The recently-opened Dell Regional Children's Medical Center in Austin, Texas, is demonstrating the future in self-sufficient power, with the help of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Working with researchers in ORNL's Buildings Technology Center, the medical facility has installed a combined heat and power system that delivers power to the facility at greater than 70 percent efficiency compared to electric grid-based systems that operate at about 30 percent efficiency. The system does so by using a high-efficiency gas turbine to produce about 4.5 megawatts of electricity, then capturing the waste heat to produce steam and cooling for the hospital. The system operates in parallel with the grid, selling back excess power. This technology has the potential of lessening demand on the power grid by creating self-sufficient systems for large commercial facilities and even apartment and housing developments of the future.
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