District cooling essential for energy efficiency

Experts attending the 7th edition of the Middle East District Cooling Summit (MEDCS) have pointed out the significance of district cooling as an essential means to increase energy efficiency, reduce carbon footprint and promote human well-being in highly urbanized centres in the region.

Salah Nezar, sustainability director of Qatar project management and the summit chair reiterated the call for the application of district cooling systems in order to meet the steadily growing requirement for cooling especially in fast developing urban centres in high temperature countries in the Middle East.

“Without district cooling, almost half of the energy used in cooling through conventional methods is wasted. This could have otherwise been be used to enhance the quality of life in urban neighbourhoods,” Nezar told delegates at the summit. “The social, economic and environmental benefits of district cooling systems make this option a sensible choice for emerging cities that are looking to promote a healthy economic growth under a harmonized society and sustainable environment.

He noted that the effectiveness of a proposed district cooling solution depended greatly on the efficiency of the mechanical systems within the built environment as well as in the accuracy of the controls system.

“A holistic approach must therefore be provided in integrating forward looking solutions in a single platform while taking into consideration the various aspects such as energy efficiency versus water depletion, cogenerations versus grid connection, centralized versus distributed schemes,” said Nezar.
George Berbari, CEO of DC Pro Engineering highlighted the importance of tri & co-generation systems in district cooling due to the availability of cutting-edge absorption and electric centrifugal chiller technology.