The use of heat pumps in buildings is one of the best and often the only option for the decarbonization of the building stock. District heating seems a promising solution in urban areas and in existing buildings when the use of heat pumps is restricted and also technically and economically challenging (source exploitation, space restrictions, sound emissions, etc.). Heat pumps can be integrated in various ways in buildings and district heating systems: large central high-temperature heat pumps in district heating, medium-size heat pumps block- or building-wise or small heat pumps decentral apartment-wise. The best option depends on the individual district heating CO₂ emissions and the electricity mix as well as on the perspective of the building owner versus that one of the district heating system and its future development. Austrian examples of district heating systems and different variants of integrating heat pumps are investigated in a comprehensive way by means of an energetic and environmental simulation-based analysis. This assessment includes a detailed investigation of the capabilities of the booster heat pump to increase the PV own-consumption and is also expanded to include various scenarios for the development of the electricity mix and the decarbonisation of district heating.

The data presented in this article are the results of widespread building simulation tools (i.e. EnergyPlus, TRNSYS, Simulink/CarnotUIBK, Simulink/ALMABuild, IDA ICE, Modelica/Dymola and DALEC) used to simulate a characteristic office cell, described within IEA SHC Task 56 [1], located in Stockholm, Stuttgart and Rome. Hourly data for each component of the thermal balance (i.e. Heating, cooling, infiltration, ventilation, internal gains, solar gains) and the hourly convective and radiative temperatures are reported for all the tools along with the ambient temperature and solar irradiation on the south façade. The mainly used statistical indices (i.e. Mean Bias Error, Mean Absolute Error, Root Mean Square Error and coefficient of determination) are applied to evaluate the accuracy of the tools. For more insight and interpretation of the results, please see “Detailed Cross Comparison of Building Energy Simulation Tools Results using a reference office building as a case study” [2]. This data set and evaluation methods are made available to ease the cross-validation process for other researchers.

Positive energy districts (PEDs) are a vision to enable and foster the energy transition in the building sector. The integration of heat pumps (HP) in buildings and districts to achieve a net positive energy balance is crucial. The efficiency of the electric and thermal energy system of districts can be improved with the use of HPs. This refers to both, the upgrade of waste heat and benefiting from simultaneous use and generation of energy in buildings at different temperature levels (space heating, DHW, space cooling/dehumidification) and includes self-consumption of on-site renewable electricity generation. Using the example of the new district Innsbruck Campagne, HP integration options as well as photovoltaic (PV) integration potentials are evaluated with respect to reaching a positive energy balance. Both simulation results as well as monitoring results are presented. The importance of very high building efficiency standards as well as well-designed and dimensioned systems to achieve a positive energy balance and to reduce the so-called winter gap is highlighted.

BCBoundary ConditionsDHDistrict HeatingDHWDomestic Hot WaterHPHeat pumpHVACHeating, Ventilation and Air ConditioningKPIKey Performances IndicatorMABMulti-Apartment BuildingMTZMulti-Thermal ZoneNSBN...