Järvenpään Mestariasunnot Oy, which owns approximately 2,000 flats in the area of Järvenpää, has used the Leanheat concept in the maintenance of its real estate since 2014. Mestariasunnot has also been at the forefront in developing district heating with the City of Järvenpää and the energy company Fortum.
The results were so satisfying that we decided to gradually implement the system in our other buildings, too. At the moment, 20 housing estates are included and we are going to carry out 19 more installations by the end of 2017, which translates to 1,370 flats in total. We have also joined a development project that aims to reduce the momentary power-demand peaks in heating.
In addition to reducing energy consumption, the power elasticity of Leanheat has reduced the maximum power demand by more than 10%. This has yielded Mestariasunnot additional heating savings of approximately 6%.
Flat-specific measurement data (temperature, humidity) and the analytics derived from them have become an integral part of our everyday maintenance work. The technicians of Mestariasunnot are equipped with tablet computers for monitoring the conditions in every flat, and they automatically receive notifications and alarms if anything unusual is detected.
With continuous measurements and automation, it is possible to keep the buildings in better condition with less effort. As the degree of automation increases, the number of unnecessary maintenance visits will decrease and we are going to need, for example, fewer expensive investments in basic controls. At the same time, our staff can focus on productive tasks. This was one of the reasons why we didn’t need to increase rents this year.
New development projects – can load shifting replace peaker plants?
The City of Järvenpää and Fortum have investigated whether peak power load shifting could be used to replace peak heat production, even to the point of dispensing with the city’s peaking power plant. Several commercial properties of the City of Järvenpää have joined the pilot.
Peak power load shifting means using buildings as thermal banks that enable reducing heat consumption during interruptions in heat production that occur during peak times. In this method, indoor temperatures are decreased in a controlled way, which results in significant decreases in the heat consumption of the building. Once the number of premises connected to the load shifting system is high enough, the system is able to cover the power deficit caused by production interruptions. This decreases the need for peak heat production.
For the City of Järvenpää, controlling the consumption of energy has even broader significance. The city has a peaker plant that is needed very rarely. Once the number of premises connected to the reserve elasticity system is high enough, the entire peaker plant can be demolished to make way for something else, such as new flats.
Leanheat® — For true energy optimization. From people to production.
Buildings account for a staggering 40 percent of the world’s energy consumption. And in Europe alone, almost a third of residential heating comes from fossil fuels.
Leanheat empowers district energy networks to optimize the operational efficiency of buildings and increase the comfort of end-users through end-to-end software solutions.