Performance coupled with environmental protection
New build apartment house
Gas in a hybrid system
The construction of a new apartment block in a suburb of Karlsruhe is being planned. The sunny location could allow solar thermal technology to be employed, amongst other things. Read on to find out which heating system is chosen in the end.
The investment costs for the new apartment block are high so it is all the more important to plan the entire project with precision. The developer must also consider that the new tenants in the many apartments will require heat for the heating system and hot water at quite different times, and peak loads will therefore fluctuate. Therefore, it is vital that the heat generators are perfectly coordinated.
Reasons for choosing dual heat generators
The plot is already connected to the utilities and has a gas connection. For this reason, the developer decided to use this fuel to heat the building and supply it with hot water. Moreover, this type of heating system is excellent at compensating for the peak loads and varying hot water requirements mentioned above.
New buildings are legally required to cover at least part of their heating and hot water demands using renewable systems. The developer decides to use solar heat as a renewable heat generator. The roof is large enough and south-facing. The property is detached and not shaded by taller adjacent buildings. Therefore, the solar thermal system can be expected to produce an optimum yield.
Heat generators for apartment blocks and other large properties need more than just suitable output levels. They must also be able to handle long periods of continuous load and greatly varying output demands.
Condensing boilers are robustly built and low-maintenance solutions. Modern solar collectors are even less demanding with regard to care and maintenance.
Thanks to optimised fuel consumption, modern gas boilers emit far less environmentally harmful CO2 than older appliances. They easily comply with current strict emissions regulations. Combining them with a solar heating system makes the entire heating system even more eco-friendly.
Naturally, the optimised fuel consumption of modern boilers has a beneficial effect on heating bills. Using the free heat provided by the solar heating system saves even more money. If solar heat alone is used to cover all DHW heating in summer, the boiler can be switched off altogether during this period to cut costs still further.
Modern heating boilers are available either as compact floor-mounted appliances or as wall-mounted units. If the building is connected to the gas mains, there is no need to install a gas tank. The solar collectors are banished entirely to the roof and do not take up any space at all either in the house or grounds.
Powerful heating system
The developer has made a good decision. The powerful condensing boiler ensures that the heating system and hot water generation work perfectly. The solar heating system provides backup, improves the ecological footprint of the systems and, last but not least, makes the project eligible for subsidy.
