News

Our workshop at WSED2019 - World Sustainable Energy Days, was held on 28th February at the European Energy Efficiency Conference, in Wels, Austria.   Wim Boydens introduced the workshop as Chair and addressed both the state of the art of hybridGEOTABS technology and the future potentials in terms of results' exploitation. Presentations included topics on Heat pump design and markets, model predictive control, geothermal applications, design and value of hybridGEOTABS buildings. Our total number of attendees reached 11 external stakeholders, as well as the six speakers presenting the project, 17 total. This encouraged a lively and discursive open debate following the talks, based on: “Challenges for market deployment and policy support”   The questions and answers have been added as FAQs providing more information on hybridGEOTABS buildings and the motivations of the project. FAQs I'm interested in the MPC controller process and how nowadays it can be effective on the outputs of the hybrid technologies? Lukas Ferkl (Energoklastr): The optimisations produced by MPC do not depend on the starting point of characterisation but, as Anke Uytterhoeven (KU Leuven) added, the important goal is to take into account the most amount of predictions and anticipations that are involved in the technology development process.   Do MPC predictions take into account inhabitants' behaviour as an indicator? Lukas Ferkl: This is not a needed indicator, but if it is taken as a parameter it will for sure improve the quality of the predictions because the more information is gathered, the best outcomes are reached when it comes to behavioral anticipations.   Are family households taken into consideration for this project and how many individuals are keen to provide behavioral data? Lukas Ferkl: Considering family households lots of data are needed, so, at the moment, public buildings such as school and offices are more predictable in terms of energy behaviours because we already know what are the daily activities involved and how they are interconnected to the building itself.   Is the problem about individual's behavioural data collection related to the involvement of volunteers that are able to participate on predictions? Anke Uytterhoeven: The development of an MPC controller has got better potential rather than giving to individual's freedom to react to the behaviour of the system.   Do saving costs on energy efficiency have to take into account the individual's issues as well? Lukas Ferkl: There are already examples where the electricity network can save costs making households pay just for the energy consumed from the city grid and not pay for the one produced locally. SEB attendee: Sadly, in Austria this is still not possible.   How could the building envelope energy storage combine the thermal comfort using a MPC controller to have a temperature adjustment not just reacting in the present, but also predicting a future adjustment? Wim Boydens: The envelope has a system of pipes that is being heated while the MPC can predict the temperature overnight or during the day for the next 6-8 hours.   Is it possible with the hybridGEOTABS system to have different comfort levels in different rooms of the building? Wim Boydens: TABS controls set a profile-controlled temperature that does not change among different zones.   For the combined heat pumps systems, and the new technologies related to them, it is needed a high level of expertise and, at the same time, we need companies that are able to provide specific technologies. So, how is hybridGEOTABS going to assure a good quality of these outcomes? Gert Dewandeleer (Nathan): The key point is to train the installers to a high level of expertise. Wim Boydens added that on the control side as well there is still lots of work to do and it constitutes a big challenge. SEB attendee agreed that on the heat pump installation side, the training is a very important issue and in her company there is already a program developed for trainings/installations.   In my company we are also dealing with TABS buildings, but they do not constitute a scalable technology if there are no experienced people that can fill the gap between the novelty and the technology itself. Anne Caminade (Lemon Consult): Usually a tendering document is based on a collection of data that is used to develop the project, letting the installers be aware on how to work with the systems involved. Also, students can be included in training programmes as well, and in any case there is always a quality assurance assessment for every project launched. Wim Boydens noted there is also the plan to start a training body that is not focused just on the heating pumps installation, but on their integrations with other systems. Gert Dewandeleer added that from the manufacturers side there is already the possibility for the installer to actually visit the installation site checking whether or not the heat pump was installed correctly.   Who are the potential customers of the project? Wim Boydens: At the moment the project outputs are being tested on 4No. case study buildings where elderly houses and schools are included.   How could a designer quantify the value of the flexibility of the system 20 years from now? (Wim Boydens) SEB attendee: Company customers are willing to follow a new approach but then, on a practical side, we can see that there is a lack of courage when it comes for example to public buildings (using an example about a public building in Austria that could have been a good starting point to invest in new energy systems, but it then resulted in a weak designed construction). Another example in Salzburg, was how inhabitants are slowly moving outside the city, in the suburbs, to build single family houses and the key problem is that construction companies still don’t know that they can already use new technologies. In addition to this, the company already has a team working on building services, and the Austrian regulation schemes require different indicators combinations not only focused on energy efficiency, but also on primary energy consumption.   Another issue is that the technology focuses on single buildings, while it should be focused on a district. Lukas Ferkl: An example related to a district in Netherlands shows good results and it is working fine even if the starting investment was high.  Plus there is also another call within the H2020 projects to be exploited concerning energy districts.   Does hybridGEOTABS also considers the retrofit of existing houses? Wim Boydens: There are already tests on the ceiling effects and the face-change materials. Anne Caminade then gave a short introduction to face-change materials.   Regarding the installation of heat pumps, in Salzburg there are many cases where there is no possibility for the installers to drill (geodetic local regulations issues). Wim Boydens: This also happens in Luxembourg, where there is no possibility to drill as there is an underground layer of drinkable water.  In countries where there are no rules on geodetic regulations it is better to not rush the technology.   The discussion ended with Wim Boydens addressing the potentials of hybridGEOTABS and how nowadays people are of course attracted by new technology advantages, but in order to have a market uptake it also needed a life-cycle analysis otherwise, and SEBs agreed, companies will not invest on them. The feedback about the whole WSED event was excellent – more than 660 experts from 60 countries participated in the 3 conference days of the World Sustainable Energy Days.

