O.1.5.3 Low carbon solution for heating and cooling in Multi Family Buildings
European legislation is driving the energy efficiency of modern buildings. Heat pumps are representing a good solution to achieve this goal, but they are not commonly used in Large Multi Family buildings. Conventional solutions for heating these buildings usually rely on high temperature heat generators or District heating loops to supply heat centrally into a distribution network within the building. There are a number of issues with these high temperature distribution loops. The overall efficiency of this system is not very high due to the high losses of the heat network especially in summer. The high losses cause significant overheating in communal areas and corridors of these types of buildings and separate ventilation measures often have to be provided. Standard heat pumps cannot easily be integrated to such system due to the high flow temperature as the required high temperatures affect high efficiencies. This paper discusses the integration of heat pumps in Multi Family Buildings via a low flow temperature energy network. It demonstrates how the application of heat pumps for the generation of the heat instead of the current solution has many benefits. A design study on an actual Multi Family building in London highlights the main advantages of such system.