Environmental feasibility (part 7 of 7)

A building with a well designed GCHP system uses about 60% to 70% less energy for heating, cooling and domestic hot water than the same building built with a conventional fossil fuel heating system and a conventional air cooled chiller. If the system integrates other renewable technologies and thermal energy storage, energy use can be reduced even more. With concerns about climate change (whether it's real or not), more building owners and developers are making changes to the way their buildings are designed. 

The adoption of green building policies and incentives offered by utilities and various governments have created much more awareness of GCHP systems and has forced some developers and building owners to meet minimum energy efficiency requirements. This has benefited the GCHP industry in some jurisdictions. Water consumption restrictions in some regions have also forced some jurisdictions to limit the use of cooling towers...again benefiting GCHP systems. 

The U.S. Green Building Council, Green Globes and other associations promoting energy efficient buildings have helped make building owners, architects and engineers much more aware of the benefits of energy efficiency and the integrated design process. In many cases building owners have ultimately realized that designing and building a better building is better for their bottom line. Some building owners and companies have voluntarily considered ways and means of reducing the impact of their buildings on the environment.

Whatever the reason, concern about the environment increases the feasibility of installing a GCHP system.