Newsletter
september 2015
Welcome to iNSPiRe!
W
elcome to the sixth newsletter
from iNSPiRe. In this newsletter
we have updates from iNSPiRe
partners on work now taking place
on the validation of the retrofit kits at the three
demonstration sites as well as the progress being
made with the extensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).
Meanwhile, we also report on the exciting development
of the iNSPiRe database, the first iteration of which is
now available on the project website.
iNSPiRe partners have been busy communicating the
project’s progress and successes over the past six
months, delivering presentations and promoting the
work they have been doing in the retrofit market. We
report on one important day of iNSPiRe presentations
that took place in Brussels in June and bring you news
of some of the forthcoming events that iNSPiRe will be
attending over the next few months.
Watch iNSPiRe online in the second film that highlights how the project is now moving into the next
phase by developing the business case and route
to market for the innovations
Finally we have news of the latest iNSPiRe film,
currently in production, which includes interviews
with some of the key partners and will be available
to view in October this year.
Don’t forget to follow us on twitter @iNSPiReFP7
and get in touch via our website.
.
Links to the stories
1. Welcome to iNSPiRe!
2. The integration of solar collectors into the
wooden façade
3. Wooden Frame Enveloped with a Heat
Recovery Ventilation and active heating
4. Ingenious Energy Hub fitted for testing
5. iNSPiRe’s Renovation Packages provide
the holistic solution
6. iNSPiRe’s unique energy efficiency
prediction tool
7. iNSPiRe presents at the ACE Energy Day
in Brussels
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Programme for research, technological development and
demonstration under GA n° 314461. The European Union is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained
in this document which is merely representing the authors view.
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2. The integration of solar collectors into the wooden façade
One of the key objectives of iNSPiRe is the development and
demonstration of pre-fabricated wooden façades that optimize
the integration of energy-saving technology, including heat
pumps and solar collectors.
The work on the solar collectors, which will be demonstrated at
the iNSPiRe site in Ludwigsburg by industrial partners Gumpp &
Maier and Vaillant, has five clear objectives:
• To improve the architectural aesthetic of the integration by
creating flat surfaces, which are also water tight
• To optimize cost savings by including insulation in the
collector installation, reducing its frame size and simplifying
the way it connects to the façade
• To reduce costs further by using a common solution for
integrating both PV and ST roof and façade applications, by
making them simpler to manufacture off site.
• To improve the thermal performance of the timber envelope
by reducing losses in winter.
• To simplify the maintenance and replacement of the units
Project partner G&M report work has now started on the
prefabrication of the timber elements for iNSPiRe’s demo
building in Ludwigsburg. This picture shows the wall to the
ground floor that will form the west gable
There are, of course, PV and ST systems already on
the market, some that integrate the units on to the
façade – roof and wall. With the most common on-roof
applications, aesthetics are poor, they are generally
uneconomic and require separate insulation panels and it
is not possible to pre-fabricate the roof with them in place
as they cannot be fully integrated.
In-envelope systems do exists, but again, the aesthetics
are generally poor as the units are raised from the wall
or roof and they are expensive and require separate
insulation. They can, however, be pre-fabricated into the
façade, while replacement is relatively cheap as well.
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Mock up and demo
The iNSPiRe solution developed by
Gumpp&Maier and Vaillant uses both
PV and ST units directly integrated on to
the timber element using the insulation
of that element. The unit is integrated to
a cladding system. The PV and ST panels
are well ventilated through a 45mm
profile. The units are fixed to the timber
using a lateral timber fixing system
and the joints are filled with standard
structural glazing systems.
This system addresses all the issues faced by
current systems, while meeting the project’s objectives
for aesthetic quality, cost savings, energy efficiency gains
and ease of construction, maintenance and replacement.
Fully-integrated collectors available on the market are more
aesthetically pleasing and do become more economic as they
can act as cladding and insulation, but current systems cannot
be pre-fabricated, are difficult to maintain, repair and replace
and are not water tight unless a sealing layer is added.
The testing of this approach has been designed to evaluate
fabrication, measure humidity behind the collector, measure
the temperature of the layers, both behind the PV and ST
units and on the internal surfaces and to validate the system
in line with the objectives.
Idea
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3. Wooden Frame Enveloped with a Heat Recovery Ventilation and active heating
For energy retrofitting, a heat recovery ventilation
(HRV) system and efficient heating are a must. They
strongly improve energy efficiency, assure a healthy
indoor environment and keep the building fabric in
good condition. Installing these systems inside inhabited
dwellings cause a lot of disturbance for the residents and
increases costs dramatically.
into the wooden frame envelope that incorporates a micro
heat recovery and ventilation system.
