Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPTResearch Project "BIG"
(off.: Bedarfsabhängige und innovative Gebäudeautomation in Produktionsstätten)
Due to constantly rising prices, energy consumption is a considerable cost factor in every production plant - lighting, heating and air conditioning contribute significantly to this. Current building automation systems, however, are only based on target values. This ensures appropriate working conditions, but there is no demand-oriented control.
The research project »BIG« aims at reducing the energy demand of support processes of manufacturing companies by coupling production planning and control, weather forecasts and building automation. Studies forecast savings of 30 to 40 percent in peripheral energy costs when the above parameters are combined.
Special features compared to the state of the art
Germany-wide there are more than 50 companies offering systems and/or hardware components for building or home automation. However, these are limited to private houses and thus the classic HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) parameters. Solutions for production companies and their individual requirements, possibilities and boundary conditions do not exist on the market at present.
There are a large number of patents for building automation, which deal with temperature control, ventilation or lighting in isolation. In addition, there are patents for predictive control after occupancy and for adaptation to weather forecasts, which, however, do not focus on the individual requirements of production and, furthermore, only offer isolated solutions instead of an integrated concept.
Contribution of the project to sustainability, energy efficiency and climate protection
The project »BIG« is intended to make an important contribution to energy system transformation and the achievement of climate targets by means of an integrated concept: Above all, the networking of different building technologies as well as coupling energy production and energy use is expected to lead to considerable savings compared to previous approaches which considered the energy consumption individually and in isolation. The claim to develop a manufacturer-independent solution holds a high innovation potential and many advantages in terms of flexibility and cost-effectiveness.
Since different approaches to energy saving are not considered individually as in the past, the product offers a high degree of innovation and a clear competitive advantage for users. The application of the software leads to savings in energy costs, which in turn leads to an increase in the added value of the products.
Importance of the project result for manufacturing companies
The development of such a building automation system means a first-time integration of all possible applications in this field. The use of information from other systems and hardware control tailored to these systems contributes to energy savings with increasing control performance, taking into account the new possibilities of building automation. From now on the transfer to the peripheral areas of the production under recourse to the production planning is possible.
Various studies assume a high savings potential through intelligent building automation: In the manufacturing industry, for example, 17 percent of final energy consumption is caused by room heating and lighting. For an exemplary, medium-sized production company in Germany, this results in costs of around €700,000 per year for space heating and €150,000 per year for lighting. This results in annual savings potentials of around €280,000 to €340,000.
The combination of individual automation functions targeted by »BIG« enables further savings of 33 to 40 percent compared to their isolated use. According to studies, a combination of daylight utilization, presence control, occupancy planning and load shedding can also be expected to save up to 40 percent of electrical energy in lighting.
Project Consortium
SYS.TEC Gebäudeautomation GmbH & Co. KG (Consortium leader)
Georg Frühauf
Max-Eyth-Strasse 38
71088 Holzgerlingen
Phone +49 7031 416178-1
g.fruehauf@sys-tec.info
www.sys-tec.info
Climate & Environment Consulting Potsdam GmbH
Arne Spekat
David-Gilly-Str. 1
14469 Potsdam
Phone +49 331 7452301
arne.spekat@cec-potsdam.de
www.cec-potsdam.de
Fraunhofer-Institut für Produktionstechnologie IPT
Beiyan Zhou
Steinbachstraße 17
52074 Aachen
Phone +49 241 8904-429
beiyan.zhou@ipt.fraunhofer.de
www.ipt.fraunhofer.de
J. Schlenter Production GmbH
Gerhard Wiemers
Oligsbendengasse 20
52070 Aachen
Phone +49 241 505100
gerhard.wiemers@schlenter.com
www.schlenter.com