How does District Cooling work?
In Europe the energy to produce the chilled water is typically based on different sources. One source is cold sea or lake water. Another source could be district heating or industrial waste energy as input to an absorption cooling machine. And a third source for production of chilled water is a traditional chillers.
Inside the building the underground pipes will be connected to a normal air handling unit or fan coil that allows the water to chill the air passing through. Therefore the chillers placed locally in buildings will no longer be needed. The water is returned to the central plant to be chilled and re-circulated through the closed-loop pipping system after use. Meaning that one off-site cooling plant mets the energy demand of several buildings. This cooling system is more flexible and also operates with higher efficiency under all load conditions than traditional chillers.
The Benefits of District Cooling
In terms of ENERGY and SAVINGS District Cooling can reduce electricity usage by more than 65% compared to traditional air conditioning systems. As a comparison traditional chiller plants account for up to 70% of the electricity usage in a large building. Thereby the individual power consumption is reduced substantially by a shift of load from each building to a central plant. And there will also be a substantial reduction of costs for operation and maintenance and costs for spareparts will be totally eliminated.
In terms of ENVIRONMENTAL benefits District Cooling also has a lot to offer:
increased energy efficiency
reduced air pollution
decreased emissions of ozone-depleting refrigerants
combats global warming
and helps manage the demand for electricity
With District Cooling an uninterrupted supply of cold water is available with minimum environmental impact and even with significant reduction of energy consumption as well as CFC and CO2 emissions.
District Cooling also has advantages in terms of SPACE and COMFORT. When the individual chiller units and their related equipment are rendered obsolete, the users of the building will nolonger be disturbed by noises or mechanical vibrations which the traditional chillers generated. And the removal of the traditional chiller units will give the building have a better appearance and aesthetics. District Cooling also provides a better indoor climate through a lower indoor humidity which is obtained by a better chilled water temperature control.