Sustainable Energy Alternatives for the Southwest - Design with the Desert: Conservation and Sustainable Development - page 514

to electric generation or other energy production (such as hot water) close to the place
where the energy is demanded. For example, a 390 kW rooftop PV system produces elec-
tricity for Coronado High School in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Many local governments have prepared sustainability plans that review options for sus-
tainable energy, identify specific sustainable energy projects or goals, and outline how
projects can be built or how goals can be reached. For example, Pima County, Arizona, set
a goal of obtaining 15% of the energy used by county facilities from renewable resources
by 2025. Long Beach, California set as a goal the facilitation of development of at least 2
MW of solar energy on city facilities by 2020. And Sparks, Nevada, set a goal of generating
at least 5% of energy for new city buildings with on-site renewable resources and increas-
ing the capacity of a biogas combined heat and power (CHP) plant at a water reclamation
facility. 24 CHP produces both electricity and heat or hot water or steam for an industrial,
commercial, or agricultural purpose from a single heat source. It is, therefore, very efficient
because the fuel, typically natural gas, is used to produce both electricity and useful heat.
CHP facilities are designed to serve a particular “host” needing hot water, steam, or heat
and may use the electricity on-site or sell the electricity to a utility. Table 29.3 summarizes
common distributed energy projects.
Energy efficient design is part of a sustainable infrastructure. For building design,
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ™ (LEED ™ ) provides a template. The City
of Scottsdale, Arizona, requires all new, occupied city buildings to be designed, contracted
and built to achieve the LEED Gold certification level, and to strive for the highest level of

TABLE 29.3
Overview of Common Distributed Energy Projects

Examples in the
Southwest Project Type Typical Scale Typical Location Energy Use

Small stand-alone
energy systems (not
connected to grid)

Up to 10 kW Where warning

signs or lighting
needed

On-site Park lighting in Santa Fe,

NM

Rooftop PV or solar
hot water

One to several
hundred kW or
equivalent

Residential or
commercial
rooftops

On-site Residential rooftop PV,

PV on school roofs or
commercial building
roofs, PV on buildings
in ecological restoration
areas and public
gardens

Other small or
moderate size PV

Up to several
hundred kW

Built into or added
onto individual
structures

On-site or sold
into grid

PV on covered parking
structures (e.g.,
Riverside, CA, Utilities
Operation Center Solar
Carport)

Larger distributed
energy projects

Several hundred
kW or larger

Rooftops, ground
mounted, inside
buildings, or as
separate complex

On-site or sold
into grid

Combined heat and
power projects at
factories, greenhouses,
hotels, hospitals, etc.,
biogas at wastewater
treatment plants, PV at
military bases, PV in
water supply systems
to provide pumping
power, PV at airports