Towards sustainable energy systems – role and achievements of heat integration

This paper presents an established sustainable and integrated design methodology for theefficient heating and cooling of individual buildings and complexes. The methodologyincludes the design basis for combined heat and power systems, refrigeration, air conditioningand heating with pump systems. It is equally applicable for single family houses as well aslarge building complexes and meets a major challenge in the design of heating and coolingsystems, namely, the complexity of energy and power integration. The efficient use ofavailable heating and cooling resources for serving buildings of various sizes and designationscan significantly reduce energy consumption and emissions. Although heat integration (orPinch Technology) has been around for several decades and has been very successfullyapplied in large industrial applications, it has only recently been applied for improving theenergy efficiency of buildings and building complexes. There is significant scope forapplication, as energy prices rise and energy related emissions are required to be reduced.This methodology can also be used to integrate renewable energy sources such as biomass,solar PV and solar heating into the combined heating and cooling cycles. Case studies areused to illustrate the methodology. The paper makes suggestions how the methodology can beapplied for energy and emissions reduction in single buildings and complexes.