HYBUILD is a group of 21 partners from 9 countries. Every month, a new HYBUILD partner is introduced in our Blog section. Today,  the GREiA research group of University of Lleida.

GREiA research group at the University of Lleida

The research group GREiA (www.greia.udl.cat), headed by Prof. Dr. Luisa F. Cabeza, has long experience in thermal energy storage (TES) technologies, buildings energy efficiency, artificial intelligence, and energy use optimization. Since its foundation in 1999, the group has been developing TES concepts and systems for different applications, such as solar water tanks, building envelops, buildings HVAC systems, industrial applications, and CSP plants. One of the main objectives of GREiA is to contribute to increase the competitiveness of enterprises, through the collaboration in the development of new products and with technological assessment. The group is active in several working groups of the International Energy Agency, as well as the RHC European Technology Platform. GREiA collaborates with a big variety of companies, from local SME to multinationals, doing R+D+I or developing new products, and it also participates in different H2020 projects.

GREiA role in HYBUILD

The head of the group, Prof. Dr. Luisa F. Cabeza, is responsible for the technical coordination of the project. Furthermore, GREiA is the leader of the work package on life cycle assessment, life cycle cost analysis and standardization. Due to its wide expertise, GREiA is in charge of thermal energy storage components development, and has a key role in the control prototyping and artificial intelligence incorporation. Finally, the group is leading the task on exploiting synergies between HYBUILD and other global initiatives

Get in touch!

Prof. Luisa F. Cabeza holds a degree on Chemical Engineering (1992) and one on Industrial Engineering (1993), as well as a MBA (1995) and a PhD on Industrial Engineering (1996), University Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain. She started to work on thermal energy storage (TES) in 1999 and today she leads the GREiA research group at the University of Lleida, one of the biggest groups in the world working on the topic. She has an h-index of 47 and 336 documents in Scopus, 7 patents on TES, and over 200 papers on journals with impact factor. She has coordinated or led 8 national projects on TES, has coordinated the following EU projects: EFFIBUILDINGS, INNOSTORAGE and INPATH-TES, and has participated in MOPCON, REWASTEE, MERITS, Innova MicroSolar, HYBUILD, and SWS-Heating.

Dr. Gabriel Zsembinszki holds a PhD degree in Physics from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain. Since 2010 he has been part-time lecturer at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Lleida. Currently he is a post-doc researcher at the GREiA research group at the University of Lleida, on topics related to thermal energy storage based on the use of phase change materials, energy optimisation in industrial processes, energy systems, and modelling of refrigeration systems. So far he appears as inventor of 2 patent applications and published 14 articles in SCI journals (h-index 7 on Scopus. He participated in different European projects (FP7 andH2020), and he was involved in the coordination of the EU H2020 funded project INPATH-TES (H2020-CSA No 657466).

Dr. Cèsar Fernández

Dr. Cèsar Fernández is an associate professor since 2002. He graduated as Telecommunications Engineer in 1987 at the Polytechnical University of Catalunya (Spain), worked as communications engineer in projects related to the European Space Agency at INISEL (Spain) and obtained the PhD in 2001 at the same university. In 2001 he was hired as post-doctoral researcher at Cornell University (USA), working on constraint programming. Until 2017 he managed the Artificial Research Group at University of Lleida, focused on; using machine learning techniques for planning and scheduling industrial operations to optimize energy usage; planning energy purchase decisions for companies; and intelligent control tools for thermal storage. As an associate professor at the University of Lleida, among other positions he was vice-director of the Polytechnical School (2000), vice-rector for infrastructures and information technologies (2003-2007) and director of the Computing Research Center (2009-2014). Since 2000, Dr. Fernández has published 38 scientific index papers with a H-index of 11 and contributed to more than 25 international conferences, 15 of them rated as A/A+ JCR/CORE. He has managed 4 national funded research projects involving research teams of Spanish universities and research centers and actively participated as a researcher 8 national and international research projects.

Dr. Carles Mateu

Dr. Carles Mateu is an associate professor since 2014. He graduated from Computer Science Engineering in 2003 at the Open University of Catalonia. He has been working as systems and networks engineer in the University of Lleida from 1996 to 2003. From 2003 to 2007 he acted as director of the Information Systems and Communications department of the University, managing all IT resources of the university, either from central services to faculties and departments. In 2009, he got his PhD on Computer Science Engineering with research or artificial intelligence, focusing on solving computationally hard problems and optimizations. In 2009, after a 6 months postdoc contract at the Institute for Research in Artificial Intelligence, depending on the Spanish Council for Scientific Research, he joined the University of Lleida as lecturer and researcher on artificial intelligence, focusing on optimization and machine learning. From 2009 to 2011 he acted as deputy vicerector for IT systems. Since 2004, Dr. Carles Mateu has published 12 scientific indexed papers, with an H-index of 7, and contributed to more than 20 international conferences, 9 of them rated as A/A+ JCR/Core. He has actively participated as a researcher in 11 national and international projects.

