Education: Schools, Universities, Colleges, and Campuses

COGEN EDUCATIONAL FACITLITY GENERATORS REDUCE COSTS

Many schools, colleges, and universities reduce their operating costs by implementing combined heat and power (CHP) systems (also known as cogeneration). Cat gas generator sets can provide power for electrical loads and heat energy for a facility's thermal requirements. Benefits from CHP projects include:
- Energy efficiency up to 90 percent
- Reduced emissions and energy costs versus separate heat
  and electrical generation systems
- Leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED)
  certification via energy efficiency credits
- Financial benefits via distributed generation (DG),
  where electricity is simply produced locally or via a
  natural gas fueled emergency standby power plant.

Especially when any of the following apply:
- The local electric grid is unreliable
- Natural gas is an inexpensive alternative to grid electricity
- Generator sets can be applied during peak times of day to
  avoid high electrical utility demand charges. This is known
  as peak shaving.

NATURAL GAS STANDBY POWER SYSTEMS

There has been an increasing move toward natural gas fueled standby power systems in recent years. Typically installed with an automatic transfer switch (ATS) or paralleling switchgear control for multiple generators, these generator sets sense when a utility outage occurs and automatically starts the backup power generator system transferring power to the emergency source. When the normal grid power returns, the control system automatically switches back and shuts down the emergency generator.