Sustainable premises thanks to application of own technology

 
Wilk van der Sande, specialist in heating and cooling, now has new, environment friendly and sustainable premises, fitted with all possible conveniences and aimed at saving energy. A wide range of technology was used in the building to save energy and therefore reduce pressure on the environment.

A heat pump is used in combination with a heat storage tank in winter for example, to heat the premises. This is also used for the floor heating, while in summer the building is cooled by aquifers.

The heat pump works in the same way as a household fridge, but then in two directions. When the heat pump is cooling, heat is generated, just like in a fridge. The fridge releases this heat to its surroundings, but the heat pump gathers the heat by heating water and storing it in the ground. And so heat and cold can be generated without the use of gas.

How does it work in practice?
In the summer period, cold water is extracted from the ground storage, and used to cool the building. If there is insufficient cold water, the heat pump is used to generate cold water. The heat released in the process is once again stored in the heat storage tank.
The process is reversed during the winter period.

The heat pump operates in off-peak hours to save money and the heat storage tank is filled in that period to achieve a maximum COP. In daytime, it provides the heating required by the building. The heat pump subsequently replenishes what has been used the previous day, so that no energy is wasted.

Considerable attention has also been paid to energy when designing the building. Heat and cold are effectively retained through the use of high-grade insulating materials. Outside office hours, sun screens on the outside of all windows are automatically adjusted to the sun's radiation. The system takes account of natural heating and cooling, and so the rooms are first heated by the sun. Extra heat is then kept out, by lowering the sun screens. Outside office hours, the automated controls keep the office up to temperature in the most energy efficient manner.
A heat wheel retains the warmth and cooling, while fresh air can still be introduced into the building. And so losses are kept to a minimum.

Each office has its own ceiling coolers and heaters, which can be adjusted separately. The hall has heaters with eco fans in order to keep the warm air down on the work floor.

An advanced lighting system keeps the use of artificial lights to a minimum. All rooms have a presence detection and light measurement system, so that the lighting can be automatically switched. For brief office activities for example, the lights will be switched off within a minute. In bright weather, the lights are automatically switched off, and also once the alarm system has been activated. All these measures ensure lights are not left on unnecessarily.

In order to save even more energy, nearly all electricity is switched off in the building once the alarm system has been activated. Computers and printers therefore use no standby power.

Maximum efficiency is achieved by combining all the controls in a single computer system, developed by Wilk van der Sande.

The final touch in the optimisation process is that the controls react to the weather forecast, so that we do not generate more heat or cold than is absolutely necessary.