Press release

In spring and autumn in particular, there are many short periods of fluctuating temperatures caused by alternating warm and cold days. Inside a building, the effect of such temperature fluctuations is felt with a significant time lag. Quite often, enough heat is stored in building components and fixtures for a while; there is still plenty of waste heat or solar energy influx. Researchers have developed a new concept for a heating control system with integrated weather data, which is currently being tested in three administrative buildings. The BINE Projektinfo brochure “When weather forecasts control the heating” (14/2011) introduces the system, the demonstration buildings and initial results.

Heat generated by the heating system should be more closely based on actual requirement. Until now, heating control systems have been based on specific time frames and rigid heating characteristic curves together with external temperature sensors. The new control concept combines a thermodynamic computer model with local weather forecast data. The computer model takes information into account concerned with the type of use, building physics, ventilation behaviour and the occupants’ desired temperature. These data are combined with data from the nearest weather station, and every six hours the supply temperature of the heating system is determined for the next three days through simulation and then automatically transmitted to the control module. Practical trials are currently underway in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the buildings of Landesbetrieb Straßenbau NRW in Gelsenkirchen, the NRW Ministry of Construction and Transport in Düsseldorf and the new Inland Revenue centre in Aachen.

Initial results confirm that the new system delivers greater convenience and saves energy. The control system is currently being developed further to meet the needs of small and large residential buildings.