Town of Nürtingen participates in pilot project
Software for controlling above all older facilities – Inselhalle as a reference object
Using state-of-the-art software, Nürtingen aims to operate the Inselhalle in Zizishausen in an energy-efficient and effective way. To do this, the town is taking part in a subsidised pilot project. The council’s Building, Planning and Environment Committee passed this resolution at its last meeting. – Uwe Gottwald NÜRTINGEN.
The software, named emsyst 4.0, is an energy and facility management system developed in a cooperation between various experts in IT and facility technology, including the Riempp company in Oberboihingen. The development was supported by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy as well as the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control. That is why the users in a pilot project benefit from favourable conditions, explained Nürtingen’s Climate Protection Manager Thomas Kleiser during the meeting. He was the initiator behind the town’s application to participate in the project.
The software acts as a digital node which connects various technical equipment and technologies and controls as well as analyses them to improve energy efficiency. The town’s facility managers have been trained and make every effort to save energy, but the council expects the software to provide more precise control than can be achieved manually or in the time available. The system also offers monitoring and alarm functions. There are hopes of a 30-percent reduction in energy consumption, which would cut costs correspondingly and not least contribute significantly to climate protection.
One main target group is larger existing buildings owned above all by local authorities. Depending on their age, schools and event centres often feature completely diverse facility and energy supply systems installed during – sometimes several – restoration and renewal projects over the years. The software is designed to coordinate these different technologies as energy-efficiently as possible. An important consideration is that these buildings serve various user groups with different requirements and hours of use. This is another area where the software can offer efficient solutions, both for heating and electricity. The project findings could also be interesting for commercial users or residential properties.
To demonstrate the real advantages along with the costs involved in practice, the system will be utilised in a typical existing municipal building. The building chosen was the Inselhalle Zizishausen, because the town’s energy report reveals that it consumes much more energy than buildings of a similar size and level of use. Likely causes of this are the building’s age and state of repair, but also the lack of effective control options. All this makes it the ideal building for testing the system. However, Achim Maier (Freie Wähler Party) was sceptical: “We shouldn’t leap at any new pilot project until we’ve completed the ones already started.” Maier may have been referring to the expensive pilot project on the use of electric buses (reported on earlier), which was the next topic on the agenda. He also asked about other vendors and their results.
No great cost risk for the town
Kleiser explained that there were other alternatives, but the costs would be about EUR 27,000 for the software, plus the cost of alteration work. With Riempp as a local project partner, the software installation would be free. Furthermore, the company would administer, maintain and optimise the system. If the result was positive, the town would have the option of buying the software, and currently subsidies of about 65 percent were available for this.
Participation in the project would cost the town EUR 12,000. It can use the software free of charge, however the energy systems in the Inselhalle must be mechanically and electronically upgraded. According to Kleiser, the project can be financed using the existing municipal budget for climate protection. With average energy costs of EUR 20,000 per year in the Inselhalle and a savings potential of up to 30 percent, some EUR 18,000 Euro could be saved over the three-year project period. “Even if it is less, the cost risk is low”, said council member Bernhard Schober (SPD). Furthermore, municipal employees would be able to gain experience with the software. The program could also be used in other municipal buildings, said Kleiser. The resolution to take part was passed with three votes against cast by Dr. Otto Unger and Achim Maier (Freie Wähler Party) as well as Jürgen Gairing (Liberale-Aktive Bürger-FWV Party). The application will now be submitted.
