Starting point / motivation

The decarbonisation of the urban building stock is a key element in achieving climate neutrality in multi-storey buildings. While current approaches focus primarily on centrally organised supply solutions, there is a great need for action in the area of decentralised individual solutions in particular - especially in existing urban buildings.

Around 600,000 gas appliances are in operation in Vienna, around 474,000 of which are decentralised combi boilers in multi-storey residential buildings. Around 395,000 of these appliances are located outside the district heating network. This is precisely where DEKARBOdezentral comes in.

Contents and goals

The aim of the project is to explore technical alternatives to gas-fired floor combi boilers for existing flats with a decentralised gas supply. The focus is on decentralised, minimally invasive and cost-effective heating solutions based on renewable energies. Existing building infrastructures - such as chimney shafts - are utilised and compact heat pump systems are used. This enables a transformation without the need for comprehensive building refurbishment.

Methods

The central research question is: How can an individual residential solution for heating and hot water be realised that is technically efficient, very cost-effective and user-friendly? Two approaches are favoured in the project:

1. a chimney-mounted air/water heat pump with integrated hot water cylinder,
2. a compact air/air heat pump appliance with direct external wall connection.

Technical parameters such as heat output, COP and noise emissions are analysed for both approaches. The chimney-equipped solution will be trialled in a real flat under realistic conditions, while the second variant will be set up under test conditions on a factory site.

This involves a comprehensive analysis of technical feasibility, economic efficiency, legal framework conditions and acoustic compatibility. The use of existing infrastructure reduces costs and enables gradual decarbonisation without major structural measures.

The project particularly addresses existing flats in which central solutions are not structurally feasible or the conversion process to a central system is stalling due to legal, economic or organisational reasons (e.g. ownership structures or lack of infrastructure). 

At the same time, the so-called lock-in effect is also taken into account: the proposed solutions are designed in such a way that they do not block later building-centrally organised systems, but instead enable transition or hybrid solutions.

Expected results

With its systemic, application-orientated approach, DEKARBOdezentral creates a sound basis for a subsequent demonstration project on a larger scale. The project has a high replication potential
- especially for multi-storey buildings - and makes a measurable contribution to the urban heat transition.

Schöberl & Pöll GmbH
Lassallestraße 2/6-8
A-1020 Vienna
Tel.: +43 (1) 726 45 66
E-mail: office@schoeberlpoell.at
Web: www.schoeberlpoell.at