Standardised installation packages integrating renewable and energy efficiency solutions for heating, cooling and/or hot water preparation

Actions are needed for the development and demonstration of cost-effective compact and fully integrated heating and cooling units installed at the building level. Applications should: demonstrate their cost-effective integration in buildings, demonstration of high values of seasonal performance, fossil fuel and/or primary energy savings considering a wide range of both new and existing buildings and allow for remote access and control. Proposals could develop methods and parameters to support design and installation of multi-component heating, cooling and/or hot water preparation solutions. Proposals should also include consumer information system on the overall system performance. In addition, remote inspection of these systems should be made possible. The solutions may include the use of renewable energy including heat pumps, co-generation, thermal storage or smart controls that should be used with the specific aim to minimise primary energy demand (gas, electricity). Proposals should take into account the need for high indoor environmental quality (thermal comfort, acoustics, air quality, etc.).The focus of the solutions should be on scalability, modularity and adaptability, easy integration, assembly and installation. Quality and technical reliability are also important aspects to ensure that solutions deliver their potential. Inspection and monitoring should be considered, building upon the requirements of the EPBD[[(2010/31/EU) Energy Performance of Buildings Directive articles 14 and 15. For the purposes of calculating and showcasing their energy performance, the solutions should also build upon the package labelling scheme established under regulations 811/2013 and 812/2013 (where applicable).

Projects should involve producers of different heating and cooling technologies and control systems, installer associations, designers and architects. The activities are expected to be implemented at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6-8 (please see part G of the General Annexes).

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of between EUR 3 and 4 million would allow this challenge to be addressed appropriately. This does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

In order to increase the roll-out in the market of new technologies for heating and cooling, Innovation Actions are needed to bring forward combined, adaptable and plug-and-play solutions. For these to be successful, the costs and energy benefits should be further demonstrated. The challenge is therefore to develop new heating/cooling and/or hot water preparation systems and demonstrate their real potential.

With the growing contribution of intermittent renewable energy sources, the use of thermal energy storage will grow in importance. The uptake of systems that use or combine renewable energy sources, energy storage or smart controls is still relatively low. Integration with other parts of the building (including historical buildings) or its services is an unresolved issue due to lack of planning and simulation tools and the lack of expertise and confidence among designers and installers. Instead, they stay with conventional heating and cooling solutions, which results in a negative lock-in effect.

Packaged systems claiming high levels of energy efficiency are already available in the market; however their potential is not always demonstrated in place, which develops into a lack of trust in new solutions. Therefore, there is a need to demonstrate the real potential of the new solutions by providing information on the overall system performance to the end user.

Proposals are expected to demonstrate the impacts listed below, using quantified indicators and targets wherever possible:

• Primary energy savings and GHG emission savings triggered by the proposed actions (compared to best available solution existing today) ;
• Demonstration of smart controls to optimise energy demand and energy supply at the building level;
• Demonstration of solutions allowing better remote operation, monitoring and inspection;
• Roll-out in the market of standardised compact installation packages integrating multi-components (hybrid) renewable and energy efficiency solutions;
• Impact on heating and cooling industry as a whole (not just for a specific product).