What is District Cooling?

What is District Cooling?

District cooling is defined as “one cooling network, distributing chilled water to more than one building.” This definition has some, but not total, market acceptance, as the interviews indicated. The term is also defined elsewhere as one cooling network, distributing cooling water to more than one customer. At first glance, these definitions do not seem to be much different. But the alternative definition excludes facilities like airports, hospitals, and universities, where cooling is distributed to only one customer managing several buildings.

The same basic concept underlies district cooling and district heating. Both distribute centrally generated energy to large or small communities through a pipe network. Both are subsumed under the umbrella term “district energy.”

District cooling systems, large or small, produce energy at one or more central production sites and use many different cooling technologies, including individual chiller, combined heating and cooling, and combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) systems (Figure 1). The technologies, energy sources, and combinations of these are described in some detail in section IV of this report.

figure 1: District cooling system

The main benefits provided by district cooling systems are:

•             multi-energy systems, using several energy sources (including energy from waste) and thus optimizing resource availability and reducing operating and environmental costs;

•             optimized capital expenses, as a result of variations in operating scale and in load demand;

•             optimized operating expenses, through increased system efficiency;

•             centralized system management, operation, and maintenance by capable and efficient professionals, optimizing the life-cycle cost; and

•             high system efficiency, with low use of primary energy and reduced emissions.

In sum, a district cooling system is an energy generation and distribution system that offers substantive efficiency gains by virtue of its larger scale (compared with individual cooling solutions); the possibility of using several energy sources and thus improving environmental and cost performance; and the potential for integration with other energy systems, such as district heating, steam, power distribution, and gas systems.

On the other hand, although district cooling systems can be considered successful worldwide and the technologies are mature, many challenges stand in the way of their adoption. The socioeconomic benefits, often long term and related to energy and environmental efficiency, are not always reflected in specific business cases or at the individual business level. Initial investments are relatively high, and rely on initiatives from governmental bodies and investors, rather than individuals.

Moreover, cooling, unlike heating, water, and electricity, is often perceived as a luxury or comfort service, rather than a basic utility need.

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