Distributing ventilation, heating and cooling in the house
through a centralized aeraulic system also poses a
number of technical problems such as thermal losses, fire
safety issues and high installation and maintenance costs.
That is particularly true in case of renovations, when
major construction works are needed to prepare the
installation of the system.
Outlets and inlets can be integrated through the
prefabricated window reveals, minimizing the work
needed inside the house, thus reducing the disturbance
for the residents.
iNSPiRe seeks to address these technical problems and save
significant costs by integrating an air-to-air micro heat pump
All the ductwork and components of the HRV systems are
integrated into the timber envelope off site while the HRV
unit is integrated with the heat pump, for the most efficient
heating and ventilation performance and energy efficiency.
By installing this decentralized system thermal losses are
reduced to nearly zero, and fire safety requirements are
reduced. This kit also ensures the parts that have to be
maintained are easily accessible, thus reducing maintenance
costs throughout the lifespan of the system.
The diagram illustrates how this kit works.
1. O
utside air is driven through the ducts integrated into the
façade. A silencer and a filter is fitted to the to the MVHR and
µHP unit.
2. T
he outside air is preheated in the heat exchanger and
further heated if required with the
heat pump. It is distributed around
the house through ducts.
The kit is currently being demonstrated at the iNSPiRe test
building in Ludwigsburg, Germany, while testing of the micro
heat pump also took place at the University of Innsbruck here
measurements were taken in a specially developed acoustic
test rig.
3. W
arm extracted air is driven through
the heat exchanger where it preheats
the incoming cool air.
4. T
he remaining energy of the exhaust
air is used as a source for the Micro-HP
and is then driven through the silencer
to the outside.
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The renovation process taking place in Ludwigsburg with the wooden facade
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4. Ingenious Energy Hub fitted for testing
The energy hub being constructed and fitted in a test building at Tosoni in Verona.
One of the greatest opportunities we have to reduce the
harmful impact our buildings have on the environment is
to enable them to use more renewable energy sources.
But integrating heating and cooling plants that exploit
renewable sources is a complex task, both in terms of
their hydraulic capacity and in terms of the systems that
control the distribution of heat and cooling around the
building. This complexity often discourages engineers to
fit systems that integrate renewable energy, while it also
adds to the cost of installation and maintenance.
iNSPiRe is addressing these obstacles with an ingenious,
standardised hydronic unit it calls the Energy Hub. This
is now being demonstrated and validated by iNSPiRe
partner Gruppo Industriale Tosoni at their factory site in
Verona, Italy.
The new hydronic module is standardised, pre-plumbed
and pre-wired to reduce installation costs, but flexible
enough for integration into virtually all water-based
heating and cooling systems’ configuration. The energy
hub also includes smart electronics, which allows for the
easy control and monitoring of energy fluxes.
The advantage of this kit is that heating and cooling
systems and their controls can be factory fitted meaning
that all installation and control complexity is easily solved
at factory level, during design phase. Meanwhile, reliability
is also enhanced due to the plug and play nature of the
energy hub and installation costs are reduced.
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5. iNSPiRe’s Renovation Packages provide the holistic solution
Not only is iNSPiRe aiming to deliver impressive cuts
in the amount of energy being used by Europe’s older
buildings, but the project also aims to demonstrate that
building renovation can be a lot cheaper and easier
than it is now, while also showing that the impacts the
solutions have are more measurable, meaning building
owners are able to calculate their return on investment
– one of the most important motivating factors when
investing in building renovation.
So how has iNSPiRe approached these aims –
and how will the project demonstrate how its
solutions will deliver?
“Holistic” is how project coordinator Roberto
Fedrizzi would describe the approach – in other
words by developing retrofit solutions that
systematically meet the multiple demands of
Europe’s millions of buildings.
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“We have developed a series of systemic renovation
packages for residential and office buildings. Each
package includes energy-saving measures, addressing
envelope, energy generation and distribution systems.
“So the packages are essentially a way of optimizing
how energy saving products are integrated into old
buildings, while they have also been designed to suit
the many varieties of climates and building types we
have in Europe.
“We have now begun the process of testing all these
solutions in real conditions on real buildings and we
have also developed a database of solutions that can
be used to assess what package should be used to
maximise the impact it would have on any particular
type of building in any particular climate. See (link to
database story)
“Building owners, architects and construction
companies are now able to assess what package
will deliver the savings they need on their particular
building using iNSPiRe’s database and prediction tool.
“We are not only elaborating on the most suitable
packages; we have also been developing technologies
allowing the packages to be set up with the minimum of
disruption for building occupants – the residents won’t
even have to leave the building while the work takes
place around them.”
