UNIVERSITY RETIREMENT COMMUNITY AT DAVIS;A COMBINED HEAT POWER CASE STUDY

摘要

Electricity is like any other commodity, it is subject tornthe laws of supply and demand. If the demand increases;rnprices trend upward. If the supply component cannotrnincrease to meet the new level of demand, a pressure tornincrease price is a nominal reaction to market forces.rnThis is epitomized in what we experienced early in 2004rnwith the normally ubiquitous gasoline commodity.rnWhen electricity prices quadrupled over the course of arnfew months, many were unprepared. The unpreparedrndirectly experienced a lack of commodity while othersrnplanned ahead with a diversified energy portfoliornmitigating these risks. Because prices of electricity arernhighly volatile and will probably rise again, companiesrncan make economic sense by incorporating certainrntechnologies to better prepare their operation to managernenergy costs-even during blackouts.rnDue to the operational nature of hospitals and retirementrnfacilities which operate 7/24, there are options to helprnreduce the cost of those operations. There are earlyrnmarket adopters of certain energy technologies whorndemand a high level of reliability and power quality 7/24rnfrom their central plants. Telco-hotels and server farmsrnare one such industry that requires this level of reliabilityrnand quality. These same technologies can also bernadapted for hospitals and retirement facilities. And whyrnnot, when it comes to a human life hanging in balancernbased on the reliability of the utility grid or emergencyrngenerator? Any financial incentives or savings achievedrnare simply a secondary benefit when considering thernreliability of the electricity commodity. UniversityrnRetirement Community at Davis decided it was time torntake control of their energy future thereby assuring arndiversified, cost-effective, and reliable energy portfoliornby adapting one of these technologies for their tenants.