The Renewable Energy House

Europes headquarters for

renewable energy

100% renewable
energy supply for
heating, cooling
& electricity in a
monument-protected
building in the heart
of Brussels

Lessons learned
from the first
Renewable
Energy House
100% renewable
energy supply for
heating, cooling
& electricity in a
monument-protected
building in the heart
of Brussels

Lessons learned
after 4 years of
operation

A Success Story
Table
of contents
2

A Success Story

The Concept

The Renewable
Energy House
Project

4-5

The Renewable
Energy House
Concept

6-7

Heating and
Cooling System

Solar Thermal

Biomass

10

Geothermal

11

PV Technologies

12

RES Electricity

12-13

From the
Example to
its Replication

13

14-15

16

Guided Tours
of the Renewable
Energy House
New Energy
for Old Buildings New4Old Project
The Renewable
Energy House Main Facts

n 2000, several European renewable energy associations decided to share a common office
building in order to encourage synergies, and thus the Renewable Energy House concept
was born. The number of staff in the house grew rapidly, which led to the original premises
rapidly becoming too small.
In 2005, HRH Prince Laurent of Belgium proposed a challenging project to EREC and its members: to turn a 140 year old neoclassical building into a living renewable energy and energy
efficiency showcase in the heart of Brussels. Thanks to the excellent collaboration between
all parties involved, a concept was developed and subsequently implemented. As a result, in
less than one year a truly spectacular sustainable energy showcase was set up in Brussels,
Rue dArlon 63-65, in the heart of Europes capital. The energy consumption of the building
was reduced by 50% through energy efficiency measures and the remaining needs for heating,
lighting, cooling and ventilation were to be met by 100% renewable energy. The Renewable
Energy House was inaugurated in March 2006, hosting, at the time, 11 associations and their
45 members of staff.
In 2007, following ever increasing activities, EREC in collaboration with GRECT, the Global
Renewable Energy & Conservation Trust, a private foundation created and chaired by HRH
Prince Laurent of Belgium, projected to extend the Renewable Energy House to the adjacent
building, Rue dArlon 67, so as to answer the need for additional office space. A new energy
concept was designed with the support of the European Commissions Intelligent Energy
Europe (IEE) programme (Project New4Old), so as to connect the additional 140 year old
building (#67) to the renewable heating and cooling system implemented for the first two
(#63 and #65), connecting the three townhouses to one system. A series of adaptations
were implemented which continued to develop the concept of 100% renewable energy in an
energy efficient building. The extended Renewable Energy House, now composed of 2.800m2
in total and hosting additional associations, was inaugurated in June 2008. EWEA (European
Wind Energy Association) had to leave the building in 2010 due to its increasing activities and
need for additional office space, opening the doors to new associations to join the renewable
energy hub in Brussels.
The energy systems in the Renewable Energy House must be suited to the dynamic evolution of the building in terms of user numbers and profiles. The number of staff working in
the building has increased substantially, reaching 120 in 2010. The Renewable Energy House
accommodates hundreds of meetings and welcomes thousands of external visitors every year,
generating unexpected heat losses and gains.
Given the dynamic evolution of the building, monitoring campaigns were carried out to ensure
its energy performance and allow for any potential adjustments to be made to specific parts
of the system, with the aim of improving either the comfort of the occupants or the energy
performance of the building.
For four years, the Renewable Energy House has been guaranteeing high levels of comfort to its
users. At the same time, the results of the monitoring campaigns demonstrate the reduced energy
consumption compared to a similar building, in terms of both user and geometric profiles.
The Renewable Energy House is much more than just an office for the leading renewable energy
industry, trade and research associations. It is a showcase on how to integrate energy efficiency
and renewable energy technologies into a historical, listed building. The Renewable Energy House
has already attracted more than 20.000 visitors from all over Europe and across the world wanting
to learn more about energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies.

2 T he R enewable E nerg y H ouse

The Concept
The Renewable Energy House

he Renewable Energy House, an office

building with modern meeting facilities of
approximately 2.800 m2, is the central point
for renewable energy issues in Europes capital
(Brussels), close to the European Institutions,
which allows it to benefit tremendously from
synergies and also allows easy access to information on renewable energy for stakeholders and the
interested public. The associations located in the

Renewable Energy House currently employ more

than 90 staff from 20 different countries.
The Renewable Energy House groups together all
major actors in the field of renewable energy in
Europe, thereby representing one of the fastest
growing economic sectors with an annual turnover
of more than 70 billion , employing more than
550.000 people and supplying 12 % of Europes
current energy demand.

