Because of many advantages associated with central utility systems, school campuses, from large universities to elementary schools, have used district energy for decades. District energy facilities enable thermal and electric utilities to be generated with greater efficiency and higher system reliability, while requiring fewer maintenance and operations personnel. The scale of district energy systems provides opportunities to generate and deliver energy to school buildings in a more sustainable manner. Renewable energy, combined heat and power (CHP), and thermal energy storage are expensive to install and impractical to maintain within a proposed building's site. Because of the scale of district energy, these challenges can be overcome when installing them within the district energy system itself. As such, district energy often is the ideal choice for buildings pursuing LEED certification.