The Pennsylvania Energy Office (formerly, the Governor’s Energy Council) awarded grants during fiscal 1986-87 to the Montgomery County Department of Commerce and Economic Development and to the Chester County Development Council to investigate the potential for district heating and cooling, including detailed technical and economic feasibility (Phase I) studies. The Montgomery and Chester County study areas included four hospitals, each with an average capacity of 200-plus beds. At the same time, the Catholic (Diocese of Brooklyn, New York) Medical Center’s Facilities Planning and Construction Department and a Brooklyn gas company commissioned a study of a 270-bed hospital complex in the East New York section of Brooklyn. At least three of these five hospitals seemed ideally suited to serve as the baseload for district heating islands within the larger surrounding areas.

Units: I-P