The following associations are located under one roof

in the Renewable Energy House:
EREC & most of its Members
EREC: European Renewable Energy Council
AEBIOM: European Biomass Association
EGEC: European Geothermal Energy Council
EPIA: European Photovoltaic Industry Association
ESHA: European Small Hydropower Association
ESTELA: European Solar Thermal Electricity Association
ESTIF: European Solar Thermal Industry Federation
EUBIA: European Biomass Industry Association
EU-OEA: European Ocean Energy Association
EUREC Agency: European Renewable Energy Centres Agency

Other Associations
ARE: Alliance for Rural Electrification
ECTP-E2BA: European Construction Technology Platform - Energy Efficient Buildings Association
EHPA: European Heat Pump Association
EUFORES: European Forum for Renewable Energy Sources
Greenovate! Europe: The European Experts for Green Innovation
HEA: Hydro Equipment Association
PV Cycle: European Association for the Recovery of Photovoltaic Modules
The Renewable Energy House is a perfect showcase
for the integration of innovative renewable energy
technologies in an old, listed building, which was
refurbished taking into account renewable energy
and energy efficiency considerations.

For the first time in Brussels, a 140 year old building was refurbished so as to minimise its energy
consumption and to explore different methods
for integrating renewable energy technologies,
making it a 100% renewable energy building.

version quadri

version n&b

ESTELA

version n&b pour fax

avec trame 80 max.

The Renewable Energy

House Project

he realisation of this ambitious project

would not have been possible without
the close collaboration of various
stakeholders, all of whom shared a common vision.

The Renewable Energy House renovation

brought together partners from different disciplines in Europe (European renewable energy
association representatives, architects, energy
specialists, renewable energy equipment manufacturers, construction companies, financing
institutions, real estate agents, etc.).

EREC and its members would like to thank

the Technical Advisory Board, which carefully studied the energy
concept and provided important advice on how to optimise the
energy performance of the building.
H
 arald Drck,
Institut fr Thermodynamik und Wrmetechnik (ITW),
University of Stuttgart
H
 ans-Martin Henning,

Fraunhofer-Institut fr Solare Energiesysteme ISE

W
 erner Weiss,

Arge Erneuerbare Energie AEE INTEC

and the Renovation Team that implemented the project

A
 rchitects:

Atelier dArt Urbain (phase 1) - DDS & Partners (phase 2)

Project

Managers:

SODEPI (phase 1) - KCONSULT & FALCO architects (phase 2)

E
 nergy concept:

3E
S
 pecial building techniques:

CREA TEC
G
 eneral contractor:

AMART

4 T he R enewable E nergy H ouse

The Renewable
The energy concept was designed on the one
hand to reduce the annual energy consumption
for heating, ventilation and air conditioning
by 50% compared to a reference building
and, on the other hand, to cover all the needs
for heating and cooling 100% by renewable
energy sources.

ll the measures implemented contribute

to reducing the energy consumption of
the building, with the benefit of increasing comfort for its tenants, and of supplying
renewable energy.
The building was equipped with a series of
energy efficiency technologies (insulation of
the facades and roof, highly efficient double
glazing, high-efficiency lamps, ventilation with
heat recovery).
100% of the buildings heating and cooling
demands are provided by renewable energy sources
(biomass wood pellets, geothermal heating, solar
thermal heating and absorption cooling).
Furthermore, the building features the latest
photovoltaic (PV) technologies (modules, thinfilm, semi-transparent) for the production
of electricity. In addition to this, and thanks
to LAMPIRIS, the Renewable Energy House
receives electricity from other renewable
energy installations in Belgium (wind, biomass
and bio-methane, high-quality co-generation
and small hydropower plants) so that 100%
of the electricity consumption is provided by
renewable energy making the Renewable Energy
House 100% renewable energy based.

Energy House Energy Concept

Insulation of the roof with 15 cm of mineral

wool

S un protective windows for roof glazing

with a solar factor of g=0.35
Efficient mechanical ventilation system

Mechanical ventilation system with a

heat recovery wheel (85 % efficiency) and
ventilation system controls (occupancy
and carbon dioxide sensors)
Highly efficient lighting systems

T5 fluorescent lamps with electronic ballasts and highly efficient reflectors

Renewable Winter Heating Circuit

3 main buildings, Rue dArlon 63-65-67

Wood Pellets
(major energy
source)
Energy
input

Wood Boilers

Storable
Heat

Solar Radiation
(back-up)

Energy
input

Storable
Heat

4000 litre Heat Storage Tank

Usable
Heat

Radiators
in the
main
buildings

Back Building

Geothermal
energy
(major
energy
source)
Energy

Solar Thermal
Collectors &
System

Usable
Heat

Heat exchanger in
ventilation system
in main buildings
& back building

Renewable Summer Cooling Circuit

input

3 main buildings & back building

Energy Source

Electricity production using PV

Storable Heat

Addition of highly efficient windows in

front of the existing single glazed windows
(on the inside) resulting in a triple-glazing
of the front facade (total k=1.3 W/m2K)

