城市化进程的加快意味着城市和国际组织需要去寻找各种能够提高能源效率和减少空气中污染物排放的方法。冷热电联产(CCHP) 系统可以同时供暖、制冷和发电，具有提高城市或城市区域能源发电效率的潜力。本研究的目的是在满足建筑热需求(供热和制冷) 的各种运行条件下，对亚特兰大大都市区内的五种常见建筑类型在采用CCHP 系统时的发电耗水、CO₂ 和NO_x 排放，及其经济性进行评价。对于大多数采用或不采用净计量策略的建筑类型来说，以满足每小时热需求去运行CCHP 系统均可减少CO₂ 的排放量。该系统能否对这些建筑类型产生经济效益，主要取决于天然气的价格、净计量策略的采用和假定的CCHP 系统的成本结构。当建筑物采用净计量策略并且CCHP 系统是以满足建筑物每年的最大热需求而运行时，CCHP 系统的发电耗水量和NO_x 的排放量均有最大限度的减少，尽管此时该运行情景会增加温室气体排放和发电成本。CCHP 系统对中型办公楼、大型办公楼和多户型住宅建筑更经济、实用。

The increasing pace of urbanization means that cities and global organizations are looking for ways to increase energy efficiency and reduce emissions. Combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) systems have the potential to improve the energy generation efficiency of a city or urban region by providing energy for heating, cooling, and electricity simultaneously. The purpose of this study is to estimate the water consumption for energy generation use, carbon dioxide (CO₂) and NO_x emissions, and economic impact of implementing CCHP systems for five generic building types within the Atlanta metropolitan region, under various operational scenarios following the building thermal (heating and cooling) demands. Operating the CCHP system to follow the hourly thermal demand reduces CO₂ emissions for most building types both with and without net metering. The system can be economically beneficial for all building types depending on the price of natural gas, the implementation of net metering, and the cost structure assumed for the CCHP system. The greatest reduction in water consumption for energy production and NO_x emissions occurs when there is net metering and when the system is operated to meet the maximum yearly thermal demand, although this scenario also results in an increase in greenhouse gas emissions and, in some cases, cost. CCHP systems are more economical for medium office, large office, and multifamily residential buildings.