Press Releases - 16.05.2024
Eschborn, May 16, 2024: Germany is to become climate-neutral by 2045. The share of renewable energies in the energy supply is to nearly double by 2030.[1] Green electricity will take over the majority of Germany’s energy supply in the future, with electrically powered heat pumps playing a key role. Despite a decline in sales in the first quarter of 2024,[2] it is expected that their share will continue to increase for both new and existing buildings. Evaluations by the energy service provider Techem show that half or sometimes even 90 % of today’s buildings are suited for the use of heat pumps after replacement of the radiators. These are based on data on consumption and costs for heating and hot water from 1.4 million German apartments in around 120,000 apartment buildings in Germany.[3]
Image information: The basis for the Digital Heating Cellar is monitoring with AI-supported remote monitoring and analysis. (Copyright: Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock)
This continuously increasing share of heat pumps in the heat supply of apartment buildings requires a closer look at their efficiency. Techem’s analysis shows that although heat pumps have decent efficiency values, they usually do not reach the optimum operating state. It is therefore obvious that both the monitoring and the operational management of heat pumps need to be improved.[4] This is where low-investment solutions, such as the Digital Heating Cellar from Techem, offer real added value. Thanks to digital sensors, this enables comprehensive monitoring and optimization of heating systems based on artificial intelligence - for every system and every energy source. This is also confirmed by current evaluations by the Eschborn-based energy service provider. These show that the use of the digital boiler room in a portfolio consisting exclusively of heat pump systems enables an average reduction in energy consumption of 29 %.
Measurable benefits for the housing industry
The digital service is based on monitoring with AI-supported remote monitoring and analysis. This involves installing temperature sensors on the heating system, an ambient temperature sensor on the outside wall and a mains-powered gateway. This records temperature and meter data from the heating system every minute and then transmits it to the cloud. This means that property-specific models can be trained in combination with other data and be mapped in a digital twin of the heating system. With the help of AI, a large number of different analyses are carried out, from which recommendations for action can be derived. In addition, the self-learning technology contributes to the continuous optimization of the analysis processes. For landlords and residents, the digital boiler room brings light into the darkness: thanks to the continuous digital recording of the operating status, faults in the heating system can be detected and automatically reported within a short period of time. This not only reduces the administrative workload for landlords but also the operating costs.
“The results of our evaluations confirm this: With the digital boiler room, we are providing the housing industry with valuable insights, reducing complexity and revealing concrete optimization potential. The combination of digital, low-investment solutions and advanced heat pump technology is therefore the key to a more efficient and sustainable heat supply in apartment buildings,” Techem CEO Matthias Hartmann explains.
[1] Starting from the base year 2021.
[2] Basis for comparison: prior-year period, source: BDH: Association for Efficiency and Renewable Energies - Article (bdh-industrie.de)
[3] Techem consumption data study 2022, p. 41.
[4] Well-designed and optimally operated heat pumps are expected to have an annual coefficient of performance (COP) of at least 3 to over 4. The evaluation of systems with heat pumps as the sole heat source showed an average COP of 2.8 to 3.6 in the multi-family housing stock in 2022. These are pretty good values both from an economic point of view and with regard to the overall CO2 balance. However, there is a wide range and the proportion of heat pumps with a COP of less than 2.5 is too high at 30 percent. There is a clear need for improvement here through monitoring and optimized operational management. See Techem consumption data study 2022, p. 17.
About Techem
Techem is a leading service provider for smart and sustainable buildings. The company's services cover energy management and resource conservation, residential health and process efficiency in real estate. Founded in 1952, the company is now active in 18 countries with around 4,300 employees and services more than 13 million homes. Techem offers efficiency improvements along the entire value chain of heat and water in real estate. As the market leader in remote radio detection of energy consumption in homes, Techem continues to drive networking and digital processes in real estate. Modern radio smoke detectors with remote inspection and services related to improving drinking water quality in properties complement the solution portfolio for the housing industry. For more information, visit www.techem.com/corp/en.
