POWER Magazine
Summary
“There’s over 600 operating district energy systems in the US, and that’s in cities, also on college and university campuses, healthcare, military bases, airports, pharma, even our sort of newer industries like Meta, Apple, Google, their campuses are utilizing district energy, because, frankly, there’s economies of scale,” Rob Thornton, president and CEO of the International District Energy Association (IDEA), said as a guest on The POWER Podcast .
District energy systems employ a centralized facility to supply heating, cooling, and sometimes electricity for multiple buildings in an area through a largely underground, mostly unseen network of pipes. When district energy systems are utilized, individual buildings do not need their own boilers, chillers, and cooling towers. This offers a number of benefits to building owners and tenants. Among them are:
- Energy Efficiency. Centralized heating/cooling is more efficient than individual building systems, reducing energy use by 30% to 50% in some cases.
- Cost Savings. Lower operations and maintenance costs through economies of scale and reduced equipment needs per building.
- Reduced Environmental Impacts. Emissions are lessened and renewable energy resources can often be more easily integrated.
- Reliability. A more resilient energy supply is often provided, with redundant systems and professional operation.
- Space Optimization. Buildings need less mechanical equipment, freeing up valuable space.
Read Article & Listen to Podcast
#News#MemberNewsIDEA#DistrictEnergy#Content