Simultaneity in Renewable Building Energy Supply—A Case Study on a Lecturing and Exhibition Building on a University Campus Located in the Cfb Climate Zone

Abstract

A major issue in the renewable energy supply of buildings is to establish a simultaneity of the fluctuating renewable energy generation and the energy consumption in buildings. This work provides a new case for a better understanding of how to establish this simultaneity. Future solutions are being explored in practice on the campus of the FH Westküste University of Applied Sciences in the Lecturing and Exhibition Building (LEB). The motivation was to design and operate a case building for research in energy science for teaching the bachelor’s program Green Building Systems as well as for demonstration purposes for the general public. With a floor space of 207 m, the LEB is supplied with renewable energy from the adjacent energy park consisting of a 10 kW wind turbine and photovoltaic modules with 10 kWp. The heat and cold generation system consists of two reversible heat pumps: one is an air–water heat pump with approx. 7 kW heating and 6 kW cooling power, and the second is a brine–water heat pump with approx. 8 kW heating power and a depth of the two boreholes of 80 m. To match the energy generation and the energy consumption, different kinds of storage units, i.e., batteries with 3 × 8 kWh and storage tanks with 1000 L heat storage and 600 L cold storage, were installed as well as a smart automation system with a database. This paper evaluates measurement data from 2021. It is demonstrated that a fully renewable energy supply of the building is possible for most of the time from spring to autumn. In winter, an additional long-term energy storage, e.g., hydrogen, is necessary for certain days.