Dr. Alvaro de Gracia Cuesta

Post-doc researcher at University of Lleida, Dr. Alvaro de Gracia participated in several international (2 H2020 and 5 FP7) national (4 Spanish, 1 Chilean).  Finished his PhD in 2013 and has been working at University of Lleida, Universidad de Antofagasta, and University Rovira i Virgili. He appears as inventor of 2 patent applications and published 55 articles in SCI journals (h-index 17 on Scopus). He has supervised 3 PhD Thesis. He was granted with a Juan de la Cierva Research Contract during 2016-2017, and recently was granted by a TECNIOSpringPlus Marie-Curie Actions. His expertise is focused on experimental analysis, numerical modelling, and smart control of thermal energy storage systems.

Dr. Eduard Oró

Juan de la Cierva Incorporación post-doctoral researcher at UDL. Recently, Dr. Oró has joined UDL as post-doctoral researcher but he has spent the last four and a half years working at the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (Barcelona, Spain) as senior researcher, involved in different EU funded projects and leading the greenIT research line. He studied Mechanical Engineering at University of Lleida and Industrial Engineering at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. In 2013 he presented his PhD at the University of Lleida about thermal energy storage solutions. His research interests are energy efficiency, renewable energy and thermal energy storage for industrial processes, IT sector and buildings. He has more than 30 papers published, h-index 18 and over 1700 citations in Scopus.

Margalida Fullana Puig

Ms Margalida Fullana Puig has enrolled her PhD in November 2017 within co-tutelle between University of Lleida, Spain and University of Perugia, Italy. The title of her thesis is “Development of sorption materials for thermal energy storage (TES)”. The development of sorption or thermochemical materials (TCM) for thermal energy storage (TES) can be an answer to reduce the CO2 emissions and resources depletion contribution of energy and building sectors. This PhD thesis will focus on the characterization of physical and chemical properties to assess its performance; the ascertainment of the reaction efficiency by means of a corrosion, kinetics and cyclability studies; the design and implementation of a new laboratory scale set-up to validate various parameters of the reaction and the modelling and simulation, which will allow to easily change variables and to check their effects on the system. (Supervisors in University of Lleida: Prof. Luisa F. Cabeza, Dr. Aran Solé – Universitat Jaume I, and Supervisors in University of Perugia: Dr. Anna Laura Pisello, Prof. Franco Cotana)

Jaume Gasia

Mr Jaume Gasia his PhD in September 2014 under the supervision of Prof. Luisa F. Cabeza (Universitat de Lleida) and Dr. Steven Tay (Newcastle University) and he is presenting and defending his PhD in 2018. The topics of his PhD are on one hand the study of the partial load operating conditions in a mid-temperature range latent heat TES system, and on the other hand on the study of the dynamic melting concept in a low-temperature range latent heat TES system. During the development of his PhD, he has also participated in different European (H2020 and FP7) and Spanish projects, as well as in the IEA-ECES Annex 30 work group. His expertise is focused on experimental analysis and numerical modelling of thermal energy storage systems.

HYBUILD is a group of 21 partners from 9 countries. Every month, a new HYBUILD partner is introduced in our Blog section. Today,  DAIKIN, a leading innovator and provider of advanced, high-quality air conditioning solutions for residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. DAIKIN is involved in HYBUILD through its Greek branch.

DAIKIN in a nutshell

Daikin presence in the Greek market goes back to the 80s. In 2004, Daikin Europe NV established a branch in Greece, Daikin Europe Hellas Office. In 2006, Daikin Europe Greek Office became a 100% subsidiary of the Daikin Group, under the name of Daikin Airconditioning Greece SA. Since 2006,  Daikin Greece has established a strong sales network of professional installers offering excellent pre and after sales support to its residential, commercial and industrial customers on a B2B and B2C basis. Daikin Greece occupies more than 30 people with a sales turnover in FY17 to reach 44M€ in Greece and Cyprus. In addition to air conditioning, Daikin Greece has established itself in the Greek market of heating systems and refrigeration, and has also developed advanced direct technical service activity.  Especially for heating, Daikin Greece is driving the way of decarbonization of the market playing a leading role in the introduction of the Air to Water (A2W) heat pump technology since 2007. Daikin Greece is an active member of  Applia Hellas local branch of Applia (former CECED) and member of the Union of Greek Companies for Heating and Energy (UHHE). Daikin Greece is certified according to the standards ISO 9001:2015 & ISO 14001:2015 for its quality and environmental management systems. Daikin is committed to providing homes, businesses and industry with the most efficient and safest solutions to meet all cooling and heating needs, today and in the future. DAIKIN is aware of its responsibility to protect the environment in everything it does: all its policies, practices and processes are developed and implemented with environmental sustainability in mind.

