I read a lot about district heating systems yesterday after seeing an article on NYC's steam system on HN (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33388473). District heating systems allow you to capture waste heat at the power plant (called co-generation), and use that to heat & cool (via cooling compressors) many, many buildings at once. The wikipedia article about it is very informative as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_heating.
Usually district heating systems route heat into your building's pipes using a heat exchanger - so the network's fluid never actually intermingles with your building's fluid lines. These systems also use the same heat exchanger to return excess heat back to the network. District heating systems require a large initial investment, but over the long term are very efficient.
Usually district heating systems route heat into your building's pipes using a heat exchanger - so the network's fluid never actually intermingles with your building's fluid lines. These systems also use the same heat exchanger to return excess heat back to the network. District heating systems require a large initial investment, but over the long term are very efficient.