A novel combined system that combines a MEE-ABHP (multi-effect evaporation-absorption heat pump) with a VCR (vapor-compression refrigeration) cycle is proposed to simultaneously generate cooling and fresh water. In the combined system, the condenser of the VCR system is replaced by the MEE-ABHP system, where a portion of the fresh water produced in the last effect of the MEE (multi-effect evaporation) system is used as the refrigerant for the VCR system. In Part 1 of this two-part paper, model-based energy and cost analysis is developed to quantify and qualify the performance of the combined system. Parametric analysis is carried out to investigate the effects of absorber pressure (P-A), temperature difference between effects of the MEE subsystem (Delta T-MEE), temperature of the strong solution from absorber (T-1), and temperature of the weak solution from generator (T-4) on the performance of the system. In Part 2, thermo-economic and exergy analysis is conducted to evaluate the flexibility of the system for fuel allocation from different available power and heat energy sources. The results of Part 1 showed that the combined system can save 57.12%, 5.61%, and 25.6% in electric power, heat energy, and total annual cost compared to the stand-alone VCR and MEE-ABHP systems, respectively. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.