What opportunities do waste heat, wastewater and environmental energy offer for saving energy and reducing CO2? A seminar at the aquatherm Campus in Attendorn, South Westphalia, dealt with this question.
Around 60 guests learned on site from five speakers how buildings and neighbourhoods can be operated sustainably. Numerous other members of the audience joined the event digitally. The Weidemann planning office, Prior1 GmbH, BE-Cologne - Building Equipment, Helmut UHRIG Straßen- und Tiefbau GmbH and aquatherm GmbH had invited to the seminar.
It started with Tobias van der Heydt, Managing Director of Prior1 GmbH, which specialises in the planning, construction and equipment of data centres and server rooms. He spoke about how modern data centres can contribute to climate protection. Because: The waste heat that is generated in data centres can be used for local heat supply. Either in the building itself, for example in the administration wing, or through heat networks for adjacent buildings or neighbourhoods.
Hans Joachim Schmidt from Helmut Uhrig Straßen- und Tiefbau GmbH dealt with energy from wastewater in his presentation. The company has developed a product that is used in sewage pipes. The principle: wastewater flows through a heat exchanger system that continuously supplies thermal energy in conjunction with a heat pump - without affecting the operation of the sewer.
Individual solutions instead of pigeonhole thinking
Frank Euteneuer, Managing Director of Metternich Haustechnik GmbH, reported on a system consisting of ice energy storage, solar-air collectors, heat pump and hydraulic modules for hybrid source systems. These modules are prefabricated by BE-Cologne, a subsidiary of Metternich Haustechnik, and offered ready-to-install for various system sizes. The overall system is currently one of the most energy-saving and sustainable options for heating and cooling buildings.
Malte Weidemann from the Weidemann planning office addressed the use of waste heat from the point of view of the technical building services planner. In his view, this has considerable potential. He presented examples with ice/earth energy storage, heat pumps and heat networks and pleaded for individual solutions instead of a pigeonhole approach.
As the last speaker of the event, aquatherm Managing Director Dirk Rosenberg showed sustainable product and solution approaches of plastic piping systems. Among other things, he addressed local and district heating networks, sustainable heating and cooling via surface systems and the cooling of photovoltaic systems to increase efficiency and simultaneously use the waste heat for heating.
The presentations met with lively interest and led to an intensive dialogue between the participants of the event and the speakers. Afterwards there was time for a joint exchange