Mele Kaliki Cool!

An USD 3-4 million dollar deep-seawater cooling system is to form part of a USD 100 million redevelopment project underway in Hawaii to meet the island's air-conditioning requirements. The system, to be designed by the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, would conserve the energy and freshwater currently used in traditional air-conditioning systems. The 21 367.7 m² International Market Place system plans to pump cold saltwater from approximately 300 metres below the property through a closed system into a heat exchanger to store freshwater circulating in the air-conditioning system. Warmed saltwater would then be reinjected into an adjacent saltwater aquifer system to maintain the existing water table before being used in buildings to reduce the temperature. The project, if the test determines that the water is cold enough to function within the system, should normally commence late 2005 or early 2006.