Clean Energy for a Healthy Lifestyle
Tecogen, July 7, 2016
The Greenknoll Branch of the Regional YMCA in Western Connecticut provides its clientele with state-of-the-art fitness options that include basketball courts, cardiovascular rooms, indoor and outdoor pools, and strength training rooms. The building is also outfitted with a CM-75 combined heat and power (CHP) system from Tecogen, assuring that the space providing an outlet for healthy living is also running lean and green.
Combined Heat and Power (CHP), also known as cogeneration, is an efficient, clean, and reliable technology which simultaneously generates electricity and thermal energy from a single fuel source. By installing a CHP system designed to meet the thermal and electrical base loads of a facility, CHP can greatly increase the facility’s operational efficiency while decreasing energy costs and carbon footprint.
For athletic clubs and fitness facilities like the YMCA, CHP can often be a perfect fit.
“A clean environment is just as important to good health as exercise and diet,” said Marie Miszewski, President and CEO, Regional YMCA of Western Connecticut. “Installing the Tecogen system in our Greenknoll branch will substantially reduce our carbon emissions and impact on the environment. It will also lower our energy costs, allowing us to dedicate more of our resources to Youth Development and Healthy Living programming.”
The system supplies 75 kW of electricity to the facility, while simultaneously providing space heat, domestic hot water and pool heating at a far lower cost than the conventional alternative of utility purchased electricity – generating an estimated $65,000 in annual energy savings.
Athletic clubs tend to fit the general criteria for successful CHP installs as defined by the EPA. These types of facilities will operate more than 5,000 hours per year and carry continuous thermal demand including steam, hot water, chilled water, or hot air.