This paper investigates energy savings and economic aspects related to the use of internal combustion engines in cogeneration plants for buildings. Technical criteria that characterize the operation of simple cogeneration systems with variable thermal energy demands are defined. Also, the problem of finding the annual operational strategies for the variations of load demands and determining the sizes of cogeneration plants is analyzed. The proposed methodology is applied to the analysis of a plant that satisfies the requirements of hot water and heating of a residential area. The results allow to compare different operating strategies.