Mobiler Messkoffer - Energie sparen mit innovativen digitalen Technologien

Article for general public (2022)

Innovative digitale Technologien bieten kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen (KMU) neue Möglichkeiten, ihre Energieeffizienz und ihr Energiemanagement zu verbessern. Allerdings ist unklar, inwieweit KMU in ... [more ▼]

Innovative digitale Technologien bieten kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen (KMU) neue Möglichkeiten, ihre Energieeffizienz und ihr Energiemanagement zu verbessern. Allerdings ist unklar, inwieweit KMU in der Lage sind, von den Vorteilen dieser neuen Technologien zu profitieren und diese optimal für sich zu nutzen. Das Forschungsprojekt „Smarte Technologien für Unternehmen“ hat deshalb praxisorientierte Schritte und Lösungsansätze für KMU entwickelt. [less ▲]

Digitally driven energy management practices in SMEs - exploring potentials and barriers

in Die Unternehmung: swiss journal of business research and practice (2022), 76(3), 360-380

Innovative digital technologies open up new opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to improve energy efficiency and energy management behavior. The question is: How far will SMEs be ... [more ▼]

Innovative digital technologies open up new opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to improve energy efficiency and energy management behavior. The question is: How far will SMEs be capable of profiting from the benefits of these new technologies? Using technology screening, this study identifies smart metering and mobile energy monitoring as digital technologies best addressing SMEs' specific demands. In addition, potentials and limitations of the technologies are investigated in two qualitative in-depth field trials. Barriers to adopting digitally enabled energy management practices are examined. The results indicate that visualizing energy data enables SMEs to pursue new energy management practices for reducing energy consumption and costs (such as peak load analysis). SMEs need extensive guidance to identify and pursue these strategies. In conclusion, an exploratory adoption model for digitally enabled energy management practices is developed. Hypotheses for future experimental studies and policy implications are derived. [less ▲]

Field monitoring data on a residential exhaust air heat pump system (air-to-air heat pump)

in Data in Brief (2021)

This data article presents the raw data used in the article “Experimental and analytical evaluation of exhaust air heat pumps in ventilation-based heating systems” (in review). The data set contains ... [more ▼]

This data article presents the raw data used in the article “Experimental and analytical evaluation of exhaust air heat pumps in ventilation-based heating systems” (in review). The data set contains measurement results of a field monitoring on a residential exhaust air heat pump system (air-to-air heat pump) in Germany. This data could be used to investigate the dynamic behaviour and performance of the exhaust air heat pump systems. The data set contains air temperature and humidity of all four sides of the heat pump unit. Moreover, the electrical consumption of the unit and the dynamic pressure difference on the exhaust side (as indication of the air volume rate) could be also found in the data set. [less ▲]

Designing of the module envelope of a hybrid modular building to meet the passive house standards in Luxembourg

in IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (2020, November 20), 588(5), 052026

To face the challenges of climate change, new buildings need to be further greener while being able to ensure a minimum comfort to the tenants. Nonetheless, extensibility and flexibility could be added to ... [more ▼]

To face the challenges of climate change, new buildings need to be further greener while being able to ensure a minimum comfort to the tenants. Nonetheless, extensibility and flexibility could be added to buildings. In this context, the architect jointly with the team of this research project have designed a hybrid modular construction called “slab building” which is composed of a permanent concrete structure and several removable wooden modules. A module offers 27m² of living space but larger housings can be realized by combining two up to four modules. The aim of this paper is to design the walls of the modules to meet the criteria of nZEB. The thicknesses of the studied thermal insulations, namely rock wool, wood wool, polyurethane and aerogel, have been determined in accordance with the passive house requirements in Luxembourg. The embodied energy of the building materials has also been considered in the designing of the modules. Steady state calculations revealed that a wall thickness of 40 cm, comprising 31cm of insulation is sufficient but according to the LCA outcomes, there is no environmental benefit in having the modules comply with the AAA energy class requirements at reasonable wall thicknesses. [less ▲]

Summertime Overheating Risk Assessment of a Flexible Plug-in Modular Unit in Luxembourg

in Sustainability (2020)

Modular buildings offer faster construction process, provide better construction quality, allow reducing construction waste and are potentially flexible. Frames of modular units can be made of metal ... [more ▼]

