Digitalization does not stop at buildings. Intelligent building technology makes everyday life easier, simplifies operating procedures and helps to save energy. As part of the Smart City project MAtchUP of the European Union, the city administration therefore had the 102nd primary school in Dresden-Johannstadt equipped with intelligent energy system measurement technology at the beginning of the 2018/19 heating period. Sub-meters receive and transmit digital data and are integrated into a communication network. Together with weather forecast data, such as air temperature and wind speed, this allows the school’s technical facilities to be efficiently controlled.
“MAtchUP is dedicated to sustainable urban development. This is why we are focusing on energy optimization in this project,”says Dr. Michael Anz, MAtchUP project manager at the Dresden Office for Economic Development.
In a first step, the project partner EA Systems Dresden GmbH developed a detailed simulation model of the school building. The model reproduces the existing energy system and real facility behaviour and is constantly improved in its accuracy by minute-exact measured values. Thus, different scenarios can be played through, such as how the ventilation behaviour influences the room temperature and heating loads or how a reduction in the room temperature affects. From the results, statements are derived on how best to control energy consumption in the school building. In the second step, actual adjustments are made.
“The efficiency of energy systems is based on the knowledge of what happens in the system and how control adjustments will affect it – we use both in our simulation models for consumption optimization,” says René Unger, Managing Director of EA Systems Dresden GmbH.
“The major goal of the MAtchUP project is to transfer the knowledge gained to other projects,” says Anz.
In future, in addition to the 102nd primary school, about 200 other municipal buildings such as schools, kindergartens and administrative locations will be connected to the central building control centre. Via this energy terminal, the data of the individual building technology systems, such as temperatures, control commands and energy consumption values, will be transmitted digitally in real time. In the future, energy consumption can be optimized by remote intervention according to standardized set points, coordinated usage times and current weather conditions.
By using the central building control system, an average of six percent energy can be saved.
“By intelligently controlling the heating systems, the state capital can not only reduce energy consumption and thus make an important contribution to climate protection, but also save money and refinance investments in the building control centre,” says Gabriele Gottschalk, Head of the Technical Plants/Energy Management Department at the Office for Building Construction and Property Management.
Original press release available here.
Written by: Landeshauptstadt Dresden
Translated by: MAtchUP Office Dresden
Cover picture: 102th School in Dresden – Grundschule LHD
