New Haven Affordable Housing to Install CHP Energy System
American DG Energy has inked a deal with The Community Builders to provide a 75 kW combined heat and power system for West Village, an affordable housing complex in New Haven.
By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor
New Haven, Conn.—American DG Energy Inc., a specialist in on‑site utility technology—the kind that offers electricity, heat, hot water and cooling on site instead of remotely through a conventional utility—has inked a deal with The Community Builders Inc. (TCB) to provide a 75 kW combined heat and power system for West Village, an affordable housing complex in New Haven. West Village is an apartment housing individuals, while the adjacent Central Connecticut Coast YMCA provides community services and access to YMCA youth programming for the residents.
Under the terms of the agreement, American DG Energy will install the combined heat and power (CHP) system at the property, which it says will provide space heating, domestic hot water, and pool heating to the YMCA at a price lower than the local utility. Because TCB opted for an on-site system, the properties will pay only for the energy used and thus avoid all capital, installation and operating costs. American DG Energy estimates the system will produce about 1.6 megawatts of energy annually, and offset 309 tons of carbon dioxide emissions from West Village each year.
CHP systems simultaneously produce two types of energy, heat and electricity, from one fuel source. These systems capture the heat from the engine and reuse it to heat and cool the air and water, thereby creating a two-for-one approach that boosts efficiency. The approach can translate into measurable cost savings for property owners, says American DG Energy.
“While CHP—sometimes called cogeneration—has been around since Thomas Edison’s time, it’s receiving emphasis from official quarters lately because it operates at nearly 90 percent efficiency,” a spokeswoman for American DG Energy tells MHN. “That compares with 35 percent for typical electric utility power plants.”
Official support for CHP may soon come from the U.S. Department of Energy and Congress. Recently Rep. Charlie Bass (R-NH) and Rep. Jim Matheson (D-Utah) introduced legislation that seeks to double U.S. CHP use by 2020.