Modular buildings offer faster construction process, provide better construction quality, allow reducing construction waste and are potentially flexible. Frames of modular units can be made of metal, timber, concrete or mixed materials but lightweight structures do not always allow erecting high-rise buildings and generally present a higher risk of overheating and/or overcooling. To reconcile these pros and cons, a typology of modular building called Slab was designed by a group of architects. The building is composed on the one hand of a permanent concrete structure named shelf-structure and on the other hand of several flexible removable timber modular units, also known as modules. The shelf-structure will host the common utility rooms and will serve as docking infrastructure for the housing modules. To provide high flexibility, the Slab building was designed to adapt to any orientation and location in Luxembourg. An energy concept and a HVAC systems design has been developed for the Slab building. Furthermore, a two-fold sustainability analysis was carried out. The first part of the analysis regards the determination of the minimum required wall thicknesses of the modules in accordance with Luxembourgish regulatory requirements, although the current regulation does not yet consider the Slab building typology. The second part, which is the subject of this paper, is thermal comfort assessment, more precisely, summertime overheating risk assessment of these modules, in compliance with Luxembourgish standard. In this regard, dynamic thermal simulations have been realized on two module variants; the first fulfills the passive house requirements, and the second—the current requirements for building permit application, which in principle corresponds to low energy house requirements. Simulations showed that with adequate solar shading and reinforced natural ventilation by window opening, overheating risk could be avoided for the normal residential use scenario for both module variants. [less ▲]

Influence of Thermal Energy Storage and Heat Pump Parametrization for Demand-Side-Management in a Nearly-Zero-Energy-Building using Model Predictive Control

in Energy and Buildings (2020), 226

The rollout of the supply dependent generators wind turbines and photovoltaics leads to a flexibility demand that can be adressed from the consumer side, via Demand-Side-Management, as well. In single ... [more ▼]

The rollout of the supply dependent generators wind turbines and photovoltaics leads to a flexibility demand that can be adressed from the consumer side, via Demand-Side-Management, as well. In single family houses, the heat pump, in combination with thermal energy storage, can shift their energy comsumption according to price signals in order to reduce consumer costs. This paper analyses the impact of different heat storage sizes and heat pump powers on cost savings and shifting potential, focussing on the Luxembourgish context, when variable electricity prices based on the electricity market are applied. A model predictive controller determines the cost-optimal operating cycles of the heat pump. The building’s heat demand is predicted with the help of a neural network. The results of the parametric study show significant differences in energy efficiency and cost savings. Furthermore limitations of taking advantage of variable electicity prices due to the price structure are disclosed. The cost savings however do not give a sufficient incentive for the consumer to invest in optimizing the heating system for Demand-Side-Management purposes. By consequence, the potential and the efficiency of Demand-Side-Management are limited and further incentives are necessary. [less ▲]

Inbetriebnahme und Monitoring einer Feldtestfläche zur außenliegenden Lufttemperierung

in Völker, Conrad; Kornadt, Oliver; Jentsch, Mark (Eds.) et al Schriftenreihe der Professur Bauphysik, Bauphysiktage 2019 in Weimar - Bauphysik in Forschung und Praxis (2019, September 25)

Der Beitrag ist inhaltlich dem Forschungsprojekt „Low Exergy Utilisation - Einsatz von außen-liegender Wandtemperierung bei der Gebäudesanierung - Feldtest, CO2- Wärmepumpe mit Eisspeicher“ (kurz LEXU II ... [more ▼]

