ASSESSMENT OF CHP SYSTEM PERFORMANCE WITH COMMERCIAL BUILDING BENCHMARK MODELS IN DIFFERENT U.S. CLIMATE ZONES

摘要

Combined Cooling, Heating, and Power (CHP) systems have been widely recognized as an alternative for electric and thermal energy generation because of their outstanding energy efficiency, reduced environmental emissions, and relative independence from centralized power grids. The performance of CHP systems depends on the type of buildings and climate conditions. Recently the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has developed a set of standard benchmark building models. According to the DOE [1], these models cover approximately 70% of the commercial building energy use. This paper evaluates and discusses the simulations of the performance of CHP systems for several commercial building benchmark models in 16 locations representing the U.S. climate zones described in the DOE report. The evaluation has been carried out using an optimal energy dispatch algorithm. The performance index for the optimization process is varied in order to investigate the impact of optimizing operational cost, primary energy consumption, and carbon dioxide emission. The results of this simulation can be used as a guideline to end-users when deciding on energy alternatives for their buildings or by policy makers deciding on regulations for cost, primary energy, or carbon dioxide emissions.