4 Geothermal
loops &
Ground
Source Heat
Pump
Storable

Heat

1000 litre
Heat
Storage
Tank
Usable

Solar Radiation
(major energy
source)

Pellets
(back-up)

Energy Input

Conversion

 dvanced monitoring system coordinating the

A
action of the abovementioned technologies, and
allowing actions to be performed remotely

Storage

 eplacement of the windows of the back

R
facade with new windows with a total
k-value of 1.5 W/m2K

Conversion

Geothermal heating and cooling system: 4

geothermal energy loops (115 m deep) exploited
by a 24 kW ground source heat pump in winter
and used as a cooling tower by the Thermally
Driven Cooling Machine in summer

Heat

Radiators
in the
back
building

Energy Input

Solar Thermal
Collectors &
System

Wood Boilers
Storable Heat

Storable Heat

4000 litre Heat Storage Tank

Useable Heat

Cooling Machine
(with absorption)
Excess Low
Grade Heat

Absorptive energy in
4 Geothermal loops

Cooling

1000 litre
Storage Tank
Usable Cold

Use

Insulation of the exterior wall of the back

facade with 7 cm EPS (expanded polystyrene)

Energy Source

S olar thermal heating and absorption cooling

system: 60 m2 solar thermal collectors : 30 m2
evacuated tube collectors + 30 m2 flat plate
collectors, 1 Thermally Driven Cooling Machine
(35kW cooling capacity at 7-12C), 1 Cooling
tower (46 kW)

Conversion

Insulation of the facade and roof

P ellet heating system: 2 biomass wood pellet

boilers (85 kW + 15 kW to be combined with
a 3 kW stirling engine at a later stage)

Storage

Any sustainable energy solution has to contain

measures on both the demand and the supply
side, thereby taking into account energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. With
the Renewable Energy House, this principle was
carefully applied, although, due to the fact that
the building is listed, some energy efficiency
measures had to be excluded. Nevertheless, a
good number of energy efficiency technologies
have been implemented such as:

Renewable Energy
Technologies

Use

Energy Efficiency Measures

Cold Heat Exchanger

in ventilation system
(air conditioning)

Heating and cooling system

An ideal working environment from

100% renewable heating and cooling
The Renewable Energy House satisfies its heating and cooling requirements entirely from renewable energy sources.
Using a combination of biomass (wood pellets), solar thermal and geothermal energy, the heating, cooling and ventilation system generates high standards of comfort throughout the year in the whole building (21C in winter and not
over 25 in summer). The Renewable Energy House thereby demonstrates that 100% renewable heating and cooling
is feasible in a large proportion of Europes buildings.

n Cooling
n Heating

500 000
400 000
300 000
200 000
100 000

re
su
ea
m
H

An automatic monitoring system installed

and managed by the Austrian solar thermal company SOLID ensures the coordination of the different energy sources.
The control system enables most of the
necessary adjustments to be controlled and performed at a distance by this
specialised company. As a result of this
remote monitoring facility, the regular
in-house system maintenance procedures
are minimised.

600 000
kWh

RE

The core of the cooling system is the

Thermally Driven Cooling Machine. While
conventional cooling machines consume
high amounts of electricity at peak demand
times, this thermally driven cooling machine
is powered from relatively low temperature heat (85C) and a small amount of
electrical power for the control and pumping circuits. The thermally driven cooling
machine used in the Renewable Energy
House obtains its heat energy from the
solar system which is backed up on cloudy
days by the biomass boiler.

The Renewable Energy House features

an advanced control system that senses
the occupation levels and the ambient
environment in individual rooms and
adjusts the settings of the heating and
ventilation system accordingly.

Yearly energy consumption

sig
n

Cooling - Summer Operation

System Regulation

For the last running year (August 2009 August 2010), an analysis was made of
the measured energy consumption for
heating and cooling. This result was then
compared to the original design objectives and the energy performance of a
similar building in terms of both user
and geometric profiles. These results
are shown in the figure below.

de

The radiators in the back building are

heated independently, with energy
extracted by the heat pump from the
four geothermal energy loops located
beneath the inner courtyard.

A first analysis carried out after the first

summer of operation allowed the adjustment of a series of set points, improving
the comfort during the summer. Several
minor problems could easily be identified and subsequently solved.

RE
H

Due to shading from surrounding buildings, the sunlight solar thermal contribution is low in winter. However, all the
daylight solar gains in winter minimise
wood pellet consumption.

The solar heat coming from the collectors

is released by the thermally driven cooling machine as low-grade excess heat.
In most conventional cooling systems
of this type, the excess heat is dispersed
into the environment through a cooling
tower. In the Renewable Energy House,
the geothermal borehole loops function
as a seasonal energy source, absorbing the
excess low-grade heat during the summer
months, which can then be retrieved to
warm the building at the beginning of
the winter. Through the winter operation
of the geothermal system, year-on-year
overheating of the boreholes is avoided.