DAIKIN Role in HYBUILD

DAIKIN, as a technological leader in the HVAC market, is in charge of the selection, modification and provision of the heat pumps needed for the HYBUILD hybrid storage system for the Mediterranean climate. The heat pump is a key element of the overall HYBUILD system, since it allows the efficient conversion of the electric energy produced by the PV panels in thermal energy, which can be either stored (in the Phase-Changing Material (PCM) storage, connected to the evaporator, or the sorption storage connected to the condenser), or directly cover the space cooling and/or DHW and heating demands. With the compressor connected directly to a Direct Current (DC) bus, this configuration will further enhance the electrical efficiency of the system.

Besides, DAIKIN’s long experience in heat pump technology and market, will lead to useful recommendations within HYBUILD regarding the integration of the subsystems with the selected heat pump and the economic analysis of the whole system.

Meet our staff

Managing Director at Daikin Hellas, since August 2014. He studied mechanical engineer at the National Technical University of Athens and holds a master of Science in Automation Control from the same University. He also got a Masters in Business Administration from the Cardiff Business School of Whales.

Senior Expert Engineer. Assistant manager of the After Sales Department of Daikin Greece. He studied mechanical engineer at the National Technical University of Athens and he holds a Master of Science in Control Systems Engineering from University of Sheffield and a Master of Philosophy in Control Systems from City University of London. Member of the scientific committee of the Greek Division of CECED. He has also knowledge over the current National and European legislation related to HVAC efficiency and F-Gas.

Dimitris Kalogeras

Senior Expert Engineer. Assistant manager of the Sales Department of Daikin Greece. He studied mechanical engineering at the National Technical University of Athens. He has high skills and experience in the evaluation of current heating, ventilation and Air- Conditioning systems and also in the field of supporting consultants in developing solutions custom made for each installation by utilizing the different available technologies. He has also deep knowledge in the field of Energy Efficiency in the Building Sector.

 

The 21 partners of the HYBUILD project gathered in Lleida (Spain) on 12-13 April 2018 in order to review the overall progress and discuss key technical aspects for the next steps of the project.

The meeting was hosted by the University of Lleida and a visit of the Spanish pilot site was organised in Almatret.

Almatret intends to become a reference in the use renewable energy and sustainable development. HYBUILD is therefore a major element within the town “ALMI – Almatret + Energy” overall vision and roadmap which is further presented on the following dedicated website http://almiaenergy.com/

 

 

HYBUILD is a group of 21 partners from 9 countries. Every month, a new HYBUILD partner is introduced in our Blog section. Today, FAHRENHEIT, a company specialised in cooling innovation.

FAHRENHEIT in a nutshell

FAHRENHEIT is a pioneer in adsorption technology. Based in Germany, the company designs and manufactures the most advanced adsorption cooling devices on the market. It applies innovative research to delivering energy efficient cooling solutions. Its products have made their way into hundreds of installations worldwide across a diverse range of industries and applications.

FAHRENHEIT was founded in 2002 as a spin-off from Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE). From the very beginning, research and technological excellence have been the pillars of the company.  Its original research coupled with a keen awareness of our customers’ requirements resulted in ground breaking patents in energy solutions. FAHRENHEIT develops and manufactures innovative and efficient solutions to generate and store cold anywhere cold is needed and waste heat is available.

Adsorption chillers by FAHRENHEIT can be used wherever there is residual heat available. Its cooling technology reaches a new dimension of energy efficiency because it does not rely on electrical power for cooling. Its chillers and its adsorption modules are widely used in industrial manufacturing, for air conditioning, in data centers, in solar cooling and in various other applications. They are also ideally suited for combined heat and power plants – turning them into tri-generation units –, and they can save substantial amounts of energy and CO2 emissions in mobile applications such as cars and transport cooling.

