Rue du Congrès 35
Future cities = heat pump cities
B-1000 Brussels
A conceptual overview
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It is often claimed that heat pump technology could be used in most if not
all new and (renovated) existing buildings. As such, future cities could rely to
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ING Bank
a large part on using heat pumps and by that relying more and more on
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renewable energy sources.
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This paper will provide a short overview on the components of a heat pump
city. Heat pumps can be employed in the different parts of a city structure. A
Registration-Nr.
0893.797.590
Brussels, Belgium
city structure must incorporate functional areas for
Chairman
- "living" (residential buildings)",
Karl Ochsner
- "working" (office, industrial buildings),
Contact:
- "public services" (schools administration, sports buidlings), and
Thomas Nowak
- "public infrastructure" including "transportation".
Secretary General
Phone +49 176 63201140
Most of the buildings in these areas require some kind of energy supply for
heating, cooling and domestic hot water, all of them have a connection to
the electricity grid. Heat pump technology is available to cover the demand
for heating, cooling and hot water in most cases.
General considerations on heat pump efficiency
Heat pumps work most efficiently when a highly efficient unit is installed by
an educated installer in a building that can be heated with a low temperature heating system. This correlation makes heat pumps particularly usable in
new buildings.
Recent technological developments do also allow for the efficient use of
heat pumps in existing building that do not require more than 50°C for the
heating system to operate. Alternatively, such houses must be renovated to
comply with this energy requirement.
1. Heat pumps in residential buildings
1a. Heat pumps in single family houses
Installation: Individual heat pump 5-20kW
Energy sources used: air, water, ground, exhaust air, hybrid systems with
electric or gas backup, hybrid systems with solar thermal integration.
Auxiliary energy: predominantly electricity, some gas, some thermal energy
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thomas.nowak@ehpa.org
from other sources (for cooling).
Examples: Individual single-family houses, nearly unlimited design options,
energy, low temperature heating and good insulation very important!
1b. Heat pumps in multi-family houses
Heat pumps in multi-family buildings are larger in size - depending of the
size and energy demand of the building. Apart from this fact, they can be
employed like those mentioned in point 1a.
Installation: Individual heat pump 20 to 50kW, one or several units possible
for cascading use.
Energy sources used: air, water, ground, exhaust air
Examples: multi-family houses, row house or high rise, nearly unlimited design options, energy, low temperature heating and good insulation very important!
Predominantly equipped with central heating system, some examples with a
brine circulation line and individual small heat pumps per appartment exist.
2. Heat pumps in office and commercial buildings
A wide range of applications exist for heat pump use in office building depending on their requirements. Heat pumps are often used for heating and
cooling.
Installation: Individual heat pump up to 20 kW to 1MW, one or several units
possible for cascading use.
Energy sources used: air, water, ground, exhaust air
Examples:
- Hotels
- Office buildings
- Farms, Dairy production
- Swimming pools
3. Industrial use of heat pumps
In industrial applications heat pumps can be used to provide process heat
and to provide heating, cooling and hot water.
4. Heat pumps in public buildings
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The use of heat pumps in public buildings is identical to that in office buildings.
5. Heat pump use in and for infrastructure
Public infrastructure such as subway systems or sewage systems can serve as
heat sources for heat pumps. Several examples exists in which the concrete
used for the construction of theses systems is thermally activated. Average
temperature in such systems is approx. 10°C which can efficiently be used to
heat nearby buildings.
A so-called cold source can be used as a distribution grid for energy to heat
pumps and is in itself a piece of public infrastructure. As opposed to a district heating system which operates at high temperature, a "cold source" is
operating at rather low temperatures (10°C to 20°C) and requires little or no
insulation. It delivers energy between its users and can be used for cooling
in summer and for heating in winter. When used for cooling, it servers as a
storage for excess heat from industrial use, solar thermal collectors etc.. The
energy entered can taken from the source at a different location via heat
pumps.
Examples:
Sewer system
City of the hague, where a cold-source grid connects approx. 350 homes
with 10°C water. Individual houses are equipped with heat pumps that run
efficiently with 10°C.
6. Heat pump applications in transport
As mentioned in item 5, metro tunnels or street tunnels could be used as
energy sources for heat pumps.
New electric cars can use heat pumps as they lack waste heat that is used
for heating in conventional cars.
Example: Audi e
Excurse: Heat source for geothermal applications
Heat sources for geothermal heat pumps can be horizontal pipes or vertical
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drillings, trenches or wells. In larger construction, where several supporting
concrete foundations are necessary, these concrete piles can be thermally
activated thus transporting the heat from the ground to the heat pump
(heating mode), or the heat from the building to the underground (cooling
mode).
Similarly, underground parking garages or basement structures can be used.
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