Space heating, cooling, lighting and hot water in buildings account for around 30% of total energy consumption in the IEA countries. The IEA Energy in Buildings and Communities Technology Collaboration Programme (EBC) is aimed at using research and innovation for integration of energy-efficient and sustainable technologies in the building sector. Austria has been represented in the EBC programme since 2006 and collaborates in research in the following topic areas:
> Energy efficiency and sustainable technologies for energy supply in buildings
> Ventilation and indoor air quality in buildings
> Impact of energy use on indoor air quality and health
> Development and comparison of building simulation programmes
> Energy management systems for buildings and communities
> Community and regional energy supply concepts
www.nachhaltigwirtschaften.at/en/iea/technologyprogrammes/ebc
The Resilient Cooling of Buildings project (IEA EBC Annex 80) is concerned with sustainable, affordable and energy-efficient air conditioning for buildings. One important aspect involves increasing the resilience of buildings to extreme weather events such as heatwaves and power outages and ensuring healthy conditions for building users. There are already numerous innovative solutions in this sector, such as solar control coatings (cool materials), shading, ventilative and adiabatic cooling, thermally activated building systems, phase change materials (PCMs) and geothermal probe fields. However, the broad-based application of these concepts often fails due to real-life and economic obstacles. Awareness of policy makers need to be raised and suitable performance indicators implemented in norms and standards.
Various other technologies with potential for future cooling of buildings are currently still in development. These include advanced glazing technologies, micro-cooling, individual comfort controls, electrostatic air purification, combinations of comfort ventilation and ventilative cooling as well as high-efficiency vapour compression machines and absorption chillers. The systematic collection and pooling of international research expertise and transfer of knowledge among the participating countries1 are aimed at supporting and promoting the further development, widespread distribution and implementation of the various cooling strategies. Austria is leading the research project. Participation in such international collaborations plays a role in developing Austrian expertise further in the sustainable building cooling sector, raising its profile internationally and opening up new markets.
The following results have been achieved so far:
> The current state of the art of a large number of building-related cooling technologies was ascertained and published in the State of the Art Review (SOTAR).2
> The resilience of these cooling technologies was analysed using defined key performance indicators and summarised in technology profile sheets.
> A design guideline has been written for resilient cooling of buildings and this will be published in the spring of 2024 in cooperation with REHVA.
> The performance of selected technologies in practice was surveyed based on national and international case studies and summarised in the Field Studies Report.3
> The international consortium under Austria’s leadership is seeking a follow-up project on cooling in cities and urban neighbourhoods. The Executive Committee has already approved the plans to prepare a project proposal.
www.nachhaltigwirtschaften.at/en/iea/technologyprogrammes/ebc/iea-ebc-annex-80.php
1 Participating countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, USA, United Kingdom
2 www.building-research.at/10.52776/COXK4763
3 www.building-research.at/10.52776/JIIT7246
COOL-QUARTER-PLUS
Greenhouse gas-neutral cooling for office and research quarters
Das Rapid city growth and the impact of climate change are resulting in a global increase in cooling requirements in the building sector. Decentralised individual air-conditioning units require a lot of energy and often have poor efficiency levels. They also cause considerable noise pollution and spoil the appearance of building façades. The COOL-QUARTER-PLUS project1 involves the development of new solutions and concepts for the centralised cooling of buildings and entire urban quarters. The project is focused on office and research quarters, as it is easier to implement measures controlled centrally here than is the case in residential buildings and mixed-use quarters due to the ownership structure and operational management.
Illustration: Graz University of Technology, Institute of Thermal Engineering
Emissions-free operations
The new cooling concepts are intended to be operated without greenhouse gases wherever possible. The cooling is produced primarily based on electricity that is generated on site from photovoltaics. The spectrum of cooling systems ranges from centralised building solutions to semi-centralised pooling of photovoltaics or cooling generation, to systems that are fully centralised in the respective neighbourhoods. The concepts are reproduced as a dynamic model and analysed with regard to their energy-related system behaviour. Based on this, the simulation results are compared with long-term measurement data from a real-life example neighbourhood.
Adaptation to user requirements
The system must be adapted to closely reflect user requirements so that the cooling systems can be operated as efficiently and effectively as possible. Information from existing systems is analysed for this purpose using machine learning. The plan is to enable direct feedback from users in the newly developed systems via a mobile app.
Life-cycle assessments
A comparative and dynamic life-cycle cost calculation of the cooling systems is also being done as part of the project. The life-cycle assessment and the differentiation between grey and operational greenhouse gas emissions form the basis for a holistic evaluation of the concepts and the associated building-related measures.
www.nachhaltigwirtschaften.at/en/sdz/projekte/cool-quarter-plus.php
Urban cooling demand in Austria 2030/2050
The increasing demand for cooling in Austria is currently being systematically analysed on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK) within the framwork of the R&D service “Urban cooling Demand in Austria 2030/2050” (UKÖ 2030/2050)2. The expected future cooling demand in the residential and office building stock is being quantified for the years 2030, 2040 and 2050 against a background of different regional climatic conditions, the typological building and settlement structures in Austria and the different comfort requirements. In addition, the cooling demand from the scenarios developed is being located geographically at the level of the Austrian municipalities in cooling-demand maps. Target group-specific conclusions and recommendations for action will be developed for decision-makers based on these findings in order to support the development and implementation of climate protection measures and climate change adaptation strategies.
www.nachhaltigwirtschaften.at/de/sdz/projekte/urbaner-kaeltebedarf-in-oesterreich-2030-2050.php
Image: BOKU IRUB/Lore Abart-Heriszt
1 Project partners: Graz University of Technology – Institute of Thermal Engineering (project management), Graz University of Technology – Institute of Software Technology/Institute of Electrical Power Systems/Institute of Structural Design, EQUA Solutions AG, simulation services technical solutions GmbH, TB-Starchel Ingenieurbüro GmbH
2 Project partners: Institute of Building Research & Innovation ZT GmbH (project management), Vasko + Partner ZT-GmbH, BOKU Institute of Chemical and Energy Engineering, BOKU Institute of Spatial Planning, Environmental Planning and Land Rearrangement
