EnergyFlexHouse – Energy Neutral Concept House to Test Solar Collectors and District Heating

Denmark is set on becoming 100% independent of fossil fuels. This is an inspiring challenge, which can be met through the development and beneficial application of energy-efficient and sustainable technologies, expresses the Danish Technological Institute (DTI) on their web pages.

This article comes from the RELaTED website and was previously published on Inaventa Solar website.

DTI is the responsible developer of the energy-neutral concept house EnergyFlexHouse, which is a part of the “Green Lab for Energy Efficient Buildings” (GLEEB).  This has been established to evaluate and verify innovative solutions, for both energy efficiency cost-effective technologies and intelligent interfaces between the users, the equipment and the building itself.  The last piece of this puzzle is the installation of Inaventa Solar’s solar collectors. These are integrated into the building on the southern facade and will be connected to a district heating network.

EnergyFlexHouse is located in Tåstrup right outside of Copenhagen, Denmark. It consists of two identical buildings, where the building envelope and installations can be continuously changed. One of the houses is used as a resident for an average Danish family and is set up as a test arena for energy-efficient systems, control systems and user interfaces.

The other house is a test laboratory, where new technology is developed and evaluated.  Building envelope elements, energy installations and control systems are evaluated through concurrent operation, to establish new expertise and process documentation. Externally, the building appears to be a finished house, but on the inside, all installations are exposed to the researchers and visitors alike. This research platform consists of more than 700 measurement points for analysis of energy consumption, efficiency, operational conditions and overall function.

Inaventa Solar’s building-integrated solar collectors are installed in the laboratory building, and the energy produced here is being delivered into a low-temperature district heating network.

Inaventa Solar’s building-integrated solar collectors are installed in the laboratory building, and the energy produced here is being delivered into a low-temperature district heating network. The energy provision is continuously being monitored. The installation is a demonstration facility, under the EU Commission’s Horizon 2020 project RELaTED, and is founded on technology concepts developed within this project.  Both DTI and Inaventa Solar are partners in RELaTED, where the main focus is innovative solutions for heat delivery from renewable energy sources and technologies into low-temperature district heating networks.

The application of solar energy has a central position, in particular for distributed energy production where the heat is produced on-site at the end customer, and not in large collector farms. Solar collectors integrated into the buildings where the energy is applied, saves large real estate areas. Low-temperature district heating networks have been chosen since it facilitates utilization of excess heat and renewable heat sources. The goal is to reduce the operational cost associated with energy loss and at the same time make the systems “greener” without large investments.

The goal is to reduce the operational cost associated with energy loss and at the same time make the systems “greener” without large investments.

EnergyFlexHouse has evolved into an important resource for the building sector since the houses were established in 2009, both in comparison to project scope and development tasks. The building industry is an active user, and there is strong cooperation with leading companies within both the building sector and the energy sector.  From Inaventa Solar, we are honoured that our solar collectors have been chosen for this, and we are looking forward to the test reports. Since the solar collectors of Inaventa Solar are specifically designed for building integration, the cooperation between the building industry and Inaventa Solar is absolutely crucial.

EnergyFlexHouse was designed by the company Henning Larsen Architects. Together with DTI and the engineering company Buro Happold, a multi-functional development and demonstration facility has been established as a practical framework for innovation processes and creative conceptual development, to facilitate product establishment and contribute to market adoption.