Nearly 41% of the total energy demand in Europe can be attributed to our buildings (residential and service buildings). Heating premises, hot water production, lighting, air conditioning - these are the main vectors for energy (over)consumption and the emission of greenhouse gases. Now, we could do a lot better.
If they were better insulated, better orientated towards making maximum use of (free) solar energy and limiting the risks of over-heating, equipped with modern high-performance heating (and cooling) resources and better administered as regards occupancy timetables and the true energy requirements, our buildings could easily save more than a third of the energy they consume without excessive expenditure and without any reduction in levels of comfort. This has already been proved some years ago in some Northern European countries. But to be really efficient and profitable, this intelligent approach to using energy in buildings should be adopted as early as the design stage, which should take account of all the parameters needing to be improved.
This is what led the European Union to adopt a special directive covering the energy performance of buildings (EPB). When this came into force - on 4 January 2006, it obliged our regional authorities to take a look at what this would mean for their own legislation governing construction.
CORETEC, in partnership with the Walloon Region, anticipated this requirement and already has the capacity to help you in the design and construction of energy efficient buildings, in response to the European standards of the future.
Our task has 3 main objectives:
- To provide effective technical support to the architect in charge of the project, in order to make sure the building incorporates the most energy efficient options
- To design, optimise and define the most efficient technological options, in terms of consumption / investment / reliability
- To monitor and inspect the various stages of implementation in order to guarantee the results planned for at the design stage
Our typical projects
Phase 1
Definition of energy requirements of site.
This stage consists of defining future energy requirements in relation to electricity and heat for the site. In order to do this, the building is studied using our specific software, and the results are compared with the real consumption values for other similar sites in order to validate our approach.
The software provides a direct breakdown of consumption values by application. That makes it easy to orientate our efforts at improvement towards the most energy intensive areas.
Plan for improving energy provision on site.
When the preceding stage has been completed, we have a model which allows us to simulate various potential improvements and thus to select the most efficient option in terms of energy consumption/investment.
Phase 2
Definition of equipment specifications.
- Compiling specifications and drawing up plans making it possible to issue invitations to tender for all the equipment relating to the energy requirements on site.
- Technical support and monitoring on site.
- Close monitoring of important phases of site work.
Phase 3
Measurement and acceptance of equipment installed.
This stage, essential for the attainment of the target objectives, involves measuring the real performances of the equipment installed which is related to the energy requirements on site.
These points will be verified using our own electrical and thermal measuring systems.
Our references
Approved energy audit for Walloon region:
- Apartment building "Belle Maison" in Marchin
- Rea Fraiture
- Rest-home "Le Balloir" in Liège
- Visitor center of the Red Cross in Rendeux
Design and monitoring of energy efficient buildings in the service sector
- Hotel de la Couronne in Liège (80 rooms)
- "Les Oblats" - block of flats in Liège (23 apartments)
- "Espace Horizon" - office block in Angleur (15.000 m² of offices in 3 stages)
- "Pole Image de Liège" (20.000 m² dedicated to image)
Design and monitoring of energy efficient buildings in the industrial sector
- Assembly workshop for Techspace Aero (5000 m² for assembly and 5000 m² for manufacturing)
