On-site energy management by integrating campus buildings and optimizing local energy systems – case study of the campus in Finland

This research describes the potential study on the impact of energy improvements of existing campus buildings by on-site energy management and operational strategies. The focus buildings in the campus were mainly built in the 1960s, and therefore it is time to carry out renovation work. In conjunction with the renovations, the aim is to improve the energy efficiency of the buildings, and to develop the functionality of the properties to meet the current requirements. Thus, in this study, the potentials of on-site energy generation and sharing in the cluster of campus buildings in Finland were studied. By means of optimisation method, the optimal combined heat and power systems capacity distribution and operation mode for minimizing annual primary energy consumption were simulated. The results show that the integration of buildings has an advantage of 23% of primary energy reduction for on-site energy management as compared with the present situation. Consequently, integrating buildings and optimizing on-site energy management can be one of effective strategies for minimizing primary energy consumption. Furthermore, the study to improve operation strategies of building service systems considering current space use in the buildings clarified that up to 13% of total energy use reduction is expected. The research work also proposes a way of providing environmental information to increase awareness of building energy usage in the campus.