在过去两年中，美国能源部资助了一个项目，以调查和评估区域供暖和制冷（DHC）技术的研发活动和需求，为启动该领域的研发项目做准备。该项目发现，在过去五年中，能源价格和利率上涨的双重影响刺激了大量的研发。瑞典、丹麦、芬兰和西德的这种活动最为明显。新技术仍在开发过程中或刚刚进入市场，这表明DHC拥有巨大的潜力，可以减少资本- 与传统蒸汽或热水技术相比，能源密集型（因此更具竞争力）和更广泛的适用性。研发部门一直致力于降低DHC系统各主要组件的成本，包括消费、分销和热生产技术。本次调查的主要结果以及对DHC在上述每一类研发的评估总结如下。引文:研讨会，ASHRAE交易，1984年，第90卷，pt。密苏里州堪萨斯城2B

Over the last two years, the U.S. Department of Energy funded a project to survey and evaluate the research and development (R and D) activities and needs of district heating and cooling (DHC) technology in preparation for the initiation of an R and D program in this field. This project found that the dual impact of increased energy prices and interest rates over the last five years has spurred a substantial amount of R and D. This activity has been most in evidence in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and West Germany.New technologies, still in the process of development or just emerging into the marketplace, evidence significant potential for making DHC both less capital-and-energy-intensive (and thus, more competitive) and more widely applicable than conventional steam or hot water technologies. R and D has focused on lowering the costs of each of the major components of DHC systems including consumer, distribution, and thermal production technologies. The major findings of this survey and evaluation of DHC R&D in each of these categories are summarized in the following paper.