Page 19 - European Energy Innovation - Winter 2016 publication

Winter 2016 European Energy Innovation 19
Boosting the energy efficiency of buildings
By Steen Schelle Jensen, Head of Product Management, Kamstrup
Almost half of Europe’s energy consumption
goes to buildings, many of which are supplied
by inefficient individual oil or gas boilers. As a
result, they represent an unparalleled potential
for energy savings. Improving the energy
efficiency of buildings is a multi-phased process
that begins with connecting more buildings to a
district heating system based on waste heat and
renewables.
Today, buildings are responsible for 40% of energy
consumption in the EU – not to mention more than a third
of CO2 emissions. As a first step, connecting more buildings
to a district heating system would mean getting rid of
inefficient individual boilers and allow utilities to supply the identical buildings, energy consumption will differ
buildings with more clean and sustainable energy sources.
OPTIMISING EXISTING BUILDING STOCK
The energy performance of individual buildings varies
significantly not least due to their age. About 35% of EU
buildings are over 50 years old and were built with little or
no attention to energy efficiency. With frequent data from
smart meters, utilities gain detailed insight into how different ENERGY STORAGE IN BUILDINGS
buildings perform, which allows them to target their efforts.
The next step is, therefore, to look closer at the buildings
that consume the most energy and uncover their potential
within three main areas: substation efficiency, building
envelope performance and end-user behaviour.
MONITORING SUBSTATIONS
An energy efficient heat supply is dependent on well-
functioning buildings and low return temperatures in the
district heating network. However, Swedish research has
shown that 75% of all substations are misadjusted. Hourly
values from smart meters allow utilities to monitor the
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performance of substations and quickly identify errors or
opportunities for improvement.
PERFORMANCE OPTIMISATION
Data-based knowledge about how individual buildings
perform under different wind and weather conditions enables
utilities to continuously make informed decisions about their
energy production and distribution. It also allows them to
evaluate the building characteristics to determine when and
how to push for renovating buildings in the most efficient way.
INVOLVING END USERS
Energy consumption and peak demands are still closely
connected to end-user behaviour and so, when comparing
significantly. Smart metering coupled with advanced data
analytics enable utilities to provide targeted energy advice
to individual consumers. Also, visualisation tools already
available today allow end users to follow their consumption
by the hour and to benchmark how they compare to other
end users with similar profiles.
Today and in the future, buildings are a key factor in the
energy efficiency equation – and technological advances
continue to present new opportunities. For example, as
the energy efficiency of buildings increases so does their
potential as energy storage. Storage-in-buildings (SIB) – both
deep storage in the structural core e.g. in walls, and shallow
storage in gypsum etc. improves heat load shifting without
reducing thermal comfort or requiring new constructions.
The result is a higher quality of the energy mix enhancing the
integration of renewables in the district heating system, which
is the very prerequisite for the energy efficient heat supply.
Learn more at kamstrup.com l