Chair’s Message
First of all, I’d like to remind you to make arrangements to attend IDEA’s 25th Annual Campus Energy
Conference – “Innovations in Clean
Energy.” We are meeting in Arlington,
Va., Feb. 6-9, and it’s not too late to sign
up. Just click on the Campus Conference
banner at www.districtenergy.org. If you
can’t join us, please think of another
member of your organization who might
benefit from this event. All are welcome
and are sure to benefit as there will be
areas of interest for distribution, business
development, service providers, consultants and, of course, university folks.
Come enjoy the Super Bowl with friends!
As I write this article on the eve of
Thanksgiving (a few days past the deadline, but please don’t tell Peter Myers),
I realize that while there is a lot to be
thankful for, there is still much to be
done. In October, Rob Thornton and
I paid a very brief but important visit to
Berlin where we had the opportunity to
help AGFW celebrate its 40th anniversary.
AGFW represents over 225 European district energy companies with nearly 20,000
km ( 12,000 miles) of pipe and 284,000 TJ
(269 million MMBtu) in sales. I couldn’t
help but be proud of district energy as we
sat in Berlin’s City Hall, along with members of the Bundestag (Germany’s national parliament), Vattenfall (the local district
energy company) and hundreds of other
interested parties celebrating district energy.
German politicians are on board with
the district energy message. How often
do we join with government to celebrate
district energy?
Visiting the Vattenfall control center –
the nerve center for the city’s many
kilometers of piping – I could sense the
pride its employees take in their system.
We exchanged views on combined heat
and power and the importance of district
energy in our respective nations. Our
ongoing discussions with AGFW President
Werner Lutsch and his technical staff will
continue to explore opportunities to
exchange information. We’ve seen a
sample of the AGFW Technical Rules and
Standards for District Heating – reams of
information that I’m sure would bring
back memories of your own experiences
in similar situations.
Consider the volumes we would cre-
ate if we documented our everyday activi-
ties. AGFW has been doing so for many
years, and this might be an opportunity to
collaborate with this strong organization
and potentially combine their hot water
and steam standards with some of our
own, including the district heating hand-
book and chilled-water best practices. We
could begin to create an international set
of materials that would help promote the
benefits of district energy, as well as ensure
proper practices for the design, construc-
tion, operation and maintenance of exist-
ing and future systems. For example, how
many of us have something to learn about
the benefits of hot water systems? Look for
more on this in the near future.
Vincent Badali
Chair, 2011-12
