The Benefits of District Energy Systems

District energy systems offer a variety of benefits, including:

• Improved energy efficiency – Steam, hot water or chilled water arrive at a building ready to use. They are 100 percent efficient “at the door,” as compared with 80 percent efficient or less when burning natural gas or fuel oil at a building. In addition, district energy systems can use the “reject heat” that results from burning fuel to produce electricity at a power plant, significantly increasing the total efficiency of the useful energy extracted from the fuel. When the reject heat is used, the system becomes a combined heat and power system (CHP). A CHP plant generates both heating and cooling capabilities, plus electricity for customers. A CHP system may have nearly double the fuel efficiency of an electric generation plant and can also lower the emissions typically associated with conventional fossil-fuel powered electrical production.
• Improved Environmental Impact – It allow building owners to conserve energy, improve operating efficiency and protect the environment. Building managers no longer need to burn fuels or store or use refrigerants on site; therefore the site is safer and more environmentally sound. It also does not need unsightly smokestacks.
• Fuel flexibility - It serves many customers from one location and it can accomplish things individual buildings usually cannot. For example, district energy systems can use a variety of conventional fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas, whichever fuel is most cost competitive at the time. A modern district energy plant can also transition to use renewable fuels such as various forms of biomass such as wood and food processing waste, geothermal heat, and combined heat and power.
• Ease of operation and maintenance – It offers worry-free heating and/or cooling delivered directly to a customer’s building. Customers do not need boilers or chillers and thus have less maintenance, monitoring and equipment permitting. District energy customers also eliminate the need for fuel deliveries, handling, and storage so there are fewer safety and liability concerns for employees and building occupants. The use of district energy service frees up valuable building space by eliminating the need for mechanical rooms, freeing up space to meet tenant needs.
• Reliability - Building owners and managers can count on district energy systems since energy professionals operate around-the-clock and have backup systems readily available. Most district energy systems operate at a reliability of “five nines” (99.999 percent).
• Comfort and convenience for customers – It allows building operators to manage and control their own indoor environments. Building occupants can be both comfortable and satisfied, no matter what the outdoor temperature. District energy is available whenever a building needs heating or cooling.
• Decreased life-cycle costs - Buildings using district energy service don’t need boilers or chillers and thus building owners and managers can reduce their upfront capital requirements and their ongoing, operating, maintenance and labor costs considerably. That means less financial risk and a far better return on investment – plus the elimination of principal and interest payments, property taxes associated with new boiler and chiller installations, costly insurance and annual maintenance contracts, and costs associated with operating boilers and chillers
• Decreased building capital costs – Buildings connected to district energy systems have lower capital costs for their energy equipment because they don’t need conventional boilers and chillers. They save valuable construction or renovation costs they can invest elsewhere. They also save building space that can be used for other more valuable, income producing purposes.
• Architectural design flexibility – The lack of boilers, furnaces, or smoke stacks and cooling towers translates into substantially greater building design flexibility. Architects can easily design or renovate buildings to be more versatile and aesthetically pleasing for both potential occupants and the community.