6. iNSPiRe’s unique energy efficiency prediction tool
One of the primary objectives of the iNSPiRe project is to
develop a tool that predicts the energy and cost saving
impacts of various systemic retrofit interventions. This tool
will be available for all those involved in the renovation of
older buildings to use as a means of selecting which retrofit
package will deliver the greatest costs savings and most
improved energy efficiencies.
The project has now produced three, easy-to-use databases
that provide valuable information about the energy
performance of a variety of buildings in different climates,
based on different energy requirements.
Based on existing literature of energy use in a variety of
European buildings and simulation data based on iNSPiRe
reference buildings, the Building Stock Statistics database
and the Reference Building Simulation database provide
essential data for those looking to understand how different
types of buildings in various climatic conditions and with
particular energy standards consume their energy to date.
As well as these two data tools, however, iNSPiRe has also
developed an energy prediction tool. Starting from its
reference buildings, the project has elaborated systemic
“The project has now produced
three, easy-to-use databases that
provide valuable information
about the energy performance of
a variety of buildings”
retrofit measures to reduce the energy use for heating,
cooling and domestic hot water from what the buildings
use now to specific, desired levels. The results of a
massive simulation campaign have then been included
to form a Systemic Retrofit Packages database and it is
this that can be used to predict energy and cost savings in
relation to the installation of any number of retrofit kits.
This means that anyone involved in the renovation
process will be able to simply assess the impact any
particular renovation component will have on the
particular building they are looking to renovate in terms
of energy use, emissions and costs. This will enable
smart decision-making, based on real-life information.
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BUILDING STOCK STATISTICS
This is the most simple of the three iNSPiRe databases and
it is based on figures available in reviewed literature. The
database shows publically available literature for each EU
country’s energy use.
unjustified simulation effort. Data that is provided per
climatic region, has used the most populated country as
representative of the entire region’s climate. In particular,
Rome, Madrid, Lyon, Stuttgart, London, Gdansk and
Stockholm have been used as exemplary climates.
For ease of use, Europe is divided into seven climate regions,
grouped together based on how many days of the year
each requires heating, known as heating degree days (HDD),
the latter parameter varying from about 500 to 2,500. Each
climate region contains one of the seven most populated
countries in Europe (Italy, Spain, France, Germany, UK,
Poland and Sweden) and these countries are home to 80
per cent of Europe’s total population.
The building typology in this database reflects the diversity
of iNSPiRe’s reference buildings, so displays a variety of
buildings, from single family homes to large multi-family
homes, as well as a several types of office buildings. All
buildings are also categorized by age, from those built
before 1945, between 1945 and 1970, 1970-1980, 19801990, 1990-2000 and those built after 2000.
The database also shows each country’s population, its
total available floor space and floor space being heated
and/or cooled.
This is a simple look-up table – a tool devised to compare
existing data. By selecting climate type, country, type of
building and the type of energy used, you are able to
see the average energy used and consumed for heating,
cooling, domestic hot water and lighting in the selected
country or climatic region of Europe for both residential or
office buildings. In addition to energy use, the number of
literature references available and actually used (because
they were believed to be reliable), as well as the standard
deviation of the used data points are also reported for
statistical purposes.
By using the filters you can select one or more of the types
of energy so comparisons can also be made between
selected countries and/or climatic regions.
REFERENCE BUILDING SIMULATIONS database
This is based on data generated from simulations on
iNSPiRe’s selected reference buildings, representing the
large majority of the EU’s building stock. These data sets
complement the gaps in the Building Stock Statistics and
provide a further means to prove the reliability (or not) of
the information available in existing literature.
As with the Building Stock Statistics database, this database
also divides Europe into seven climate regions. Country
data was not included since this would have required an
“iNSPiRe has generated a vast
amount of data of the energy
performance a variety of retrofit
technologies have on iNSPiRe’s
selected reference buildings”
This is a more complex database, with a greater variety of
selections available for climate type, type of building, age
of the building, preferred temperature, and heating or
cooling. You can select more than one of each category if
comparisons are to be made. After the selection is made,
you are able to discover:
• W
hat share of the total building stock in your selected
climatic region your selected building type, or its age,
makes up.
• The energy demand and consumption for the heating or
cooling of your selection
• How much primary energy is consumed and CO2 is
produced in providing this heating or cooling requirement.
Systemic Retrofit Packages database – iNSPiRe’s unique
retrofit prediction tool
iNSPiRe has generated a vast amount of data of the
energy performance a variety of retrofit technologies
have on iNSPiRe’s selected reference buildings. This data
tells us how specific retrofit packages impact on specific
reference buildings.s
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september 2015
worksheet. In particular LCA and cost data
are calculated in this way.
