Future buildings will have low energy consumption due to reduced heat loss, heat recovery and renewable energy. By improving cost/performance they will be built in large numbers, mixed with conventional buildings. The result is similar to low-density housing and can have a negative impact on district energy (DE). Some passive solar buildings, with large windows, may present high loads on cold nights following days of low solar gain, although average energy consumption is low.

The challenge is: “How can district energy contribute to the advancement of low-energy building designs and DE integration for a net reduction in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions?”

• To develop DE system-level design guidelines and methodologies for cost-effective integration of low-energy buildings by merging benefits of centralized and decentralized energy generation and storage systems.
• To develop methodologies to estimate the optimum percentage and configurations of low-energy buildings to maintain utility cost effectiveness in areas remote from a central DE plant.
• Using experimental work in two low energy houses, evaluate control system interactions and establish guidelines for efficient system-level operation.

This information will be useful to the building design industry and DE engineers in any northern country doing long-term planning for system expansion. It will also be of interest to government energy policy officials in these countries who will be defining national building standards and incentive programs to minimize fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Start: the middle of 2008
Estimated date of conclusion: November 2010

Contractors &
subcontractors

• Gagest Inc
• Dumont & Associates
• FVB Sweden AB
• Kamstrup A/S