District Cooling Guidelines

The objective of this document is to provide overall guidance on all major aspects of DCS related to scope, planning, construction, business models, and measurement and billing systems. This guide should act as an information handbook and is intended to be used by a range of stakeholders, including state and city development authorities, developers, and investors, as a comprehensive reference on district cooling (DC) system implementation. At the same time, this guide is not to be used as a design reference; normative references on technical specifications related to design aspects are provided throughout the document and should be accessed for design guidance.

This guide has been developed with the intent of defining DCS and identifying the associated potential benefits of implementing DCS in India. This guide provides information on DC system technology and associated benefits, key DC system components, and operations and maintenance (O&M) requirements. The guide strives to capture the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders involved in decision-making throughout the different stages of the DC project cycle, such as project planning, execution & operations, and evaluation. Furthermore, the guidelines provide information on the relevant DC system business models that have been successfully applied globally.