Sustainable buildings: towards an energy producing built environment

GENERATING ADDITIONAL ENERGY FROM ENERGY-POSITIVE BUILDINGS

The heating, hot water and installations in a building result in building-specific energy consumption. In order to be energy neutral, this consumption must be compensated by renewably generated energy, thereby making it CO₂-neutral.

TNO is committed to sustainable buildings that produce energy. Energy-positive buildings compensate for building-related energy consumption and they also generate enough energy for all their own use, such as electrical equipment, computers and lighting. And they generate extra energy for use in other sectors, such as industry and transport.

REALISING SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION THROUGH FOUR INNOVATIVE AREAS

In order to realise energy-positive buildings, we look at energy from four angles:

• For example, we are working on solar panels and alternatives to fossil fuels for energy generation.
• Energy transport is about ensuring that the place where energy is produced (or generated) is as close as possible to the place where it is used.
• For energy storage, we focus on heat batteries, which store solar energy or wind energy.
• For energy use, we develop concepts to generate or reuse heat. We also devise ways of helping users to use energy more efficiently. And we work on solutions that keep homes and business premises not only energy efficient, but also pleasant, liveable and healthy.

HOW DO WE ACHIEVE NATURAL GAS-FREE NEIGHBOURHOODS?

Making municipalities gas-free requires much more than the development of technological solutions. TNO contributes to the realisation of natural gas-free neighbourhoods and a future without CO₂ emissions in a variety of areas:

• technology for energy-positive buildings and renovation concepts
• sustainable energy generation
• smart energy systems
• policy support

This TNO project supports the following Sustainable Development Goals