Integration of Building energy and energy supply simulations for low-energy district heating supply to energy-efficient buildings

The future will demand implementation of C02 neutral communities, the consequences being a far more complex design of the whole energy system, since the future energy infrastructures will be dynamic and climate responsive systems. Software able to work with such level of complexity is at present a missing link in the development. In this paper is demonstrated how a link between a dynamic Building Simulation Programme (BSP) and a simulation program for District Heating (DH) networks can give important information during the design phase. By using a BSP it is possible to analyze the influence of the human behaviour regarding the building and link the results to the simulation program for DH networks. The results show that human behaviour can lead to 50% higher heating demand and 60% higher peak loads than expected according to reference values in standardized calculation of energy demand. The analysis also shows that the connection of low-energy buildings to DH networks is potentially a good solution in Denmark for reaching the climatic goals, but a high degree of connection must be reached, especially for detached houses, where most of the buildings in a typical community must be connected to ensure a reasonable economy.