District energy systems have been operating in the US for over 100 years
and currently serve more than 4.3 billion sq ft of building space, including
landmark buildings like the US Capitol and Supreme Court, the Empire State
Building, the Mayo Clinic and Harvard Medical School.
District energy networks are very common in dense downtown areas and at
colleges and universities. They are also often found at medical campuses,
military bases, office parks, convention centers, sports arenas, airports,
sustainable housing developments, or other clusters of buildings.
Sometimes all of the buildings in a district energy network are commonly
owned, as at a university or medical campus; in other cases each building is
privately owned, as in a downtown area. The number of customer buildings
served by a typical district energy system may range from as few as three or
four in a new project under development to as many as 1,800 (as with Con
Edison Steam Business Unit in Manhattan, the largest district steam system
in the world).
Mature steam systems in U.S. cities like Philadelphia, Indianapolis,
Boston or Denver serve between 200 and 400 customer buildings. Larger and
established combination district heating and district cooling systems such
as those in Hartford, Minneapolis, and Omaha generally serve between 65 and
150 customer buildings on heating and between 50 and 125 customer buildings
on cooling. In most cases, the urban district energy system typically serves
over 50% of the Class A commercial office space in the central business
district and in many cases, market share exceeds 85%.
District energy systems are the preferred method of heating and cooling
most major college and university campuses. In the U.S. hundreds of campus
energy systems provide highly reliable and scalable energy supply. Many U.S.
universities are adding or increasing their ability to generate electricity
on campus and are recycling heat from power generation to heat buildings and
drive steam chillers for campus air conditioning.
Downtown Areas with District Energy
- Downtown Denver, downtown Phoenix, and downtown Tucson
Colleges and Universities with District
Energy
- University of Arizona, Arizona State University West Campus, Arizona
Health Science Center, Cochise College, Northern Arizona University,
Phoenix College, Pima Community College, The American Graduate School of
International Management, Yavapai College, Adams State College, Colorado
College, Colorado State University, University of Northern Colorado,
University of Southern Colorado, University of New Mexico, Brigham Young
University, University of Utah, Utah State University, and the
University of Wyoming
Medical Centers with District Energy
- The New Mexico Regional Medical Center, and seven separate VA
Medical Centers
Content Courtesy of International District Energy
Association