New tool for planning district cooling systems

INDIGO project focuses on the means for evaluating the performance, benefits and potential of District Cooling (DC) systems. The newly developed tool supports the optimal design of new DC systems, the assessment of existing DC systems’ potential for performance/efficiency improvement and the comparison with building specific cooling systems. Life cycle analysis (LCA) framework is used for economic feasibility and climate impact assessment. The main input parameters are cooling demand, cooling production, distribution network characteristics and available resources. As an output, the tool yields primary energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and costs of the system. The defined potential district cooling system can be compared with building and space specific cooling systems delivering the same cooling service. The results are reported as a diverse set of key performance indicators (KPIs).