This study investigates the potential for energy and water sustainability in hot and humid climates by
utilizing the condensate captured from large dedicated air handling units (AHUs) for pre-cooling outdoor
air in another AHU and subsequently offsetting cooling tower water needs. In such climates, latent load
is large enough throughout the year to produce a substantial amount of condensate, which is typically
drained away from all the AHUs. In this study, condensate is collected from several AHUs and directed
through another coil that pre-cools the warm and humid outdoor air which is supplying another AHU,
called the condensate assisted pre-cooling (CAP) AHU. During the same time, the cooling towers require
considerable amounts of make-up water to replace water losses occurring on a regular basis. The condensate,
including that from the main cooling coil of the CAP AHU, is first supplied to the pre-cooling
coil of the CAP AHU and is then routed through the cooling tower, which significantly reduces potable
water usage and improves cooling tower water chemistry. It is found that condensate production is large
enough to make pre-cooling cost-beneficial with energy savings of approximately 10% and the ability to
offset cooling tower water demand in excess of 50%.