FAHRENHEIT role in HYBUILD

FAHRENHEIT chillers operate on the principle of adsorption. Adsorption occurs when molecules of a liquid (in our case water) adhere to the surface of a solid (in our case zeolite crystals or silica gel). This causes the liquid to evaporate, generating cold. Once the solid material is saturated, heating it will cause it to release the adsorbed liquid, allowing the process to start again.

Within the HYBUILD project FAHRENHEIT focuses on the development of advanced adsorption heat exchangers for the Mediterranean region and the efficient integration of the vapour compression heat pump with the adsorption storage part in order to enhance its EER.

Figure : Adsorption heat exchanger with Al fibre material (Fraunhofer IFAM) coated with zeolite by FAHRENHEIT with detailed view of zeolite coated fibres (left: schematic, right: microscopic picture)

Meet our staff

The following staff is involved in the HYBUILD project:

Walter Mittelbach is the Chief Technology Officer of FAHRENHEIT. He founded SorTech AG, the predecessor of FAHRENHEIT, in 2002. He holds several patents on adsorption technology and, together with his team, won numerous awards for developing efficient and compact adsorption chillers.

Walter Mittelbach laid the foundation for FAHRENHEIT as a researcher at Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE). He studied physics at Graz University and at Free University Berlin.

Dr. Ralph Herrmann is in charge of research and development at FAHRENHEIT. Trained as a chemist, Dr. Herrmann dedicated a large part of his professional life to researching and evolving zeolite crystals. He holds numerous patents in this field. Since 2004, he has been applying his expertise at FAHRENHEIT.

Prior to joining FAHRENHEIT, Dr. Herrmann obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Halle and spent several years at the University of Erlangen as a researcher and as a lecturer for chemical engineers.

Ursula Wittstadt joined FAHRENHEIT in 2016 to work in the development of the next generation adsorption chiller and the co-ordination of research projects.

Ursula Wittstadt holds a diploma in Energy and Process Engineering of the Technical University in Berlin. Before joining FAHRENHEIT she worked as a researcher and project leader at the Fraunhofer Institute of Solar Energy Systems (ISE) in Freiburg within the field of adsorption heat exchanger development.

The European Association for Storage of Energy (EASE) is the voice of the energy storage community, actively promoting the use of energy storage in Europe and worldwide.

The European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) is an alliance of European public research centres and universities. It is one of the cornerstones of the European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan).

EASE and EERA released the 2017 update of their roadmap which provides a comprehensive overview of the energy storage technologies being developed in Europe today and identifies the R&D needs in the coming decades. On this basis, the roadmap provides recommendations for R&D policies and regulatory changes needed to support the development and large-scale deployment of energy storage technologies. The aim is to inform policymakers for research, innovation, and demonstration in the energy storage sector in order to further strengthen Europe’s research and industrial competitiveness in the energy storage industry.

Download the EASE-EERA roadmap – 2017 update

HYBUILD is a group of 21 partners from 9 countries. Every month, a new HYBUILD partner is introduced in our Blog section. Today, COMSA CORPORACIÓN, the project coordinator.

COMSA in a nutshell

COMSA CORPORACIÓN is the first largest unlisted Spanish group in the infrastructures and engineering sector. With more than a century of experience behind it, it mainly operates in the fields of Infrastructures and Engineering; Services and Technology; and Concessions and Renewable Energy. The company is currently present in more than 20 countries, has a turnover of more than €1,000 million and over 7.600 employees.COMSA CORPORACIÓN is focused on the Smart Cities with a special focus in R&D projects on BIPV, Building and District level energy management systems and advanced HVAC solutions. All these projects are devoted to increase the energy efficiency performance and a better integration of renewable energies. COMSA Industrial is the engineering company within the group. It has a long track on renewable energy systems, including BIPV installations, and an extensive background of construction and operation of sustainable buildings. Some of these projects involve some major and emblematic local projects, such as the offices of the Agbar Tower or the Blood and Human Tissue Bank in Barcelona.

COMSA role in HYBUILD

COMSA CORPORACIÓN is the HYBUILD Project Coordinator. It will ensure an efficient management of the project throughout its development from an administrative and financial point of view.  It will define the set of working procedures, processes and best practices guidelines to ensure the quality standards of the project outcome. COMSA will contribute funnelling the work of all the partners of the consortium towards achieving the expected outcomes of the project on time, and will make sure that the consortium complies with the requirements of the EC and its Horizon 2020 funding programme.

