Impact of Dynamic Emission Factors of the German Electricity Mix on the Greenhouse Gas Balance in Building Operation

Abstract

Due to climate change, emission balancing is a relevant tool to quantify the environmental impact of a building system. The electrification of energy production at a national level, as well as energy supply at a building level, shifts the focus to the emission factor (EF) of the electricity grid. Currently, static EFs are used for calculating the emission balance. However, the electricity grid already shows fluctuations in power generation and EF due to renewable energies. The paper reviews recent literature outlining the research gap and presents the development of a simulation setup and concept, in which the emission balance of the building operation changes, using dynamic EFs that map fluctuations at an hourly resolution. In the first step, we simulate the thermal building and radiance performance. The data are than used in a second step to conduct a system simulation, which analyzes the effects of the dynamic EFs. The results show that the dynamic balance approach for different building system variants deviates considerably from the static approach. By comparing different concepts for the loading strategy, the predictive strategy outperforms a common control strategy, when considering the energy prices and/or the emissions. This is especially true for systems with inert storage units, where charging times significantly influence the balance, as well as for systems with PV integration. This paper outlines the potential of the EFs-optimized control increases when evaluating a potential scenario for the year 2040, factoring in increased seasonal and daily fluctuations in electricity generation.

Electricity consumption of anesthesia workstations and potential emission savings by avoiding standby

“…Actual values could vary for every hospital and every time point in an annual and circadian rhythm. Given that the emission factor of electricity in Germany is higher during the night most of the year [ 28 ], switching off devices and thereby saving power during the night might in fact lead to higher emission savings than calculated with the annual values.…”

Impacts of Photovoltaic Façades on the Urban Thermal Microclimate and Outdoor Thermal Comfort: Simulation-Based Analysis

“…T cell = T air + G 800 T noct,adj − 20 9.5 5.7 + 3.8v adj (3) where E POA is the solar irradiance on the module (W/m 2 ), T noct, adj is the module's nominal operating cell temperature adjusted for mounting stand-off ( • C), η ref is the module efficiency at standard test conditions, πα is a combined coefficient representing transmittance and absorptance effects, and v adj is the wind velocity adjusted for the height above ground (s/m).…”

“…At the local scale, the thermal microclimate is particularly influenced by the surrounding surfaces, materials, and physical characteristics. Intelligently controlled, the installation of photovoltaics is a common strategy to reduce the carbon emissions and improve the dynamic emission balance of a building energy system [3,4]. Adding photo-Buildings 2024, 14, 923 2 of 21 voltaic modules-driven by climate protection efforts-raises questions about how this new construction material interacts with the surrounding thermal microclimate [5,6].…”

International Comparison of Weather and Emission Predictive Building Control

“…However, not only the building but also the mobility industry is increasingly focusing on electric concepts. Combined with the increasing fluctuation in electrical energy production based on the rising share of regenerative sources in the grid, intelligent control strategies are essential [3]. Today, additional energy will be provided by a power plant that still has spare capacity.…”

“…Various concepts and data-driven control strategies, based on model predictive control, deep learning, weather forecast, or artificial intelligence, have been developed in the last decade, outlining energy-and CO 2 -saving potentials [3,[5][6][7][8]. Thereby, a few hurdles make it difficult to transform the concept into practice: data-intense algorithms, the creation of digital twins, or the necessity of highly educated employees to manage building technology.…”