This website provides an interactive tool for the user’s exploration
of Distributed Energy Resources. Due to the customizability of this tool,
it is easiest to think of the tool as a building template, and this website
provides this tool for a variety of building types. These building templates
are therefore a guide for assessing the impact of installing distributed
generation with waste heat recovery on the economic performance, energy
utilization, and environmental impact signature of a building.
It is also important to understand that this website is effective for analyzing
buildings with a commercial use as opposed to an institutional purpose.
This distinction is crucial as it determines the character of both the thermal
and electric loads as well as any possibility for “sharing” of
these resources between adjacent buildings or buildings connected to a common
source line. A Commercial Building is an edifice used to generate income
to the property owner and includes business office buildings, medical office
buildings, and retail stores. By contrast, an Institutional Building
is an edifice built in support of a large complex such as a university campus,
a government agency, and an airport terminal.