and attempts to restore power with a generator used indoors can cause carbon monoxide poisoning. Increased humidity carries a significantly increased risk of mold growth. The flooding of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 caused “high levels of mold growth” but not an equal uptick in mold-related illness, since so many displaced New Orleanians relocated permanently away from the contaminated sites. For those who cannot relocate, however, time spent in close proximity to toxic black mold can significantly increase respiratory symptoms or even lead to death. Without functioning HVAC, temperatures, humidity levels and airflow are unmanaged and provide an ideal breeding ground for dangerous mold.
Beyond health and wellness, downed cooling towers hurt businesses. Extreme temperatures, poor air quality, and humidity take their toll on property and productivity. Industrial plants that have power, but no cooling, cannot operate safely. The revenue lost to downtime, plus the cost of rental towers and the investment in eventual replacement towers, can quickly add up to seven- or eight-figure sums.
Indeed, cooling towers have a greater impact in a disaster scenario than one may think.
Durable Cooling Towers Help Speed Recovery
With life, health, property and productivity on the line, cooling infrastructure is often a priority to bring back online after power is restored. That is, if the cooling tower survived.
Rooftop installations are common for cooling towers, exposing them to wind, rain and debris, which can damage or break the towers. Even when power is restored, the cooling towers might still not be operational.
This is why many properties in weather-prone areas like coastal hurricane zones choose cooling towers with a proven record of resiliency and even certifications for storm and impact resistance. A tower that can survive practically anything thrown at it is a tower that can get back to work faster in disaster-impacted areas.
Structures with these resilient cooling towers can serve as a rallying point for their communities. The power restoration and clean-up processes roll out incrementally, making fully restored locations extremely valuable for life-sustaining and quality-of-life support and getting businesses back to work faster to support their economies.
Case Studies: Hurricanes vs. Cooling Towers
Hurricane Maria vs. HVAC
In September 2017, Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, which sustained massive casualties to human life and property. Electricity for the entire island went down, and recovery is still ongoing almost a decade later.
As the island’s fragile power infrastructure was very slowly restored, areas that were back up became lifelines for those still without power. One such place was the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Rainforest Beach and Golf Resort. The Wyndham was habitable not only because it had power but because its HVAC system had survived the hurricane. Their rooftop towers looked like-new, even after handling winds over 130 mph. Because of this, the resort used many of its 400+ rooms to house emergency aid workers who were assisting post-hurricane.
Hurricane Laura vs. Industrial Cooling
In August 2020, Louisiana was pummeled by yet another tropical cyclone. Laura ranks among the top three hurricanes that delivered maximum sustained winds to the Bayou State as it made landfall. Winds exceeded the average cooling tower wind rating of 150 mph as the hurricane hit the Cameron area—an area home to two refining operations, Calcasieu and Citgo.
The towers on the Citgo plant sustained heavy damage. Operations were down for weeks even after power was restored, and the company reported approximately $69 million in repair costs, in addition to the cost in lost productivity during the weeks of downtime.
Calcasieu’s towers, with a 200mph wind load certification, sustained no damage. The operation came back online as soon as power was restored, saving the business tens of millions.
Cooling Towers: An Essential Part of Resilient Infrastructure
Cooling towers are so often the unsung heroes of commercial and industrial structures, doing their work (more or less) quietly from the background (or rooftop) to maintain comfort and peak operations. Towers that can withstand the greatest extremes of their outdoor lives can be worth their weight in gold.
