About District Energy
District energy refers to generating any combination of electricity,
steam, heating, or cooling at a central plant and then distributing that
energy to a network of nearby buildings. As a result, individual buildings
connected to the network avoid the need to install and maintain their own
boilers, furnaces, chillers, or air conditioners, saving on capital and
maintenance costs. Many district energy schemes use
combined heat and power, recycling the
thermal energy left over from electricity generation for heating or cooling.
District energy is an efficient, reliable, and cost-effective option for any
cluster or network of buildings.
Underneath the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill runs more than 45 miles of steam pipe and 22 miles of chilled water pipe, providing district heating and cooling for the campus and Hospital
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