With elementary and secondary schools tightening their purse strings, and with post-secondary institutions seeing a drop in enrollment numbers over the past couple years, schools across the nation are looking for ways to cut costs. Increasingly, they are turning to cogeneration as a way to save money while also being more environmentally friendly. And, while cogeneration is still largely an industrial process, the market has significant potential for educational institutions coast to coast.
Combined heat and power (CHP), also known as cogeneration, is the simultaneous production of electricity and heat from a single fuel source, such as natural gas, biomass, biogas, coal, waste heat, or oil. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the two most common CHP system configurations are a gas turbine or engine with heat recovery unit, and a steam boiler with a steam turbine.