Testbed building up-and-running Our partners from Energoklastr, have been monitoring this small-scale testbed building, located in Prague (CZ), at the University Centre for Energy Efficient Buildings (UCEEB). It is now running the last of its tests, with the aim of evaluating various cost functions and validation of simplified models for Model Predictive Control (MPC). The tests are performed in our hybridGEOTABS Work Package 3 – "Development of an MPC Toolchain for the hybrid MPC-GEOTABS concepts". This is a scaled-down building with a TABS ceiling, which enables us to perform simplified tests to evaluate various hypotheses concerning the MPC. The actual “computer”, where all MPC calculations happen, is tiny. Despite the complexity of the calculations, the power of today’s computers enables implementation of MPC into such tiny devices, making them suitable for retrofitting and tight installations.

Consortium members, Filip Jorissen, Wim Boydens & Lieve Helsen have recently published a paper on TACO, an automated toolchain for model predictive control of building systems: implementation and verification, in the Journal of Building Performance Simulation TACO will be further developed and demonstrated during the coming years with the goal to significantly reduce the engineering effort required for developing MPC for building applications. This can be read here

We've been busy with our MPC Workshop, Case Study Visits and planning further Workshops in 2019. Read our November Newsletter and find out more... https://mailchi.mp/e187b838bdae/hybridgeotabs-nov-2018-newsletter-638991    

Filip Jorissen, PhD and Post-Doc at KU Leuven, key member of hybridGEOTABS project consortium, presented Model Predictive Control (MPC) algorithms applied to hybridGEOTABS buildings at the REHVA Brussels Conference, Smart Buildings for Smart Users - Implementing the new EPBD, on 13th November 2018. MPC can answer to the control challenges posed by smart buildings, where technical building systems have to interact and integrate towards an optimal management of energy use and comfort conditions. Filip focused on the potential of a white box approach to MPC: the MPC Toolchain currently being developed at KU Leuven will allow a user-friendly set up of MPC algorithms based on building schematics information. Dr. Jorissen then presented the application of these strategies to one of our case study buildings, Solarwind, where simulation results showed an energy saving potential of MPC of 0ver 50% with respect to traditional rule-based control. MPC shall replace the existing control system in another of our case study buildings, Infrax, and this will now be measured for anticipated energy savings.  