The monitoring system installed in the

renewable energy house has been used
to check the energy performance of the
building and its systems.

be
fo
re

The biomass boilers and solar thermal

collectors heat the same water storage
tanks. The heat is then distributed through
the refurbished iron-cast radiators and
can be used by the ventilation system
as a hot battery.

Results

In winter, the heating system relies on

the wood pellet boilers and the solar
thermal collectors in the main front
buildings and on the geothermal system in the back building.

Since solar radiation levels and cooling demand coincide, the solar thermal
system is able to provide much of the
heat required by the cooling machine.
Solar cooling is thus an ideal application for a solar thermal system.

RE

Heating - Winter Operation

Figure 1 - Energy consumption in

kWh per year for the 3 scenarios
The biomass boilers produce most of the
energy consumed for heating in the winter
and are supported by solar thermal energy
for cooling in June-July-August.

6 T he R enewable E nergy H ouse

Monthly heat production

40 000
kWh
35 000

n Solar thermal
n pellets

30 000
25 000

1 energy unit consumed in the form of

electricity). The electricity consumption
of the heat pump during this period was
4.434 kWh, this is completely in line with
the foreseen 7.534 kWh of the Renewable
Energy House design concept for a complete heating season.

20 000
15 000
10 000
5 000

12

11

9
10

Figure 2 - Energy production

by biomass and solar thermal
in kWh per month.
The solar thermal collectors produced 184
kWh/m over the last running year (August
2009-August 2010). This is a relatively
low specific production, resulting from
the east/west orientation of the collectors
and the considerable shading incurred by
the neighbouring buildings as well as the
absence of sanitary hot water preheating and the high operating temperatures
(both for cooling and heating).
Monthly solar thermal production
2 500
kWh

n HMSolar

2 000

1 500

1 000

500

12

11

10

Figure 3 - Energy production by

solar thermal in kWh per month.
The enlargement of the solar thermal
surface would benefit the solar cooling,
thus minimising pellet consumption during the summer for cooling purposes.
The ground/water heat pump that heats
up the annex building had a seasonal performance factor (SPF) of 4.0 from February
2010 until June 2010, thus reflecting the
high efficiency of the system (4 energy
units exploited in the form of heat for

The results show that the Renewable

Energy House measured consumption in
2009-2010 was somewhat higher than
expected in 2005 (design). However, it
is still significantly lower than before
renovation or after a standard renovation. Building use is very difficult
to estimate in the design phase and
can change significantly during the
lifetime of the building. The level
of occupancy of the building has
increased significantly since the
implementation of the project (from
45 members of staff in January
2006 up to 120 in June 2010, when the
building went largely over its potential
occupancy level). With hundreds of meetings, bringing thousands of external visitors
a year, the ventilation needs throughout
the year, and namely cooling in summer,
have increased considerably compared
to the design phase. This dynamic evolution is the result of the success of the
Renewable Energy House as a central
point for energy issues in Europe and
reflects the fast growing activities of the
European renewable energy sector.

MAYA is the European distributor

for YAZAKI absorption machines
used for air-conditioning. MAYA
sponsored in part the ThermallyDriven Cooling Machine (TDCM)
used in the Renewable Energy
House. YAZAKI machines are
available in 35 to 105 kW cooling
capacity and multiple machines
can realise a maximum of 420
kW capacity.

So as to keep on improving the energy

performance of the building, despite
the fluctuating user occupancy in the
building, the Renewable Energy House
is challenged to provide a sustainable
and dynamic answer, involving all the
occupants in the building everywhere
where there is a potential for a reduction of the energy demand.

www.maya-airconditioning.com

Furthermore, continuous monitoring of

the systems is crucial to analyse their
correct operation, as well as energy bills,
comfort, settings, etc. For engineers
and technicians who are familiar with
low energy concepts, advanced control
strategies can seem logical and evident,
however, the whole building chain is
responsible for guaranteeing their best
implementation.

WILO AG is a leading supplier of

pumps for solar thermal systems
in Europe and is growing at a significant rate. WILO sponsored part
of the pumps necessary to run the
heating and cooling system of the
Renewable Energy House.

www.wilo.com
7

SOLAR THERMAL
The solar thermal system is with some back-up from the biomass boiler designed to
provide most of the energy required for cooling the Renewable Energy House.

