Calvin D. MacCracken

Calvin Dodd MacCracken, also known as Cal (1919-1999) was an American inventor who made important contributions to energy storage technology and the construction of ice rinks.

Calvin D. MacCracken, nicknamed Cal, was born in Poughkeepsie, New York to Henry Noble MacCracken, a president of Vassar College and Marjorie Dodd MacCracken. Henry M. MacCracken, coined the term "Hall of Fame".

Cal MacCracken entered Princeton University at age 16 and graduated in 1940. After briefly working with Thomas Edison's son he attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering.

From college, MacCracken went to work at General Electric Corporation, where he designed the first combustion chamber and throttled the first jet engine.

In 1947, MacCracken left General Electric to found Jet Heat Inc. (now known as CALMAC Corp.) in Englewood, New Jersey. In the following 50 years as CEO of CALMAC, he produced over 250 inventions and had 80 patents.

MacCracken is best known for his work in energy storage and ice rinks. He developed the IceBank® energy storage system, a form of thermal energy storage used to cool buildings by making ice at night when electricity rates are less expensive. IceBank® energy storage functions like a battery for a building’s air-conditioning system. IceBank® saves dramatically on the cost to cool buildings by reducing a building’s on-peak use of electricity. The IceBank ice battery system uses standard cooling equipment plus an energy storage tank to shift all or a portion of a building’s cooling needs to off-peak, nighttime hours. During off-peak hours, ice is made and stored inside IceBank energy storage tanks. The stored ice is then used to cool the building the next day. IceBank® offers a critical service to grid, since air-conditioning is the main culprit behind spikes in peak electrical demand. This on-peak reduction decreases the need to build new power plants or turn on expensive “peaker” power plants. Over 1GW of IceBank energy storage is used in over 4,000 installations in 60 countries for commercial buildings, schools, government buildings, hospitals, hotels and retail.

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