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What exactly is a central plant system? On the face of it, a central plant system is simply a building with a heating, DHW and possibly a cooling load and an energy centre located within the building. But to think of a building in this way can limit it’s future potential.
The network of LTHW and/or chilled water pipework should be of course optimised to maximise delta T and efficiency. The control and the heat emitters should be sized, such that the flow and return temperatures future proof the building and allow it to be connected to district networks at some point in the future. In this way, it can be advantages to think of a central plant building as district heating or cooling, vertically.
These central plant buildings are the precursor to ‘true’ or more ‘traditional’, horizontal district heating or cooling systems. They allow for the easy connection to the district networks as soon as the pipework comes close to the building. In this way they facilitate the organic growth of heating and cooling networks, speeding up their expansion and the benefits of the amalgamation of demand and the increased utilisation of renewable and waste heat sources.
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