T
For the Renewable Energy House,
SOLID supplied 30m2 of special
high performance flat plate collectors and coordinated much of
the cooling installation. SOLID
controls the operation of the
house through internet-based
remote monitoring.
SOLID has developed special flat
plate collectors, which are optimized for higher temperatures.
Individual modules can be supplied up to 17 m2, allowing for
quick installation and efficient
operation.

www.solid.at

he Renewable Energy House provides lessthan-ideal conditions for a solar thermal

system. All roofs are at least partially
shaded by the surrounding tall buildings, there
is no directly south-facing roof and the available surface area for solar thermal collectors
is limited. However, the east-west solution
on this building works very effectively in this
designed-for-cooling application. For virtually
the whole of the hottest part of the day during
the summer months, the sun shines directly
onto either the east or west-facing bank of
collectors. Solar cooling is a technology with
a bright future, as the times of high cooling
demand coincide with the highest yields from
solar collectors.
Typically solar thermal systems designed for
domestic hot water and central heating work
at temperatures of up to 60C.

Thermomax is a world leader in

the manufacturing and development of hi-tech evacuated tube
solar collectors, electronic dataloggers and ST controllers.
For the Renewable Energy House,
Thermomax supplied 30 m2 of
evacuated tube collectors. These
high performance tubes, which
can be seen from the back building, are very effective in providing energy for the solar thermal
cooling system.

www.thermomaxgroup.com

Sunstrip develops, produces and

supplies absorber strips for solar
collector manufacturers from all
over the world. Almost 30 years
as a supplier to the solar collector
industry have made Sunstrips
absorber the most common
product on the market. It has
been extensively tested and is
completely trusted.

www.sunstrip.se

8 T h e R e n e wa b l e E n e r g y H o u s e

A solar cooling system requires higher input

temperatures, in this case between 80 and
90C. For this reason, high performance collectors improve the overall efficiency of the
system. The Renewable Energy House features
30m2 of evacuated tube collectors on the east
roof and 30m2 of special high performance
flat plate collectors on the west roof. For other
medium-to-high temperature applications such
as industrial process heat or solar thermal power
generation, special collectors are available which
produce temperatures of up to 250C.

Biomass
The main building of the Renewable Energy House is heated with wood pellets, one form of
solid biomass. Wood pellets are a clean, CO2 neutral and convenient fuel, produced from sawdust and wood shavings, compressed under high pressure using no glue or other additives.

he Renewable Energy House is equipped

with a pellet heating system (2 boilers :
85 kW installed in Phase 1 and 15 kW
installed in Phase 2 ) and has two interconnected
storage rooms which can hold approximately
13 tonnes of pellets.
A partnership established with the company
BADGER, implanted in Belgium, enables the
Renewable Energy House to benefit from pellets
whose physical and chemical properties are
controlled by the Agronomic Research Center
of Gembloux. As BADGER Pellets offer a sustainable product, using only green electricity
during the process, the Renewable Energy
House receives an absolutely CO2 neutral and
renewable solid fuel.
The pellets are delivered by a tank truck (max.
3 deliveries per year) and blown into the two
rectangular storage rooms. From there and
with the help of an elbow worm conveyer,
they are transported automatically into the
combustion chamber.

Badger Pellets are quality DIN

Plus certified & 100% natural.
They are produced exclusively
from sawdust of local resinous trees without any bark or
chemical binders. Badger Pellets
offer an irreproachable quality
whilst utilising and promoting
local natural resources: our
forests.

The output of the boiler can be adjusted to

the heating requirements in a fully automatic
way from stand-by to full-load operation. The
pellet boiler is connected to the 4000 litre hot
water storage tank and heats the main building
of the Renewable Energy House.
The pellet boiler is equipped with a fully
automatic ash compaction unit. The ash is
fully compressed so that it is only necessary
to empty the ash box, depending on the boiler
output, three times a year. Ash contains pure
minerals and is the perfect fertilizer for garden,
lawn and forest.

www.badgerpellets.com

The Austrian company KWB is a

leading manufacturer of heating
systems for biomass fuels with
its own research, development
and manufacturing departments.
KWB offers a range of pellet boilers from 10 to 100 kW, designed
to heat low-energy houses, large
buildings (renovated buildings
and new construction), commercial premises, offices, schools
and public buildings.

www.kwb.at
9

Geothermal energy
In the Renewable Energy House, geothermal energy is used in the form of a geothermal heat
pump with 4 vertical borehole heat exchangers (vertical loops) each 115m deep.

Schematic of the geothermal heat

Renewable Energy House, to the left in

pump system for the

winter operation (heating)

and to the right in summer mode (cooling)

WINTER MODE

SUMMER MODE

heat extraction
from the ground
Electric
heat pump

www.gefga.de

solar
heat

injection of heat into

the ground
absorption
cooling system

230/400 V
www.hakagerodur.ch

www.maroton.de

www.ochsner.at

www.stuewa.de

4 borehole heat
exchangers
115 m each

uring winter the heat pump is used to

heat the offices and conference rooms
of the back building. The maximum
heat load for the back building is 24 kW. The
heat pump transforms energy from a low
temperature into heat at a high temperature
at which it can be used for heating purposes.
The design of the radiators in the back building
secures a typical maximum supply temperature in the order of 35-45C and in any case
below 55C.
The heat pump used in the
Renewable Energy House
has a maximum heating
output of 28,3 kW.

www.ubeg.de

www.pbv.be
10 T he R enewable E nerg y H ouse

building ventilation
and cooling

4 borehole heat
exchangers
115 m each

The geothermal system is not only used for

heating but also acts as a heat sink for the
excess condenser heat of the solar absorption
cooling system in summer. The design of the
borehole heat exchangers has to account not
only for the heat load but also for the excess
heat injection from solar cooling in summer.
The 4 borehole heat exchangers were installed
by drilling in the interior courtyard, with the
drilling rig passing the narrow doorway with
only a few centimetres of clearance.