A clear understanding of the needs for and
effects of decisions taken during retrofit
design is highlighted in this database.
Simply select climate type, type of building,
age of the building, preferred indoor air
temperature, desired heating demand
and heating & cooling generation and
distribution parameters. You can select
more than one of each category if
comparisons are to be made. This will
provide you with the following information:
As in the previous cases, data is provided per climatic region,
each region being represented by the climates of Rome,
Madrid, Lyon, Stuttgart, London, Gdansk and Stockholm.
•
•
In addition to climate, building type and age of
construction, users can also select a number of retrofit
parameters, such as:
•
•
• W
ished-for heating demand after retrofit, which
determines the quality of the insulation and new windows
• Type of heating and cooling generation system
• Set temperatures of the indoor air
• Type and temperatures of the heating and cooling
distribution systems
• Size and position of the solar thermal collectors and PV
panels.
Again the solutions are predetermined through simulations.
However, some results are calculated based on the energy
performance and on the values provided in the input
•
•
•
•
• T
he main features of the retrofit
solutions in terms of thermal insulation
thickness, windows effectiveness,
heating and cooling system thermal
power, ventilation rate and distribution
system size
• R
eference building’s demand for
heating, cooling and DHW before and
after retrofit
Reference building’s final energy and primary energy
use for heating, cooling, DHW and ventilation after
retrofit
F
ractions of renewable energies employed for heating,
cooling, DHW and ventilation after retrofit
S
easonal Performance Factor and Primary Energy Ratio
for heating, cooling, DHW and ventilation after retrofit
U
tility bills for heating, cooling, DHW and ventilation
after retrofit
P
enalized final energy use in case the comfort
requirements are not met
Solar thermal and PV fields specific parameters
LCA study
Investment and running costs analysis.
This is a unique tool on the retrofit market and iNSPiRe
will be developing the user interface further over the
coming months to make it easier to use. The development
of a simple APP is also being planned and it will be made
available on the market by the end of the project in 2017.
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7. iNSPiRe presents at the ACE Energy Day in Brussels
to develop energy renovation ‘kits’ tailored to each
construction period, climatic zone and building type,
‘plug-and-play’ manufactured modular components and
systems fully integrated with advanced 3D surveying
techniques, and innovative insulation materials.”
The European Union held a Sustainable Energy Week
(EUSEW) in Brussels in June this year. The week-long series
of seminars, presentations, meetings and exhibitions
focused on Europe’s low-carbon future, decentralised
energy, smart-energy solutions, sustainable mobility,
renewables, smart cities, energy efficiency, energy-intensive
sectors, the Energy Union, energy democratisation and
many other energy-related hot topics.
This year’s event also focused on the role of responsible
consumers in the new Energy Union and driving the EU
towards its sustainable energy goals in areas such as
energy efficiency, renewables or greenhouse gas emissions.
A key part of the EU’s strategy is the renovation of older
buildings, using innovative and energy efficient retrofitting
solutions. In a recent report called Energy Renovation:
The Trump Card for the New Start for Europe, the JRC
provided a detailed overview of how transforming
Europe’s building stock will dramatically reduce the
energy we consume and the green house gases we
produce. The report went further in describing the
renovation of older buildings as not only instrumental in
reaching energy targets, but also in creating economic
growth and jobs.
“Energy renovation will stimulate a new wave of
technological innovation,” the report concluded. “To
reduce the cost of deep renovation, there is a need
With building renovation so key to the EU’s energy
strategy, a series of Energy Days were organised over the
EUSEW across Europe, with hundreds of sessions taking
place that promoted secure, clean and efficient energy.
iNSPiRe partner The Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE)
hosted one of these days, in which three FP7 EEB projects
took part, including iNSPiRe, alongside LEEMA and
A2PBEER. The event provided visitors with the opportunity
to find out more about iNSPiRe’s exciting retrofitting
innovations and catch up with the latest developments.
iNSPiRe took part in three sessions throughout the day.
The first focused on façade retrofitting solutions with a
presentation by Sebastian Hernandez of iNSPiRe partner
Gumpp & Maier. He talked about the project’s work on its
timber-frame retrofitting solution with integrated pipes and
decentralised ventilation as well as a centralised system for
heating and domestic hot water using a micro heat pump.
This package is currently being fitted by the iNSPiRe project
at a multi-family house in Ludwigsburg, Germany.
The third session gave Wilfreid Pohl of iNSPiRe partner
Bartenbach the chance to speak about integrated lighting
solutions and ceiling panels and the lighting innovations
that can dramatically reduce energy use in many types
of buildings. He spoke about the project’s pre-fabricated
ceiling panels and integrated LED systems.
Wilfreid Pohl of Bartenback speaks in Brussels
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