District cooling

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Reduce cooling energy consumption by 50% through higher energy utilization

District cooling provides chilled water for indoor cooling purposes to industrial, commercial and residential buildings through a closed loop pipe network.

Functionally and technically, it is similar to district heating.

A district cooling system can reach an efficiency rate typically 5 or even 10 times higher than a traditional cooling system. 

The cold water used in a district cooling system can come from free sources such as sea water, or it can be produced from sources like waste heat with the use of steam turbine-driven or absorption chillers or electric chillers. 

Did you know?

  • District cooling is 5 to 10 times more energy efficient than conventional machine cooling 
  • District cooling can reduce cooling energy consumption by 50% through higher energy utilization

How does district cooling work?

District cooling delivers chilled water to offices, shopping malls, apartments and other kinds of buildings that need indoor cooling.

Through the district cooling network, the cooling plant pumps chilled supply water to buildings. The chilled water is fed into the individual buildings’ own cooling systems through a heat exchanger. 

When the water has cooled the building, it returns to the cooling plant at a higher temperature where it is chilled again and redistributed in a closed loop.

The cold water used in a district cooling system can come from free sources such as sea water, or it can be produced from sources like waste heat with the use of steam turbine-driven or absorption chillers or electric chillers.

Environmentally Friendly & Energy-Efficient Cooling Supply

District cooling can be produced from local natural resources like sea water, or from chillers running on steam or electricity, which makes it an environmentally friendly option. It is also a reliable and highly secure source of cooling.

District cooling can reduce cooling energy consumption by 50%. It can drastically reduce electricity use during peak demand periods, too. A network with electric chillers for cold storage helps reduce peak electricity demand for cooling in a city by shifting production to periods of the day or night when there is less run on the electrical network.

District cooling enables a green future

District cooling is becoming more and more relevant as the need for clean cooling increases worldwide.

In Europe alone, 40% of commercial and institutional buildings have cooling systems and that demand is growing. At the same time, CO2 reduction is high on political agendas.

Because of its combination of renewable and surplus energies, district cooling emits significantly less CO2 than conventional cooling systems and emits no hazardous refrigerants. 

District cooling infographic

Tools and apps

Related applications

Case stories

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    VLT® drives run the world’s smartest district energy system

    DENMARK: Taarnby Municipality within Greater Copenhagen is the first to integrate the production of district cooling and district heating in combination with ground source cooling and chilled water storage in one facility that also exploits surplus heat from a nearby wastewater treatment plant. This symbiosis allows the utility company to provide building owners in the district with competitive and environmentally friendly cooling – while generating more cost-effective heating to the district heating network.

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    New digital solutions optimize Giessen network in minutes

    All too often, the service staff at Stadtwerke Giessen received customer complaints about the hot water supply in the morning. One minute the water was too cold, the next too warm. In the end, Stadtwerke Giessen had to install an extra oil boiler to ensure sufficient hot water supplies. The boiler was turned on every morning and the complaints stopped.

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    Pressure independent control valves work miracles in Swedish housing estate

    Installation of AVQMs lover the energy bill by 25% and pay back substation upgrade in less than a year

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    Simply simple: District heating network monitoring and operation simplified St. Lambrecht, Austria

    The construction and operation of a district heating facility is a complex task: In particular, countless controllers, which are often also widely distributed throughout the network, must be monitored. Danfoss now makes this easy with Leanheat® Monitor. 

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    Optimizing the efficiency of district heating system in Altensteig, Germany

    Stadtwerke Altensteig (Baden-Wuerttemberg) is one of the first district heating network operators to use the brand new Leanheat® Monitor software that offers operators a complete package for the operation of their district heating network.

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    Leanheat makes buildings smart

    In Europe, 30 percent of all energy consumption goes to heat or cool buildings. Danfoss has the solution to lower energy usage and improve indoor climate by adding a digital element: Leanheat software.

News

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