District Heating
- General Description: District heating systems distribute steam or hot water to multiple buildings. The
heat can be provided from a variety of sources, including geothermal, cogeneration plants, waste heat from industry,
and purpose-built heating plants.
- History: The oldest district heating system still operating was warming a French village from geothermal
hot springs in the early fourteenth century. A steam district heating system has been in use at the U.S. Naval
Academy since 1853, and the oldest commercial district heating system still operating began service in Denver on
5 November 1880. Until the complete history of district heating in on line here in 1995, here are short summaries
in English, German, and French.
- Current Applications: A recent census by the Department of Energy found more than 30,000 district heating
systems in the United States and there are thousands more throughout the world. Detailed descriptions of all commercial
systems in North America will be here shortly, to be followed by systems in Europe and Asia. Information about
significant institutional systems, such as the large system serving the federal buildings in Washington, will also
be included.
- Preliminary list of commercial district heating systems in North America.
- Largest District Heating Systems
- World Wide Guide to District Energy
- Heat and Light for the University of Northern Colorado
- Caddet District Heating Newsletter
- Technology: This section will include information on the various technologies used in district heating
systems throughout the world.
- Heating Sources and Fuels: The wide range of heating sources and fuels used for district heating throughout
the world will be included here. Examples will include geothermal, cogeneration, incineration, and biomass.
Other district heating resources on the WWW:
- Tour a pair of biofuel district heating systems in Austria.
- Learn about geothermal energy sources.
Related fields in the WWW Virtual Library
- Cogeneration, the simultaneous production of heat and power through a single thermodynamic
process.
- District Cooling, the distribution of cooling to multiple building.