Der Beitrag ist inhaltlich dem Forschungsprojekt „Low Exergy Utilisation - Einsatz von außen-liegender Wandtemperierung bei der Gebäudesanierung - Feldtest, CO2- Wärmepumpe mit Eisspeicher“ (kurz LEXU II, Förderkennzeichen 0327370Y) zugeordnet. Im Rahmen des Pro-jektes wurde ein Großdemonstrator mit außenliegender Wand- und Lufttemperierung (kurz aWT & aLT) zusammen mit einem niederexergetischen Versorgungssystem, bestehend aus Eisspeicher, Wärmepumpe und PVT-Hybridkollektoren realisiert. Zur Heizperiode 2018/19 wurde die „Feldtestanlage“ in Betrieb genommen, sodass derzeit Messdaten generiert wer-den. In dem Forschungsprojekt wird der Demonstrator über eine Heizperiode und eine Kühl-periode messtechnisch begleitet und ausgewertet. Dabei wird der Großdemonstrator und alle Komponenten umfassend messtechnisch ausgewertet (~300 Messwerte). Ziel des Beitrags ist eine Darstellung der Grundlagen der außenliegenden Lufttemperierung, als niederexergetische und schnell regelbare Ergänzung zur außenliegenden Wandtemperie-rung. Bei der außenliegenden Lufttemperierung wird zwischen thermisch aktivierter Be-standswand und neuem Wärmedämm-Verbundsystem ein Luftspalt geschaffen, durch den Außenluft geführt und temperiert werden kann. Diese temperierte Außenluft wird dem dahin-terliegenden Raum (im Feldtest ein Büroraum mit rund 20 m² Grundfläche und zwei Arbeits-plätzen) als Frischluft zur Verfügung gestellt. Aufbauend auf den Grundlagen wird die Inbe-triebnahme der bereits umgesetzten Feldtestfläche mit möglichen Regelstrategien geschildert. Abschließend sollen erste Messergebnisse der Feldtestfläche dargestellt und diskutiert wer-den. Interessant sind hier vor allem (im Vergleich zur außenliegenden Wandtemperierung) die möglichen Zeitkonstanten und die erreichbaren Wärmeströme nach Innen (z.B. mögliche Wärmeübertragung als Kombination aus Konvektion im Luftspalt und Wärmeleitung durch die Bestandswand). Themengebiet: Energieeffiziente Gebäude & Bauphysik und Sanierung & Behaglichkeit und Raumklima [less ▲]

Optimal Operation of Nearly Zero Energy Buildings using Mixed Integer Linear Programming

Scientific Conference (2019, September 10)

This paper proposes a deterministic mixed integer linear programming model for the optimal operation of an energy system providing thermal and electrical energy for a residential and commercial nearly ... [more ▼]

This paper proposes a deterministic mixed integer linear programming model for the optimal operation of an energy system providing thermal and electrical energy for a residential and commercial nearly zero energy building. The space heating and space cooling demand of the buildings is simulated using a resistive-capacitive model within a quadratic program respectively. Thermal energy for space heating, space cooling and domestic hot water is buffered in thermal energy storage systems. A dual source heat pump provides thermal energy for space heating and domestic hot water, whereas space cooling is covered by an underground ice storage. The environmental energy sources of the heat pump are ice storage or wind infrared sensitive collectors. The collectors are further used to regenerate the ice storage. Further space heating demands are covered by a combined heat and power unit, which also produces electricity. Photovoltaic panels produce electrical energy which can be stored in a battery storage system. The electrical energy system is capable of selling and buying electricity from the public power grid. A mixed integer linear programming model is developed to minimise the operation cost of the combined commercial and residential nearly zero energy building over a scheduling horizon of 24h. The developed model is tested on two typical days, which are representative for the summer and winter season. Furthermore, it is investigated how external incentives such as varying electricity prices impact the optimal scheduling of the energy system. [less ▲]

Mixed Integer Linear Programming Model for the Optimal Operation of a Dual Source Heat Pump

Scientific Conference (2019, April 24)

This paper presents a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model to optimally operate a dual source heat pump (DSHP). The DSHP draws environmental energy from an underground ice storage tank (IST) or ... [more ▼]

This paper presents a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model to optimally operate a dual source heat pump (DSHP). The DSHP draws environmental energy from an underground ice storage tank (IST) or wind infrared sensitive collectors (WISC). WISC is further used to regenerate the IST. The thermal output of the DSHP is stored in a thermal energy storage (TES). A single-objective optimization approach is applied to minimize the operational cost of the DSHP over a scheduling horizon of 24h. The developed framework is tested on various days, which are representative for each season of the year. Furthermore, it is investigated how variable electricity price market data influence the dynamic behaviour of the DSHP. [less ▲]

Außenliegende Wandtemperierung. Praktische Umsetzung anhand eines Demonstrationsgebäudes und Ermittlung der Systemkosten.

in Bauphysik (2018), 40(4), 187-202