The most common type of water chiller for large building is the centrifugal chiller which employs a centrifugal compressor to compress the refrigerant. This process extracts heat from a closed loop water distribution system as it is pumped through coils working in conjunction with air handling equipment. The captured heat is sent through a secondary open loop system and released into the environment by a cooling tower.

This technology can also be used to extract heat during the manufacturing process.