For the transition of the built environment towards carbon neutrality, heating with green hydrogen can obtain a key role, especially in countries with a well developed natural gas infrastructure, like the Netherlands. Leading studies show that the existing transport and distribution gas network can be transformed for hydrogen transport at relatively low costs. The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) indicates that at a hydrogen price below 3,6 €/kg, hydrogen for heating is the most cost effective option for the majority of the existing buildings, taking all costs into account for alternative sustainable heating options. This is not an unrealistic price expectation in 2030 for green hydrogen, with significant price reductions to be expected in the subsequent decennia. The Gasunie, the network operator for large scale gas transport in the Netherlands and Northern Germany, is developing a plan for a national 10-15 GW capacity ‘hydrogen backbone’, connecting all major industrial areas throughout the country. The hydrogen backbone is expected to be operational in 2026. When during the peak demand in winter, 10% of this capacity is available for neighboring residential areas, hydrogen heating becomes an option for at least 500.000 dwellings in 2030. The corresponding hydrogen demand at a reasonable cost level, provides an additional driver for the development of green hydrogen production capacity at a significant scale. ... Read more

De belangstelling voor waterstof als energiedrager voor de gebouwde omgeving ontwikkelt zich snel. Veel indicatoren wijzen inmiddels in de richting dat waterstof een significante bijdrage gaat leveren in de verduurzamingsopgave, ook voor ruimteverwarming. Essentieel is de beschikbaarheid van een grootschalige infrastructuur voor waterstoftoelevering. De voorzichtige positiekeuze in het Nederlandse klimaatakkoord ten aanzien van waterstofbeschikbaarheid in 2030 is achterhaald met de Gasunieplannen voor een Nederlandse waterstofbackbone. De plannen richten zich weliswaar in eerste instantie op de waterstofvoorziening van de industrie, maar een inschatting laat zien dat ook belevering van honderdduizenden woningen in 2030 via deze waterstofbackbone mogelijk is. Gericht beleid om waterstof te integreren in de verduurzamingsrichtlijnen voor 2030 zou niet alleen het risico op de haalbaarheid van de CO2-emissiereductiedoelstellingen voor de gebouwde omgeving verlagen, maar legt ook een fundament voor de vergaande maatregelen die na 2030 nog nodig zijn. Een realistisch en haalbare doelstelling voor 2030 is om 500.000 woningen te verwarmen op waterstof middels een waterstof CV-ketel of op een combinatie van waterstof en elektriciteit middels een hybride warmtepomp-waterstof CV-ketel. ... Read more

Universities, due to their sizeable estates and populations of staff and students, as well as their connections with, and impact within, their local and wider communities, have significant environmental, social and economic impacts. There is a strong movement for universities to become leaders in driving society towards a more sustainable future, through improving the sustainability of the built environment and the universities’ practices and operations, and through their educational, research and wider community engagement missions. Around the globe the concept of ‘Living Labs’ has emerged as an instrument to integrate these different aspects to deliver sustainability improvements, through engaging multiple stakeholders in all of these areas, and through the co-creation of projects to improve the sustainability of the campus environment and operations, and to link these to the education, research, and wider community missions of the institution. This chapter describes a living, shared framework and methodology, the ‘Campus as Living Lab’ learning system, created through global participatory workshops and Living Lab literature, aimed at supporting universities and their Sustainability (Coordinating) Offices in the development and monitoring of Living Lab projects. The framework includes seven categories of supportive data collection and three levels of details to meet different requirements of potential users. The Living Lab framework presented in this chapter, aims to create value and help universities maximise the benefit of Living Lab projects within an institution, support monitoring, reflection and learning from projects, and facilitate communication with stakeholders, and the sharing of practices and learning between peers across the globe. As a living shared, framework and learning system, the framework will adapt and develop over time and within different contexts. To provide feedback and fast (practical) learning from users, the system will be further developed to facilitate transparent peer reviewing. ... Read more