PV technologies
Integration of Photovoltaic Systems
in the Renewable Energy House

he Renewable Energy House provides

the opportunity to integrate various
photovoltaic technologies in a monumentprotected building.
The objective was to display as many different PV technologies as possible, thereby
familiarising visitors with this innovative way
of generating electricity. The following PV
technologies were integrated :
 n the roof of the back building, 7 monoO
crystalline modules can be found.
T he windows in the corridor leading to the
back building contain 6 thin-film modules,
which are integrated into the windows.

 t the entrance of the large meeting room

A
in the back building, several inverters are
installed which convert the direct current
power generated by the different modules
into the alternating current power that is
used in the building.
T he integration of further PV technology is
planned for the future.
The power of the complete PV system is about
3 kWp. An average PV system representing this
power will generate an energy production of
about 2.550 kWh yearly.

F urthermore, the roof of the corridor contains

three polycrystalline, four thin-film and three
mono-crystalline modules including an innovative roof-mounting system.
On the back facade of the main building,
another form of window-integrated PV modules can be seen, integrated in the windows
of the kitchenette & toilets.

www.conergy.com

www.multi-contact.de

www.firstsolar.com

www.napssystems.com

www.schott.com

www.sharp-world.com/solar/

www.shell.com/solar/
www.fronius.com

www.sonnenstromag.de
www.sma.de

www.ibc-solar.de

www.photowatt.com
www.solarworld.de

www.isofoton.es

www.scheutensolar.nl

www.steca.de
11

RES Electricity
As an office building with meeting facilities, the Renewable
Energy House currently comprises over 90 members of staff and
accommodates many external meetings.

ith an annual electricity consumption of approximately

100.000 kWh, the share produced from renewable energy sources
on site could soon reach 10%, following
the installation of additional PV and of a
micro-cogeneration system on the 15kW
pellet boiler which are currently in the
planning stage.
Other external renewable energy installations
currently supply the remaining electricity
required by the Renwable Energy House.
A partnership established with the Belgian
company LAMPIRIS, leader in 100% green
energy supply in Belgium, enables the
Renewable Energy House to benefit from
certificates, granted by the Association
of Issuing Bodies (AIB), guaranteeing the
renewable origin of the green electricity
supplied.
As LAMPIRIS offers a clearly diversified
energy mix produced from renewable
energy plants in Belgium, the Renewable
Energy House receives an electricity
supply based on wind, biomass and biomethane, high quality combined heat and power (CHP) and small
hydropower plants.
By showcasing its 100 % green electricity consumption, the Renewable
Energy House concretely asserts its commitment to internal ecomanagement whilst EREC reaffirms its position at a European policy
level. Assuming that the EU will fulfill its ambitious energy efficiency
targets, a share of 35% of electricity produced from renewable energy
sources in the EU is realistic by 2020.

LAMPIRIS SA, set-up in 2003 by two

young entrepreneurs, is an independent gas and 100% green electricity
supplier in Belgium and France.
In the framework of the Renewable Energy House extension, LAMPIRIS
decided to participate in its development with the aim of raising public
concern on environment protection.
As a new partner in the Renewable Energy House, the company LAMPIRIS
provides the Renewable Energy House with green electricity.
LAMPIRIS already provides 220.000 customers with a 100% green electricity mix. The RES used are currently produced in Belgium from small
Hydro plants (39,0%), Biomass (30,6%), and Wind (30,3%).

www.lampiris.be
12 T he R enewable E nerg y H ouse

From the
The building sector accounts for over
40% of the EUs energy demand, which
means the sector faces the inevitable
challenge of producing more efficient
buildings while at the same time responding to ever more demanding occupants in
terms of comfort, as well as addressing
the owner-tenant dilemma.

