Simulation based control for Energy Efficiency Building Operation and Maintenance presented at All-Energy Exhibition and Conference 2016

All-Energy is a free-to-attend conference and exhibition held in Glasgow annually. In its 16th year during a two-day programme held on 4^th and 5^th of May, it has firmly established itself as the UK’s leading renewable energy exhibition and conference including such activities as workshop, seminars, meetings, visits to demo site and internal meetings between project partners. Each edition, All-Energy brings together the latest technologies and thought leaders worldwide.

Attracting visitors from a variety sectors within the energy industry including onshore & offshore wind, bioenergy, wave & tidal, sustainable cities and energy efficiency, All-Energy gives exhibitors the opportunity to do business with key international experts and buyers in one location. All-Energy offers structured networking opportunities to help suppliers establish relationships and secure business on a global scale.

Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES), a company highly involved in R&D activities through various projects and currently one of the partners of the project Energy in Time, made a presentation titled “Making real-time operational control of buildings a reality with 3D simulation.” Catherine Conaghan, Senior Project Manager of IES, introduced this topic as part of the “Sustainable and Smart Cities” theme.

IES’s role in the project Energy in Time is the development of highly calibrated simulation-based building models, which can used in near-real time for automated control optimization and decision making. The core for this model is a 3D simulation model through which it is possible to detect faults in an automated way and apply analysis focused on prediction and optimization to determine future trends and the best course of action, respectively. It implies integration with virtual App for comprehensive building auditing and web-based BMS data acquisition.

The 3D simulation model is based on the 4 demo sites physically located in different countries: Portugal (Faro, Airport), Romania (ICPE, office building) and Finland (Levi, hotel and Sanomatalo, commercial and office building). The real input is provided through the Data Acquisition model which facilitates accurate building profiles to replace standard profiles in simulation models. IES also introduces Building Model Calibration, a process of improving the accuracy of simulation models to reflect the as-built status and current operating conditions.

The benefits of this complex approach are multiple. We can highlight the following: real-time comparison of the building performance against virtual building models, greater accuracy by faults and real-time inefficiencies detection and intelligent prediction to ensure maximum efficiency for building operations.

The prototypes of all elements have been developed and tested at least in a simulation environment. Remaining work for this coming year and the next 2017 will focus on integration and demonstration in real buildings located in EU.

Sources:

All-Energy

All Energy: All Wrapped Up

Making real-time operational control of buildings a reality with 3D simulation

 

Sustainable ecologically friendly places are already the reality

RenenVillages is a pilot programme for ecological, sustainable and fully autonomous villages. An example is the village of 25 houses situated in the suburbs of Amsterdam. It is able to produce its own food, generate electricity for lighting and manage waste in a totally efficient way contributing to a closed-loop regenerative system and avoiding any type of contamination. It is worth mentioning the high quality of what they produce: organic food, clean water ready or drinking and clean energy.

The project will come true in 2017 and will grow incorporating more houses, up to 100. RenenVillages is planned to implement in several European countries like Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany and further in Middle East.

The eco-village “off-grid” concept must test the modern technology in regard with costs efficiency in order to justify sustainability of integration of the local energy generation, food production methods and waste-to-resource system. The challenge is to apply smart management systems for all this and build resilient communities. The project aims to redefine residential real-estate development through these regenerative communities.

Eco-communities are not new. At the beginning of this century the so called Eco-Towns were developed by utilizing regional technologies and industries in Japan. The scheme is based on sustainable production and consumption involving various eco-concepts: green procurement, consumerism and labeling, industrial ecology, extended producer responsibility, socially responsible investment, integrated waste management, global reporting initiative and corporate social responsibility.

These kind of projects can be considered as an effective countermeasure to the coming population boom[1] and an increasing demand for clean water, food and energy systems. At the same time, it contributes highly for the ecological balance and reduces burdens on local and national governments.

Sources:

Crean el primer pueblo ecológico capaz de producir luz y reciclar su basura.

RegenVillages, the officil site.

This eco-village is designed to be fully self-sufficient, from energy to food to waste.

Eco Towns in Japan.

[1] By 2050 nearly 10-billion people will live on earth, requiring the urgent need for regenerative housing and community development.

Is it enough to provide energy efficiency solutions through buildings and application of renewables to have healthy and livable Cities?

It looks like there are other important issues to take into consideration.

Cities are the witnesses of a close relationship between humans and vehicles. Our dependency on motor vehicles[1] is too strong because they are very efficient by solving such questions as mobility and promptness that are related to the quality of life. But are the vehicles efficient in terms of environmentally harmful gases?

The pollutants emitted by motor vehicle engine are not only carbon dioxide (CO2) which is, together with water, are the products of combustion if the engine is totally efficient. They also include nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO), particulates, sulphur dioxide (SO2) and lead – the products emitted due to the fuel type, which is mainly petrol containing impurities. Emission of VOCs from motor vehicles is a problem that accounts for 40% of man-made emissions in Western Europe.

Comparison between limit values from EUs type approval regulations (black clouds) to emissions in “real life” city traffic from the average Euro 6 diesel passenger car. NOx, PM and CO2 emission when using the Helsinki city cycle. Measured at +23 °C (red clouds) and -7 °C (blue clouds). The size of the red and blue clouds indicate the difference in emission from the emission in the type approval test (NEDC).The source: Diesel cars have high emissions in real traffic

The use of a public transportation is one of the countermeasures to reduce air pollution. 50 cars create as much pollution as one bus. Modern diesel cars emit up to four times more toxic pollution, mainly NOx, than a bus in city driving conditions. NOx emissions from heavy vehicles like bus or lorry have been reduced dramatically recently because of the strict tests applied in EU since 2011, the strictness not applied for cars.

The vehicles assigned for public transport, like buses, have shown recently their efficiency through application of hybrid models which enables the local administrations to save up to 30% of fuel annually. Another example of contribution to energy efficiency and clean environment is the use of electric vehicles. This is what is called a “green fleet”. So, the energy efficient technology is another effective countermeasure.

If there is an affordable and readily available technology that can help to reduce emissions and there are elements that have been already implemented for zero contamination in cities, like buildings, what happens with the car industry? Apparently, the convenience and costs are the reasons for lack of implementation of the NOx reduction technology. It looks totally irresponsible and inefficient when so many nations in the worlds decided to shift from traditional energy generation sources to renewables in order to contribute to a more sustainable planet. By now we reached only a marginal improvement in emissions which is too far from the established “zero emission” target.

The central and local administrations have already designed measures to reduce contaminations in their cities. For example, Brussels Government declared that it will reduce the circulation of the most polluting vehicles starting from 2018. To control the effectiveness of this programme, the administration will install cameras for video monitoring. This is also a great contribution to the public health, since the contaminated air causes around 12,000 deaths in Belgium, 620 of which are produced in the capital.

The cities must be clean and healthy, the characteristics that made them more livable and attractive. We must mind, therefore, the practices and urban elements through which we can guarantee better places to live and work in. And this is our responsibility how fast we react to the detected problems related to contamination.

[1] Motor vehicles now include petrol and diesel-engined cars, motorcycles, light vans, passenger service vehicles (buses and coaches) and heavy goods vehicles (HGVs)

 

Sources:

Cincuenta coches contaminan lo mismo que un solo autobús

Bruselas reducirá progresivamente los vehículos más contaminantes a partir de 2018

Diesel cars emit up to four times more toxic pollution than a bus, data reveals

Diesel cars have high emissions in real traffic

Air Pollution Emissions in the UK