When throwing a party, or even attending a party, everyone knows that ice is essential. Normally about 1lb of ice is needed per guest, which means that you either have to make ice overnight and store it for the party or run out to the corner store to purchase it. You would never consider making the ice for each guest as they arrive. That would be insane!

Now consider this. In a commercial office building, it takes about 300 lbs of ice, or equivalent cooling, to keep an average person comfortable throughout a summer workday. The same logic of creating ice ahead of time is not applied to our buildings. Instead in commercial buildings we rely on instantaneous cooling. The infographic below highlights the huge burden this creates on our power grid and details how thermal energy storage is a logical solution by allowing buildings to make the ice ahead of time, at night, when electricity is far less expensive and generated more efficiently.

Mark M. MacCracken is the CEO of CALMAC Manufacturing Corporation, which is the largest manufacturer of Thermal Energy Storage equipment in the world, with over 4,000 installations in over 35 countries.

In his over 30 years with the firm, MacCracken has been involved in all aspects of the company including, R&D, contracts, patents, manufacturing, marketing and finance. He was the Principal Investigator on research projects with Oak Ridge National Labs, NASA and National Renewable Energy Research Lab. In his continual support of energy efficiency he is regularly in contact with the DOE, EPA, EPRI and electric utilities across the country and around the world.