n 18th June 2010, the recast of

Directive 2010/31/EU on the
Energy Performance of Buildings
(EPBD) was published in the Official
Journal of the EU, amending Directive
2002/91/EC. The recast introduces for the
first time a European-wide definition of
nearly zero energy buildings. Up until
now, only a handful of Member States
had definitions for low energy/plus energy
or zero carbon buildings, and these were
all different. The recast introduces for the
first time a European-wide definition of
nearly zero energy buildings.
Nearly zero energy buildings are now
defined in the EPBD as constructions that
have a very high energy performance. Any
energy that they require should come to
a very significant extent from renewable
energy sources (art. 2). This definition
requires both a decreased energy use
in buildings whilst also bringing about
a renewable energy requirement: The
nearly zero or very low amount of energy
required should to a very significant
extent be covered by energy from renewable source, including renewable energy
produced on-site or nearby.
According to the EPBD, new buildings will
have to be nearly zero energy buildings
by 31st December 2020 with public buildings having to fulfill this standard two
years earlier. In effect, the EPBD sets out
a renewable energy obligation for buildings by 2020. The recast of the EPBD is a
first step in the right direction. However,
it entails no specific targets regarding
refurbished buildings which represent a
large proportion of the buildings stock
and the first cause of CO2 emissions in
the building sector.
Furthermore, there are a huge number of
historical buildings in Europe, the majority
of which are still wasting large amounts
of energy. A prejudice widespread in many
countries is that historical buildings,

Example to its Replication

Lets walk the walk
Since the realisation of this exemplary
project and the implementation of its
energy concept, Europes capital has been
gifted with a showcase for the integration of innovative renewable energy and
energy efficiency technologies in a 140
year old listed building - the Renewable
Energy House.

and particularly those under monument

protection, should not be equipped with
renewable energy technologies, and
should thus be exempted.

The Renewable Energy House thus

demonstrates that it is not only possible to significantly reduce a buildings
energy needs, but also to deal with the
multiple constraints associated with any
site, whilst offering a 100% renewable
energy supply.

Guided Tours of the

Renewable Energy House
As a successful showcase, since its
establishment in January 2006, more
than 20.000 people from all over the
world have already visited the building.
The Renewable Energy House operates
open days, specific visits as well as
general visits, upon request.

Please visit www.erec.org/reh for

more information.

Although a certain degree of caution

should be maintained when thinking
up renovation plans for historical buildings, the simple argumentation that
they cannot in anyway be adapted to
integrate new top-of-the-art renewable
energy installations for fear of changing their nature and appearance is not
endurable in the societal move towards
sustainability. Furthermore, keeping
the historical heritage alive is part of
European culture. As emphasized above,
historical buildings have witnessed a
series of debates, over the decades
and even centuries, in terms of their
facilities. Most historical buildings still
in use today have already endured the
introduction of running water, centralised
space heating (and sometimes cooling),
ventilation electricity and telecommunication networks. It can even be
argued that if they had not allowed
for these changes to take place, they
would, by now, have become unusable
ruins, vestiges of the past.

Renewable
Energy House

Attractive demonstration projects involving historical buildings can contribute

massively to spreading a positive image
of renewable energy technologies, while
at the same time inviting increasing
numbers of European citizens to rediscover their past.
It should be added that there is, in fact,
significant potential for the deployment
of renewable energy technologies in
historical buildings under monument
protection.
13

New Energy for Old Buildings - New4Old

Inspired by this success, EREC was the coordinator of a European funded research, implementation and dissemination
project New4Old, which aimed at integrating energy efficiency and renewable energy in historical buildings while
respecting their cultural and architectural heritage. New4Old sought to address not only political decision makers,
but also the general public, developers, planners, architects, building engineers and construction companies as well
as real estate agents, in order to ensure capacity building of the respective market actors.

he project New4Old was committed to significantly

contributing to RES & RUE market penetration through
a two-fold approach:

Capacity building among architects and planners

T he project consortium released technical guidelines

giving an overview of the possibilities for integrating
renewable energy sources and energy efficiency
measures in historical buildings. The full version
of the document is available both on cd-rom
and on the project website www.new4old.eu.
 reation of a network of Renewable Energy Houses which
C
will serve as focal points for the sustainable energy policy
discussion in the different EU Member States

After the Renewable Energy House in Brussels (2005-2006),

followed by its extension (2007-2008), three other projects
were initiated, for which energy concepts were designed by
3E, partner in the consortium.

The Trade Union Building in Versailles

An analysis of the thermal performance and energy efficiency
of the building was carried out, first of all of the building
physics in order to minimise the energy needs for heating.
Then, several thermal dynamic simulations were accomplished
to assess the level of fabric insulation of the building, the
type of glazing or frames, the use of external sun-blinds
and the free cooling effect. All these measures led to a 90%
reduction in terms of the heat demand, while the sun-blinds
and the free cooling minimise the increased cooling demand.
The remaining heating and cooling demand can be fulfilled
by a geothermal system (40kW), while a photovoltaic system
can tackle the remaining electricity demand.

