Bottom-up design of a smart neighborhood: an energy simulation approach. In this workshop the results of the building energy simulations will be shown, as well as the results of the validation track. From a designer's point of view, it is very valuable to immediately assess the impact of certain renovation design choices on user comfort and energy demand. The total electrification of the energy supply in a neighborhood is also of great concern for the local distribution grid operator. Additionally, this work also has a strong connection with evaluation of the business models. The developed tools will be showcased in this workshop.

1. Project co-funded by the European Commission in the H2020 Programme.

2. Project co-funded by the European Commission in the H2020 Programme.
Bottom-up design of a smart neighborhood
An energy simulation approach

3. Project co-funded by the European Commission in the H2020 Programme.
• Introduction
• What is BIM?
• Energy simulation model architecture
• REnnovates work-flow
• Live demo
Agenda / content

4. Project co-funded by the European Commission in the H2020 Programme.
• Jan Diriken
• Researcher in VITO/EnergyVille
• Thermal (Storage) Systems
– Model development
– Applications
– Active and passive use
• Jan.Diriken@vito.be
Introduction

5. Project co-funded by the European Commission in the H2020 Programme.
What is BIM?
• Transition towards digital, intelligent models of
new or existing buildings
• “Higher” dimensions like planning (4D), cost
(5D)
• Extensive amount of information included
• Materials used
• Costs
• …
• Allows for easy information exchange (e.g. IFC)
REnnovates: use information in BIM to directly
perform building energy simulations

6. Project co-funded by the European Commission in the H2020 Programme.
• REnnovates concept recap
– Additional insulative layers
– Local PV production
– Electrification of energy supply
system
– Smart control
Why performing building energy simulations
Question: what are the consequences of
certain design choices?

7. Project co-funded by the European Commission in the H2020 Programme.
Buildinglevel
• Energy (or electricity)
demand
• PV production
• Net-zero rating
• Potential user comfort issues
• EnergyModule specifications
• Associated costs
Neighborhoodlevel
• Power flows in the local
distribution grid
• Impact of smart control
(simultaneity factor)
• Are grid enforcements
required?
• Business model validation
Consequences of REnnovates concept

8. Project co-funded by the European Commission in the H2020 Programme.
• Created using components from
the open-source IDEAS library
(Modelica)
• Building topology and material
properties obtained from BIM
models using IFC2x3 export
standard
• Modular approach (building,
EnergyModule, ventilation and
stochastic user behavior
• Semi-automatic procedure
• Standard rule-based control
Building energy simulation models

9. Project co-funded by the European Commission in the H2020 Programme.
The REnnovates simulation work-flow
BIM design phase Building simulation model
IFC
Analysis on building level
Detailed model
KPI estimation
-User comfort
-Energy needs
-Energy efficiency
-…
Analysis on district level
Simplified model
Generation of power
profiles at different nodes
Various user profiles
District LoadFlow Impact on local distribution grid
Business Modeling Tool

10. Project co-funded by the European Commission in the H2020 Programme.
Building Energy Simulation Architecture
Question: How can we make a “slow” model “faster”?
Background information
Time to simulate 1 year in detail
on high-end PC: 3 hours 45 minutes

11. Project co-funded by the European Commission in the H2020 Programme.
How to make models fast?
Zone aggregation HP abstraction
Realistic
•Performance map
•Central thermostat
•Radiator
behaviour
Ideal
•Fixed COP
•Zone heating
demand
Ventilation model
Air flows from dry
to wet zones
Each zone has an inlet
and exhaust
Full reduction applied: only 40 seconds needed

12. Project co-funded by the European Commission in the H2020 Programme.
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
Livingroom
Kitchen
Toilet/Hall
Bathroom
Bedroom1
Bedroom2
Bedroom3
Attic
1st floor 2nd floor 3rd floor
Time[hrs]
Overheating: zone aggregation
8 Zones 3 Zones 1 Zone 1 Zone 4Cap 1 Zone 2Cap
Is fast also precise?
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
Electricconsumption[kWh]
HP Electric consumption
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
Livingroom
Kitchen
Toilet/Hall
Bathroom
Bedroom1
Bedroom2
Bedroom3
Attic
1st floor 2nd floor 3rd floorTemperature[C]
Set-point deviation - winter - realistic HP
8 Zones 3 Zones 1 Zone 1 Zone 4Cap 1 Zone 2Cap
Answer: depends on the KPI under consideration!

13. Project co-funded by the European Commission in the H2020 Programme.
What about accuracy?
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
305 325 345 365 385
HPElectricalconsumption[kWh]
Day number
Site 1
Simulation Field data
15
17
19
21
23
25
27
29
10300000 11300000 12300000 13300000 14300000 15300000
Livingroomtemperature
Time [sec]
Simulation Data

14. Project co-funded by the European Commission in the H2020 Programme.
Demonstration
Time for a live demo!

15. Project co-funded by the European Commission in the H2020 Programme.
Towards a smart neighborhood
Layer Thickness K-value Heat capacity Density
Steenstrip 4 mm 1,7 860 1200
Glue 2 mm 1 860 1833
Fermacell 13 mm 0,73 860 977
Softwood 26 mm 0,13 860 122
Naturoll 184 mm 0,032 860 26
Brick 100 mm 0,41 860 1810
Limestone 110 mm 0,86 860 1397
Stucol 10 mm 0,67 860 1074
Basic roof 25 mm 0,14 860 1200
BAM roof 263 mm 0,13 860 216

16. Project co-funded by the European Commission in the H2020 Programme.
Towards a smart neighborhood
• Only for domestic hot water production, Soest district (88 houses)
• Smart control lowers power consumption simultaneity
• Over-voltage remains problematic due to high amount of PV installed
• Conclusion: grid reinforcement are needed and … was done by Stedin!