In-depth knowledge from demonstrations is needed for the future development of facility management, related to the introduction of energy-saving devices, buildings and energy systems. Particularly there is a need to understand better how the concept of Energy Flexibility can effect energy saving strategies and innovation decisions. Using a district heating network installation as a case study (TU Delft university campus in the Nether-lands), this research investigates the opportunities and barriers that stakeholders en-counter.
To save energy and to deploy renewable energy systems, the Technical University of Delft is looking for ways to lower the heat supply temperature in the local (heat) grid on its campus. This implies that the connected individual buildings on the campus will need to be able to manage their energy demand more effectively, taking into account the new grid requirements, as well as the local climate conditions and user needs for indoor comfort, while delivered network supply temperatures for heating are lowered.
This innovation adoption study first analyses the motivations of stakeholders to change grid requirements at the TU Delft campus and the opportunities and barriers they encounter for introducing energy flexibility in the campus buildings, due to these changing grid requirements. The transition from a high to a medium supply temperature has far-reaching consequences on the facility management of the buildings and the redevelop-ment of the heat grid.
Secondly, this study looks at the main results from comfort simulations and real-life experi-ments to transform the heating network with a smart control system, with the aim to provide relevant information on encountered opportunities and barriers regarding facili-ty management.
Thirdly, the study discusses the encountered portfolio management opportunities and barriers from the viewpoint of innovation adoption.
The research concludes that the introduction of a smart heat network can be successfully test-ed on an estate of buildings with one estate operator. The smart control system can lower the heat network supply temperature in an individual heat network branch, which can support the implementation of renewable energy systems. However, this requires a time shift in the energy use of individual buildings and technical modifications of hardware, devices, buildings and systems.
The visibility of energy flexibility still needs to be improved and research results show an urgency to lower complexity for facility management. The lack of interoperability of building management, control and data transfer systems is an important practical barri-er for facility management. Limited suitable business models, the lack of framing of energy flexibility for sustainable portfolio management, and legal barriers can further hinder adoption of energy flexibility. ... Read more

This paper presents an alternative approach and preliminary results to developing a sustainable campus by connecting research, education and real estate management. It is coined ‘ShowHow’: the deployment and display of the knowhow of all stakeholders in a university. The approach is built upon five pillars: (1) Projects: the initiation of a variety of projects; (2) Intensive real estate involvement: the introduction of sustainability and innovation to all levels of real estate strategy and decision-making processes; (3) Programmatic themes: the development of multi-faculty, overarching programmatic themes; (4) Stakeholder integration: The involvement of and intense liaison and co-creation with real estate, facility management, professors, and students, and (5) Outreach: the provision of impetus for regional/national sustainability systems with campus projects. The results are encouraging: In a short period of time, one year, more than 20 projects have been developed, the board of the Real Estate department adopted sustainable development as a key value, three programmatic lines are under construction, personal connections between students, operational and scientific staff were established, and 2020 goals for greening the energy supply will be met in 2017. Additionally, the University also performs a catalyst role for regional sustainable heating transformations. New PhD positions could be established. This approach seems very promising, generating enthusiasm throughout the university. It has elements, typical for technical universities, but the formula may be replicated at other universities in general, by deploying non-technical knowhow, and by including existing local sustainability themes and opportunities ... Read more

Production of extracellular inulinase by low-cell-density (2 kg dry weight·m-3) sucrose-limited chemostat cultures of Kluyveromyces marxianus obeyed saturated kinetics at dilution rates ranging from 0.02 to 0.5 h-1. A non-structured Monod-type equation, describing the relation between specific growth rate and specific extracellular-inulinase production rate, was used to fit experimental data. THis equation was subsequently incorporated in a model for the production of biomass and extracellular inulinase in a high-cell-density (> 100 kg dry weight·m-3) fed-batchculture of K. marxianus grown on sucrose. The model adequately described biomass production in the fed-batch culture. However, the production of extracellular inulinase in the fed-batch process was slightly higher than predicted by the model. This observation may be related to differences in growth conditions between in the chemostat and fed-batch cultures. ... Read more