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EPA Recognizes National Institutes of Health in Bethesda for Energy Savings

Release Date: 02/23/2011
Contact Information: Bonnie Smith, 215-814-5543, smith.bonnie@epa.gov

PHILADELPHIA (Feb. 23, 2011) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is recognizing the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. with the 2011 ENERGY STAR Combined Heat and Power (CHP) award for simultaneously producing space heat and electricity from a single energy source, such as natural gas, biomass, coal, or waste heat. This technology leads to energy savings and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants, helping to protect the health of Americans.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the world’s largest medical research facility and began operating a natural gas-fired CHP system to solve several problems. The research facility was growing but constrained for space, was under pressure to minimize air pollution and challenged by a tight construction budget. With this new CHP system NIH is using approximately 31 percent less fuel and reducing amounts of carbon dioxide (CO₂ ) equivalent to the emissions of more than 8,900 passenger vehicles each year.

A combined system is more efficient than separate production of heat and electricity. It is not a single technology, but an integrated energy system that can be modified to suit the specific needs of the energy user.

The CHP Partnership was established in 2001 as a voluntary program to encourage the use of combined heat and power to reduce the environmental impact of power generation.
For more information about the partnership see: https://www.epa.gov/chp/

For more on NIH’s efforts and other CHP award winners see:
http://epa.gov/chp/public-recognition/current_winners.html