Meet our staff

COMSA CORPORACIÓN staff involved directly in HYBUILD project are Sergio Valentino Costa (Project Coordinator), Josep María Galan, and Gisela Soley:

works as a Project Manager in the Energy R&D division of the company. He holds a MSc in Energy Engineering from UPC (Spain) and MSc in Sustianable Energy Technology from TU/e (Netherlands). He has over 5 years experience working on energy and climate related projects in buildings, including three projects related to demand response and flexibility services. He has supported tasks including real-time integration of building data (hardware and software), data analytics and project coordination.

has been part of COMSA Industrial since 2006 and has been, since then, the responsible for the mechanical installations engineering department before coming the head of the mechanical installations division. He has actively participated in the engineering of HVAC systems in numerous relevant buildings (Reus, Barcelona 112 building, etc.) including the integration of Renewable Energy technologies (PV, geothermal, etc.).  In addition, Josep Maria has experience working in R&D projects. (e.g GEOED and GEOTECH).

For its 6th edition, the Sustainable Places International conference series is coming back to France. It will be co-hosted by INES – Institut National de l’Energie Solaire and Université Savoie Mont Blanc from 27th-29th June in Aix-Les-Bains, France. 

HYBUILD is leading the organisation of a workshop focused on Innovative Energy Storage solutions at SP18, in cooperation with its sister-projects TESSe2b, SCORES, and CREATE.

SP18 will offer a visit of CEA – INES unique facilities, a leading solar-energy research platform with technologies for building, mobility, storage and grids.

• Interested in contributing to SP18 ? Read the Call for Papers
• Interested in contributing to our energy storage workshop ?  contact Régis Decorme.

The main goal of the SHAPE ENERGY sandpits is to bring people together who are interested in improving and innovating and who, crucially, are currently or have recently been involved in EU-funded projects on similar topics as the main subject of the sandpits.

These events are aimed at :

• reflecting on current direction and task in individual projects;
• generating concrete ideas for increasing impacts on society;
• experiencing innovative methods of interdisciplinary and cross-sector working within energy and transport projects;
• meeting cross-Europeans collaborators in a stimulating environment and generating future project ideas for progressing energy related topics.

HYBUILD will be represented through its exploitation and dissemination manager R2M Solution. The event is taking place on 22-23 February 2018 at the Valentino Castle, Torino, hosted by Politecnico di Torino.

HYBUILD is a group of 21 partners from 9 countries. Every month, a new HYBUILD partner is introduced in our Blog section. Today, R2M Solution, the innovation, exploitation and dissemination manager.

R2M Solution in a nutshell

R2M is an integrated and multi-disciplinary consulting company that aggressively targets filling the gap between research activities and market implementation. The company partners with over 200 organizations across Europe in its ongoing research activities. Every project is an opportunity to make a difference on society and through them, R2M has the ability to facilitate technology transfer across organisational types, operational sectors and geographical locations. Through its projects, R2M has launched startups, sold IP and brought new products and services to the market.

R2M role in HYBUILD

R2M is a dynamic partner that supports the coordinator and the consortium to glue together all the HYBUILD concepts and focuses on maximum exploitation and impact, while safeguarding the interest of all industrial partners.  R2M leads both exploitation and dissemination activities of the project.

Get in touch !

R2M Solution staff involved in HYBUILD are Thomas, Pascal and Régis.

  (R2M Solution Founder and CEO): Tom Messervey has over 20 years of engineering experience spanning military service in the US Army Corps of Engineers, Industrial Experience with the Italian Engineering Company D’Appolonia, teaching excellence at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and Coaching services as the EU Facilitator for the Intelligent Manufacturing Systems program (www.ims.org). He is passionate about linking international research efforts to boost competitiveness. Read more.

  : Pascal is the CEO and co-founder of the French branch of R2M Solution, which was created in March 2017 and co-located with his other climate engineering company OSMOSE in Roquefort-les-Pins on the French Riviera. He is a specialist in HVAC, energy optimisation, and air treatment (controlled dust level facilities, clean rooms, explosive atmosphere, health and safety ventilations, etc.). Read more

: Regis is senior expert in IT research and innovation addressing societal challenges. He is focusing on Information Technologies and Open Innovation for business-oriented domains such as energy-efficient buildings, active ageing & design as well as smart cities. He is the R2M Solution representative at the European Construction Technology Platform (ECTP). Read more

 

 

HYBUILD project was kicked off in Brussels on October 18th, 2017 at the European Commission.

HYBUILD is a 6M€ project supported by the European Commission under its Horizon 2020 programme – Energy-efficient Buildings Public-Private partnership. The project will develop two innovative compact hybrid electrical/thermal storage systems for stand-alone and district connected buildings.