July 1st 2009 to February 28th 2011
Executive summary
Using current weather information to control heating and air conditioning in buildings has become a standard procedure in building services engineering. However, only a few facilities use weather forecasts for controlling the indoor climate, even though it can optimize energy efficiency and consequently save energy within existing systems.
Together with the Austrian Institute of Technology, UBIMET analyzed the basic potential for saving energy in commercial buildings by including weather forecasts as a variable. The scale of savings potential such as saved energy, cost, and CO2 equivalent was also estimated. For its investigation, AIT carried out thermodynamic building simulations for a test building in different regions of Austria. Index numbers were derived from these results, quantifying the significance of the factors in terms of energy savings potential.
Project partners
- Austrian Institute of Technology, Energy Department – Sustainable Building Technologies
- ee-consult Ing. Emanuel Gstach
Project funding
Federal Ministry of Traffic, Innovation, and Technology, House of the Future Plus program
