26.05.2016 #SmartBuildings

Buildings as micro energy-hubs delivering climate solutions

Buildings are more than just stand-alone units using energy from the grid. They are becoming micro energy-hubs consuming, producing, storing and supplying energy more flexibly than before.

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Buildings increasingly interact with the energy system and have the potential to take up an important role in the power-supply system stability by becoming micro energy hubs which generate energy with renewables, provide storage for electric and thermal energy and deliver demand response. They can help balance the grid with demand management and could play a leading role in transforming the EU energy market, shifting from centralised, fossil-fuel based, national systems towards a decentralised, renewable, interconnected and variable system. This BPIE Briefing digs into the topic and provides recommendations on how to unlock the transition and mitigate its side effects.
This briefing is an extended version from the article nZEB 2.0: interactive players in an evolving energy system, as published in May in the REHVA European HVAC Journal Issue 2016-03, from page 52.