Wim Boydens attended the opening of the new HQ building for Nathan Benelux on 2nd November in Zevenaar.  The new building uses our hybridGEOTABS partner Uponor's technology for heating and cooling in floors and ceilings, within this zero energy building. Sustainable cooling and heating is the core business of Nathan Benelux with over 155 dedicated employees across 3 locations in the Netherlands and Belgium. Continuous growth led to the need for a new office and warehouse building in the Netherlands. In line with the core business, the new building would of course need to be cooled and heated using sustainable technology with alpha innotec heat pumps and Uponor floor/ceiling heating technology. Situated in the town of Zevenaar in the Netherlands, the new building is a testimony of current technology in heating and cooling, but it’s not experimental. All technology applied is proven technology, in some cases technology available for decades. Through rigorous engineering the combined benefits of the existing technology resulted in a cost effective and energy neutral building. Designed by WillemsenU architects, the new building is built using concrete and large glass facades. The triple glazing and other insulation ensures a A++++ energy efficient building. Ground Source Energy The core energy for heating and cooling is provided using a heat/cold ground storage through two open wells. One well is drilled at a depth of 90m and used for heating. The other well is drilled at a depth of 70m and used for cooling. Both wells are connected to two alpha innotec SWP professional 45kW ground source heat pumps that provide a base temperature of 18 deg.C inside the building. Each room has its own separate ventilation shafts which are connected to separate decentral heating/cooling boxes. Using cooled or heated air, a stable room temperature of around 21-22 deg.C is achieved during winter and summer. The temperature can be regulated per room with this system and the required energy for each box is also delivered using the ground source. The constant temperature of 18 deg.C during winter and summer is reached using concrete core activation. Through underfloor and ceiling heating and cooling from Uponor, the concrete mass of the building is kept at a stable temperature, resulting in a stable climate inside the building. Insertion of the filter tube used the pump up the ground water for heating or cooling The technical core of the new building with two alpha innotec SWP ground source heat pumps Concrete Core Activation Concrete core activation will create this stable environment, with heat pumps and renewable sources.  Ventilation with heat recovery will be used to achieve the high sustainability goals. The choice for concrete core activation creates a highly sustainable building that optimally combines technology and design. By incorporating most of the installations in the concrete floor and by omitting the usual suspended ceiling, the clean work concrete ceiling comes into view and undisturbed heat exchange can take place between the floor, the ceiling and the room. Only the grilles for air treatment poured in the concrete, luminaires for the basic lighting and sprinkler heads remain visible. A tight image with minimal use of material and a stable temperature are the result. All pipes, ventilation shafts, electric and sprinkler installations are embedded in the concrete floor Sustainability The design of the building is tailored to the environment to support the zero-energy concept. The use of brise soleil and south facing open façades utilise the heat and light from the sun, and shading from it where necessary. The choice of materials, such as the photovoltaic cells in the atrium roof and triple glazing, are used in addition to their well-known sustainable properties with a sun protection function to keep the climate stable.  Knowledge Centre To achieve a carbon free society in 2050, knowledge and expertise is needed. In the Netherlands and Belgium millions of homes need to be disconnected from gas or oil powered heating systems. The installers needed to perform this energy transition are lacking knowledge and expertise. Therefore the Nathan Academy has been founded for training both installers and other parties in the building industry. Nathan Academy occupies a large portion of the new building with a 500sqm showroom, training room for 70 persons and a practice room with fully functioning heat pump systems. Thousands of installers are trained in installing and servicing heat pump systems. The new Nathan HQ is a true knowledge centre for sustainable climate technology, built on proven technology from alpha innotec and Uponor. A fully functioning practice room. The generated warm water is fed into the central system.