skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: District cooling and heating development in Stamford, CT. Final report

Abstract

This report summarizes the development options for introducing district cooling and heating in downtown Stamford, Connecticut. A district energy system as defined for the Stamford project is the production of chilled and hot water at a central energy plant, and its distribution underground to participating building in the vicinity. The objective of the study was to investigate implementation of a district energy system in conjunction with cogeneration as a means to encourage energy conservation and provide the city with an economic development tool. Analysis of the system configuration focused on selecting an arrangement which offered a realistic opportunity for implementation. Three main alternatives were investigated: (1) construction of an 82 MW cogeneration plant and a district heating and cooling system to serve downtown buildings, (2) construction of a small (4 MW) in-fence cogeneration plant combined with cooling and heating, and (3) construction of a district cooling and heating plant to supply selected buildings. Option (1) was determined to be unfeasible at this time due to low electricity prices. The analysis demonstrated that alternatives (2) and (3) were feasible. A number of recommendations are made for detailed cost estimates and ownership, leasing, and financial issues. 12 figs., 10 tabs.

Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Stamford Partnership, CT (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Washington, DC (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
531081
Report Number(s):
DOE/CE/26614-T1
ON: DE97009223; TRN: 97:005256
DOE Contract Number:
FG01-91CE26614
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: Dec 1994
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION; CONNECTICUT; DISTRICT COOLING; DISTRICT HEATING; DUAL-PURPOSE POWER PLANTS; FEASIBILITY STUDIES

Citation Formats

NONE. District cooling and heating development in Stamford, CT. Final report. United States: N. p., 1994. Web. doi:10.2172/531081.
Copy to clipboard
NONE. District cooling and heating development in Stamford, CT. Final report. United States. doi:10.2172/531081.
Copy to clipboard
NONE. Thu . "District cooling and heating development in Stamford, CT. Final report". United States. doi:10.2172/531081. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/531081.
Copy to clipboard
@article{osti_531081,
title = {District cooling and heating development in Stamford, CT. Final report},
author = {NONE},
abstractNote = {This report summarizes the development options for introducing district cooling and heating in downtown Stamford, Connecticut. A district energy system as defined for the Stamford project is the production of chilled and hot water at a central energy plant, and its distribution underground to participating building in the vicinity. The objective of the study was to investigate implementation of a district energy system in conjunction with cogeneration as a means to encourage energy conservation and provide the city with an economic development tool. Analysis of the system configuration focused on selecting an arrangement which offered a realistic opportunity for implementation. Three main alternatives were investigated: (1) construction of an 82 MW cogeneration plant and a district heating and cooling system to serve downtown buildings, (2) construction of a small (4 MW) in-fence cogeneration plant combined with cooling and heating, and (3) construction of a district cooling and heating plant to supply selected buildings. Option (1) was determined to be unfeasible at this time due to low electricity prices. The analysis demonstrated that alternatives (2) and (3) were feasible. A number of recommendations are made for detailed cost estimates and ownership, leasing, and financial issues. 12 figs., 10 tabs.},
doi = {10.2172/531081},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 1994},
month = {Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 1994}
}
Copy to clipboard
Technical Report:
View Technical Report (3.39 MB)
DOI:  10.2172/531081
Save / Share:
Export Metadata
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.

  • This report summarizes the activities of a study intended to examine the feasibility of introducing district cooling (and heating) for a selected neighborhood of downtown Stamford, CT. A district energy system as defined for the Stamford project is understood as the production of hot and chilled water at a central energy plant, and its distribution underground to participating buildings in the vicinity. The objective of the study was to investigate implementation of a district energy system in conjunction with advanced cooling technologies to compete with conventional alternatives (which provide heating and cooling for buildings with on-site energy plants) as amore » means to encourage energy conservation and provide the City with an economic development tool. The project would serve as a pilot program to demonstrate the inherent flexibility of district energy and the rewards of expanding the system when further innovations and technology options become attractive. 7 figs., 10 tabs.« less

  • Information is provided on the solar heating system installed at the Lutz-Sotire Partnership Executive East Office Building, Stamford, Connecticut. The information consists of description of system and components, operation and maintenance manual, as-built drawings and manufacturer's component data. The solar system was designed to provide approximately 50 percent of the heating requirements. The solar facility has 2,561 sq. ft. of liquid flat plate collectors and a 6000 gallon, stone lined, well-insulated storage tank. Freeze protection is provided by a 50 percent glycol/water mixture in the collector loop. From the storage tank, solar heated water is fed into the building's distributedmore » heat pump loop via a modulating three-way valve. If the storage tank temperature drops below 80/sup 0/F, the building loop may be supplied from the existing electrical hot water boilers. The Executive East Office Building is of moderate size, 25,000 sq. ft. of heated space in 2 1/2 stories. The solar system makes available for other users up to 150 KVA of existing electrical generating capacity.« less

  • In 1984, the City of Columbus, building on the results of previous district heating assessments funded by both the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Danish Ministry of Energy, began a survey of the potential for district heating systems in its downtown and riverfront areas. Of particular interest was the potential for refurbishing an old municipal electric plant on the northwest fringe of the downtown as a heat source for a riverfront area targeted for redevelopment. This report describes the background, assumptions, methodology, and conclusions of that assessment. It must be said at the outset that somemore » questions remain unanswered.« less

  • ; ;
    A detailed assessment has been completed of the use of desiccant-based customer-sited heat-actuated cooling for District Heating and Cooling (DHC) systems, showing that introduction of a reduced-cost desiccant cooling system would result in widespread market penetration. This program consisted of three principal components: a market study of existing and future reduced-cost liquid desiccant cooling (LDC) systems; an examination of the installed costs of these existing and reduced-cost LDC systems; and four detailed case studies. Both the installed cost and equivalent chilled water cost of existing large LDC systems were found to be quite competitive with district chilled water, while themore » high capital cost of small LDC systems made them more expensive than district chilled water. Potential total system sales in this existing large-scale LDC market are quite low, since most of the market for DHC space conditioning is in smaller equipment sizes. Cost savings realized from producing a reduced-cost LDC system would result in small LDC systems (sized well below 6,000 cfm) becoming competitive with the current range of district chilled water costs.« less

  • The risk analysis reported in this appendix was concerned with a business venture in the area of district energy systems using thermal energy cogenerated at existing electric power plants. After an introductory section, Section 2, Institutional Issues, discusses investment decisions and regulatory constraints and issues; Section 3 reviews public utility company objectives and investment analysis approach; Section 4 reviews the case study of district heating and cooling systems (DHCS) in Washington, DC; Section 5 results of the Minneapolis/St. Paul case DHCS study; Section 6 summarizes the desired risk-analysis methodology for evaluating regulated utility investment decisions; and Section 7 presents overallmore » conclusions. (MCW)« less