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Sustainable energy management for a green future

09 June 2020

In its "Savings Plan for the Energy Transition", the Federal Government emphasizes the special importance of the topic of energy efficiency for achieving the desired climate protection goals: "The cheapest and most climate-friendly kilowatt-hour is the one you don't use." However, in order to succeed in the energy transition, the existing potential for energy efficiency must be exploited even more than before, especially in the building sector.

The goal is ambitious: By 2050, primary energy consumption in the building stock is expected to fall by 80 percent compared to 2008. The central factor for this is sustainable and holistic energy management, which efficiently combines the climate objectives and customer needs, especially in relation to complex buildings.

Energy management and energy efficiency

The term energy management in general refers to the combination of measures and strategies for the most efficient procurement, distribution and use of energy. The main aim of energy management in buildings is to optimize the provision and consumption of energy and the associated costs, without compromising customer requirements or plant availability. A corresponding energy management system makes a significant contribution

  • to reduce operating costs
  • to reduce CO2 emissions and protect the environment
  • to raise awareness of employees about their energy consumption
  • to improve corporate image
  • in order to benefit from state subsidies and tax advantages
     

State-sponsored energy efficiency

In order to achieve the objective of a building stock that is as climate-neutral as possible, the policy promotes various measures to increase energy efficiency. For example, the State grants tax relief to companies that continuously increase their energy efficiency.

However, the requirements and regulations have increased considerably in complexity in recent years. For example, all companies with an energy management system according to ISO 50001 have been tested in accordance with the new international accreditation standard ISO 50003 since autumn 2017. For operators, this means that for the first time they have to demonstrate a continuous improvement in their energy-related performance (energy use, efficiency and consumption) in concrete terms in order to benefit from the tax advantages.

Interview with Martin Büchner, Mayor of Oberhausen-Rheinhausen

Why did the municipality of Oberhausen-Rheinhausen opt for energy-saving contracting with ENGIE Deutschland? And how are the measures at the school going at the moment? We spoke about this with Martin Büchner, Mayor of Oberhausen-Rheinhausen.

In conversation: Interview with Martin Büchner

The need for action was great: Problems with the boiler and the existing technology regularly occurred. For this reason, we started urgent planning in order both to renew the heating system and to carry out further extensive renovation work in the school, in the sports hall and in the swimming pool.

Martin Büchner

First of all, we commissioned an expert report on various heating options in order to identify possible energy savings. However, this had already been preceded by preliminary investigations as to the basic possibilities available.

A very important advantage of energy-saving contracting for the municipality of Oberhausen-Rheinhausen is that the entire construction project is carried out by one company – namely ENGIE Deutschland. What is even more important for us, however, is that this is not only planned and built, but ultimately also operated at our own responsibility. This ensures that the intended savings can actually be generated. And finally, the price for the entire construction project is already fixed at the beginning. This is a significant advantage given the currently rising building prices and it creates planning security.

First of all, inquire about the possibilities and the advantages of energy-saving contracting – I would recommend this to everyone.

The cooperation with ENGIE is reliable, structured and solution oriented. Therefore, I am pleased when our school, the sports hall and the swimming pool will soon be up to the latest technical standards.

Individual tailored energy management required

On the part of building owners and operators of buildings, the issue of energy efficiency plays a certain role, but its focus is usually on the intended benefits to be gained from the building and the investment costs. "Comfort and performance as well as sustainability of a building often appear as a contradiction," explains Manfred Schmitz, CEO of ENGIE Deutschland.

In addition, buildings differ greatly in their use and require tailored concepts and solutions. Accordingly, sustainable energy management must not only be pioneering in terms of energy efficiency, but also be tailored to the individual needs of the customer. How climate goals and customer needs can be advantageously combined can be illustrated by three current building projects.

BITZER Group headquarters in Sindelfingen

In Sindelfingen, ENGIE is responsible for the technical building equipment of the new Group headquarters of BITZER, a specialist for refrigerant compressors. During the construction, it was not only necessary to implement particularly high demands on the architecture and the design of the 17-story office tower. The building also fulfills the strictest criteria in terms of energy standards, for example by means of the highly efficient operation of the various plants. "On site, we have specifically configured the heat and cold generators as well as the air conditioning and partial air conditioning systems," explains Bernhard Maurer from the ENGIE branch office in Munich. "For example, a complex multi-circuit composite system (MKVS) is used, in which the refrigerators and heat pumps are integrated via hydraulic modules," says Maurer.

University Hospital Bonn

Unlike the BITZER Group headquarters, the University Hospital in Bonn clearly focuses on availability. Since March 2017, ENGIE has been achieving significant savings in this area in the context of energy management with the highest possible operational reliability. In addition, a reliable power supply for the trouble-free function of the sensitive medical devices is ensured. The Uniklinik benefits from annual savings in the range of 2.7 million euros via energy-saving contracting. This corresponds to one third of the current energy costs. The savings are made possible, for example, by the new installation of three combined heat and power unit units or the intelligent control of the technical building systems in accordance with the specific utilization requirements.

Dynamic Data Center T-Systems in Biere

The dynamic data center of T-Systems International GmbH in Biere also requires maximum energy efficiency and operational reliability. Since its completion in early summer 2018, the largest and most modern cloud data center in Germany has been located here in Saxony-Anhalt. ENGIE took over the planning and development of the complete technical building equipment, including the entire electrical and safety technology as well as the building automation. As a low-energy data center, the system sets new standards in energy efficiency.

For example, the innovative on-site energy management ensures that at least 85 percent of the energy used can always flow into the computing infrastructure. In older IT centers, however, nearly half of the total energy consumption is not available for computing power. A significant contribution to building efficiency is made by the hydraulic balancing of the large-scale refrigeration by measurement, control and control technology, which is precisely tailored to the changing load requirements during the operating time of the data center.

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Our Expert

Steffen Haller
Steffen Haller is Head of the Energy Efficiency division at ENGIE. As an expert, he deals with the analysis, planning and implementation of energy efficiency measures.

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