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Design and control of thermally activated building systems coupled to geothermal heat pumps

 

 

GEO-HPs and TABS are both state-of-the-art technologies. However, the potential energy savings are difficult to reach in practice due to bad integration of the different subsystems and inefficient control. By using TABS, the concrete slabs shift from being a purely structural element to a crucial component within a global system. Furthermore, careful attention should be paid to the thermal balance of the ground by extracting heat in winter and injecting heat in summer. The complex interaction of processes, characterized by a broad range of thermal time constants, asks for a ‘rethinking’ of system design and control. System design and control strategy should incorporate the dynamic interaction between the different components within the global system to ensure high system performance and thermal comfort in the building.

Within this research topic a combination of monitoring data, simulation data and comfort surveys is used to evolve towards a better design and optimal control of office buildings equipped with the combination of a geothermal heat pump and thermally activated building systems.
Monitoring data and simulation data constitute a huge source of information, which we try to fully exploit to improve system design and control. More detailed models are used as simulator/emulator, while simplified models are used within model based (predictive) control. Users’ comfort experience in TABS buildings is investigated by the use of comfort surveys.

  

Contact persons

Jan Hoogmartens
Maarten Sourbron
Clara Verhelst
Stefan Antonov
Lieve Helsen

Collaborations

Research partners

K.U.Leuven Department Civil Engineering
ULg Liège
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
WTCB
VITO
T.U. Eindhoven
T.U. Braunschweig 
U. Applied Sciences Nuremberg
T.U. Denmark
T.U. Prague

Companies

Belvi NV
Siemens
Echo
members of the GEOTABS user committee
Rehau NV
Boydens NV
Factor4 BVBA
Compromax ENG. SPRL.
Energydesign Braunschweig GmbH
SolarNext AG
Heimann Ingenieure GmbH
BenR Adviseurs voor duurzaamheid
DGMR Bouw B.V.
DWA installatie- en energieadvies
Smits van Burgst BV
Slimline Buildings BV
Vabi Software BV
Slimline Buildings BV
Thermal Comfort Systems BV
HelioPower
NILAN A/S
MIKROKLIMA s.r.o.
 

Related projects
  • EraSME-GEOTABS
  • IWT-VIS-SMART GEOTHERM
  • FWO project: Black-box model based predictive control of ground coupled heat-pump systems
  • IWT PhD scholarship: Model based predictive control of ground coupled heat pumps in office buildings
  • KUL-FLOF PhD scholarship: Dynamic behaviour of buildings with thermally activated building systems (TABS)
  • IWT-TETRA-THERMAC
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