2004 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings

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2004 ACEEE Informal Sessions Descriptions

Additional Informal Sessions may be organized on-site during the Summer Study. Visit the office in Surf and Sand to sign up for an Informal Session.

Session Synopsis - "Distributed Generation and Combined Heat and Power: A Building Energy Supply Revolution?"

Chris Marnay, Berkeley Lab

Tuesday, August 24
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

An almost century long trend towards larger scale generation and long distance transmission in the electricity supply industry is apparently reversing itself with small-scale on-site power generation emerging as an alternative to grid power. The generation can be single cycle, renewable, or apply heat recovery, if generation is thermal. Waste heat recovery can provide for building heat and cooling loads, lowering costs and stress to the power grid while raising overall energy efficiency. Groupings of generators in "microgrids" can operate semi-autonomously from the "macrogrid" providing higher reliability and independence, thereby protecting critical enduses. Energy decisionmaking becomes centralized in one actor who simultaneously chooses between installing power generation with or without heat recovery versus renewable on-site generation versus energy efficient equipment, and in real-time between buying power or self-generating, and between alternative purchases of generation fuels. These changes could have a radical impact not only on the electricity supply system but also on the way we design and operate buildings.

For more information, contact:

Chris Marnay
Berkeley Lab e-mail: C_Marnay@lbl.gov

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