CHP for Buildings: The Challenge of Delivering Value to the Commercial Sector

The commercial sector has historically not seen the same level of investment in Combined Cooling, Heating and Power (CHP) as the industrial sector. The average commercial building has smaller and more diverse energy requirements than would be expected at a typical industrial site. Consequently, even though the electrical requirements of the commercial and industrial sectors are very similar there is nine times more installed industrial CHP capacity than commercial CHP in the U.S. However, the advent of microturbines and increasing commercial viability of fuel cells promises generator sizes much more suitable for use in the commercial sector. There are many possible uses for the waste heat in a commercial building, depending upon geographic location, occupant requirements and the energy cost structures of both fuel and grid electricity. Possible waste heat technologies include absorption chillers, humidifiers, desiccant dehumidifiers, steam generators, hot water heating, space heating and thermal storage. Several of these could be combined with a generator to produce a commercial CHP for Buildings package. A well-designed and operated package should deliver energy and environmental savings as well as significant cost savings to the customer. Other potential value streams are improved indoor air quality, peak shaving to reduce demand charges, enhanced power reliability, tradable environmental credits or grid independence. This presentation is a broad discussion of the challenges that CHP faces when competing in the commercial sector and the technologies and strategies that will help overcome them.© 2002 ASME