Green building practices: Optimisation of CCHP and biomass heating for maximum CO2 reduction in a mixed-use development

Current building regulations enforce building designers towards efficient system design and provision of alternative means of supplying energy. Different green building certification schemes are deployed worldwide to encourage creating a sustainable built environment and the adoption of green building best practices.Micro-generation technologies, low and zero carbon, are either recommended by designers or mandated. A range of constraints including design and technical issues, are currently affecting the wide-scale deployment of micro-generation. For instance, it is important that the micro-generation plant operates for as many hours as possible as an idle plant accrues no benefits. Such issues make the design of a micro-cogeneration technology not quite as straightforward. Combined Heat and Power (CHP) or micro-cogeneration provides means of electricity and heat supply.This paper investigates, through a detailed study, the maximum CO2 reduction that could be achieved by CHP and biomass technologies in a mixed-use development. The implementation of micro-cogeneration, its combination with district heating and the integration of CHP into a trigeneration scheme are investigated. The coupling of CHP unit with absorption cooling, as well as the interactions with biomass boilers, to allow for setting up multi-generation systems for combined local production of different energy vectors are assessed and optimised for maximum CO2 reduction.