14 T he R enewable E nerg y H ouse

Police Station in Brussels

An energy concept with dynamical simulations was designed to
reduce the current energy consumption to that of a low-energy
building (heat demand under 40kWh/m.a). With this aim,
several measures were examined on a technical-economical
basis: double facade with sun protection, reinforced roof
insulation (15cm), efficient lighting and equipment, night
cooling, heat recovery through ventilation, geothermal heating and cooling, and photovoltaic panels.
These measures would lead to the following change of the
annual energy balance, as seen in the figures below.

Project
The Franciscan Monastery of Graz

Kloster Graz Franciscan Monastery of Graz

The monastery comprises old buildings, parts of

which are 750 years old. The Franciscans will
implement a comprehensive retrofit of these
buildings following a four-step approach: energy
efficiency measures, solar thermal energy use, a
heating system using a heat pump, and power
generation (photovoltaics on site, green power
investments or purchasing of green power. The
aim of the project is that only around 8% of
the original energy consumption will be left
after the implementation of the concept.
Step 1: Energy Efficiency Measures

Step 3: Heating System, Heat Pump

Desiccation of the walls, insulation of the

floors, some walls and the attics, rooms used
as buffers, renovation of box-type windows,
warming tints,

Solar- and groundwater-coupled heat pump

with annual use efficiency > 5, all together
15 m stratified filled storage tanks, central
heating room inside the building, four pipes
distribution (flow/return flow for component
and radiator heating for each room and
circulation pipes for hot water), insulated
pipes, three tiled stoves,

Savings after Step 1: up to 30%!

Step 2: Solar Thermal Energy Use

347 m collector area for hot water and the
component low-temperature heating (to
dry and heat the walls), supply of adjacent
buildings,

Savings after Step 2 : up to 50%!

TRNSYS-simulations for a small part of the

building were done by 3E to estimate the
amount of energy savings with solar boost
and the high thermal mass of the monasterys
walls. The solar boost reduces the regular
heat demand by 10%. If glass facades are
added on the outside of the southern walls,
the heat demand will be further reduced by
12%. In addition to this, a very good thermal
comfort will be reached inside the rooms.

Savings after Step 3: up to 92%!

The heating control system will adjust the

temperature for every room or zone, gathering
data from inside (passive solar, persons,)
and outside like global radiation and weather
forecast. A monitoring system collects data
which will be available on the internet and
evaluates the system.
Step 4: Power Generation
Photovoltaics (on the building), green power
investments or purchasing of green power

 nly 8% of the original energy

O
consumption is left!

Figure: The energy concept of the 4 steps to reach the

zero emission monastery (Source: AEE INTEC)

15

Intelligent Energy

Europe

1 00 % renewable energy supply for heating,

cooling and electricity

Renewable
Energy House

 entral meeting point for renewable energy actors,

C
close to the European Institutions (European Commission,
European Parliament, Council of the EU)

The Renewable Energy House gathers:

EREC & most of its Members :

The Renewable
Energy House:
a best-practice
example of a
sustainable
energy building

ESTELA

EREC: European Renewable Energy Council

AEBIOM: European Biomass Association
EGEC: European Geothermal Energy Council
EPIA: European Photovoltaic Industry Association
ESHA: European Small Hydropower Association
ESTELA: European Solar Thermal Electricity Association
ESTIF: European Solar Thermal Industry Federation
EUBIA: European Biomass Industry Association
EU-OEA: European Ocean Energy Association
EUREC Agency: European Renewable Energy Centres Agency

Other Associations

ARE: Alliance for Rural Electrification

ECTP-E2BA: European Construction Technology Platform
Energy Efficient Buildings Association
EHPA: European Heat Pump Association
EUFORES: European Forum for Renewable Energy Sources
Greenovate! Europe: The European Experts
for Green Innovation
HEA: Hydro Equipment Association
PV Cycle: European Association for the Recovery of
Photovoltaic Modules

Published by :
European Renewable Energy Council

The sole responsibility for the

content of this Publication
lies with the authors. It does
not represent the opinion of
the Community. The European
Commission is not responsible for
any use that may be made of the
information contained therein.

Renewable Energy House

Rue dArlon 63-67 B-1040 Brussels Belgium
T: +32 2 546 1933 F : +32 2 546 1934
E: erec@erec.org I: www.erec.org/reh

With the support of :

Intelligent Energy

Europe

16 T he R enewable E nerg y H ouse

New4Old
www.new4old.eu

Printed on ecologically friendly paper (chlorine free paper) - Design : www.acg-bxl.be

 enewable energy and energy efficiency showcase

R
in a monument-protected building

Photo credits: Delia Vermant, EREC, Eleanor Smith, Jean-Marc Willems, Olivier Callebaut, BEAR Architects, EGDC, EHN, K, Olivier Joswig, SolarWorld AG, Velux, Serge Marteaux

Headquarters for the European renewable energy sector

Published August 2010

The Renewable Energy House Main Facts