Thermal planning: what can campuses teach us about expanding district energy?

Abstract

Campus district energy (DE) systems present opportunities to reduce energy costs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, manage peak loads, and increase the share of renewable energy. We investigate the opportunities and barriers to expanding campus DE systems off-campus through surveys and interviews with 18 campus DE managers and providers, and a case study modeling heat demand near campus. The impact of DEs on buildings’ energy consumption reductions are estimated at around 33%. Expanding the campus DE systems to nearby buildings may yield similar energy efficiency gains off-campus. However, about half the survey respondents do not see off-campus DE expansions as currently possible. Barriers to extension include high infrastructure installation costs, stringent utility regulations, insufficient financial and institutional incentives, and individualistic mentalities whereby building owners prefer to control their energy systems.

Keywords:

• District
• energy
• university
• campus
• efficiency

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 IDEA is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit industry association founded in 1909 in the United States. It now has an international membership of about 2,400 professionals in more than 30 countries.

2 No significant associations were found between the extent to which campus DEs use renewable resources (as a proxy for their commitment to sustainability) and the likelihood that respondents consider DE extension desirable or feasible.

3 https://www.districtenergy.org/blogs/peter-myers/2017/12/20/university-of-minnesota-shows-off-its-new-combined