Our focus is on creating energy efficient, successful district energy businesses that contribute positively to our environment. When justified by local utility supply capabilities, charge rates and regulatory structure BDE prefers to utilize the following technologies for the general reasons stated below:

INTEGRATED DISTRIBUTED ENERGY (IDE) – This technology will provide electric power, heat and cooling services to a district of buildings. This is most effective for new developments that are not located near a conventional electric distribution grid. The key advantage of this technology is the use of heat recovered from electric generation to drive the heating and cooling cycles. The technology is “Integrated” because thermal and electric services are combined for higher total efficiency and “Distributed” because the electric generation is sited with the development versus at some significant distance in a central location. Great efficiencies are achieved because of the maximization of input energy for the co-generation of electric power, with recovery for heating and/or cooling, and because of the avoidance of significant electrical distribution loses that are associated with central supply.

THERMAL STORAGE – This technology allows the storage of energy, in the form of cooling and/or heating during a low use and normally low utility cost time period, for supply during a high usage and normally high utility cost time period. Storage technology allows for construction cost savings because of the downsizing of the electric generation that is allowed by meeting a more average hourly use versus a peak hourly use. It also allows for operating cost savings by avoiding approximately 30% of the generation of electric and thermal services that would have occurred during peak periods.