Background, Problem, and Motivation
The energy transition in Austria and China requires a transition to a new, sustainable energy system dominated by renewable energy. However, renewable energy is intermittent and fluctuating, which poses a challenge to the balance between supply and demand. Improving the flexibility of the power grid through a package of intelligent technologies is key to sustainable and resilient cities of the future. Buildings can contribute as valuable flexibility resources to stabilize and optimize renewable energy networks. However, they must be planned and operated accordingly so that energy can be consumed, fed in, and/or stored for the grid in a demand-oriented manner. There is no global definition of the parameters of a "grid-flexible building" (architecture, building services, control) and the effects on the energy network or the neighborhood cannot be economically determined without great effort in the preliminary design.
Goals and Innovation Content
In a first step, the evaluation of internationally valid indicators for assessing the "smart readiness" of grid-friendly buildings will be carried out taking into account current and future building technologies (hydrogen, heat pumps, storage, etc.) in order to be able to plan them correctly for the requirements of renewable energy networks/city districts and the needs of users. In parallel, a building technology variant matrix and a standardization of operating strategies for building energy systems will be defined in order to be able to represent the interaction of building energy systems and operating strategies with the energy grid. These accumulated and standardized parameters as well as a digital model form the input values for the dynamic simulation tool for buildings and/or neighborhoods developed here. The tool enables a precise representation of the energy grid demand and the effects of sector coupling in the early planning phase. It can be used to optimize variants, derive measures for the realization of grid-flexible buildings, and generate efficient energy grids. The expandable precise simulation models of buildings or entire neighborhoods are economically sustainable, ensure planning security, and accelerate the energy transition in both countries.
Intended Results and Insights
Flexibility resources of buildings and building energy systems can be identified, documented, optimized, and coupled through this research project. The planning and simulation of carbon-neutral, resilient neighborhoods with renewable energy networks becomes possible with the planning and simulation tool. The research project also provides the following insights:
1) Methods for quantifying and assessing the network friendliness of buildings and integrated building energy systems.
2) Analysis and quantification of the necessary properties and potentials of possible flexibility resources in buildings.
3) Development of standardized operating strategies for building energy systems with the aim of optimizing the interaction with the energy grid and its flexibility.
A demonstration project in China will be implemented based on the insights and its impact on the energy grid will be optimized with the simulation data. The results contribute to achieving the bilateral climate neutrality targets in the energy sector of Austria and China and enable NEUBAU best.energy to achieve a significant increase in turnover through the global offering of this service.
