Energy demand prediction for the implementation of an energy tariff emulator to trigger demand response in buildings

Buildings are key actors of the electrical gird. As such they have an important role to play in grid stabilization, especially in a context where renewable energies are mandated to become an increasingly important part of the energy mix. Demand response provides a mechanism to reduce or displace electrical demand to better match electrical production. Buildings can be a pool of flexibility for the grid to operate more efficiently. One of the ways to obtain flexibility from building managers and building users is the introduction of variable energy prices which evolve depending on the expected load and energy generation. In the proposed scenario, the wholesale energy price of electricity, a load prediction, and the elasticity of consumers are used by an energy tariff emulator to predict prices to trigger end user flexibility. In this paper, a cluster analysis to classify users is performed and an aggregated energy prediction is realised using Random Forest machine learning algorithm.This paper is part of a project that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 768614. This paper reflects only the author´s views and neither the Agency nor the Commission are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein

MOEEBIUS ENERGY PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION FRAMEWORK IN BUILDINGS FOR URBAN SUSTAINABILITY

With the increasing demand for more energy efficient buildings, the construction and energy services industries are faced with the challenge to ensure that the energy performance and savings predicted during energy efficiency measures definition is actually achieved during operation. There is, however, significant evidence to suggest that buildings underperform illustrating a, so called, “performance gap” which is attributed to a variety of causal factors related to both predicted and in-use performance, implying that predictions tend to be unrealistically low whilst actual energy performance is usually unnecessarily high. In turn the successful penetration and effective application of ESCO business models relies on minimizing the gap between actual and predicted building energy performance. The aforementioned gap, though, prohibit the scaled deployment of energy efficiency projects constituting a significant barrier to the development of the ESCO market. The overall problem (performance gap) could be basically interpreted as an inability of current modelling techniques to represent the realistic use and operation of buildings. MOEEBIUS H2020 project introduces a Holistic Energy Performance Optimization Framework that enhances current (passive and active building elements) modelling approaches with advanced user behaviour modelling and machine learning technologies to create an innovative suite of end-user tools and applications enabling: (i) accurate Building Energy Performance prediction, (ii) precise allocation of detailed performance contributions between critical building components and operations, (iii) real-time building performance optimization, (iv) optimized retrofitting decision-making and, (v) real-time peak-load management optimization at the district level. Through the provision of a robust technological framework MOEEBIUS will enable the creation of attractive business opportunities for ESCOs, Aggregators, Maintenance and Facility Managers in evolving and highly competitive energy services markets.This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 680517

Integration of Real-Intelligence in Energy Management Systems to Enable Holistic Demand Response Optimization in Buildings and Districts

Although multiple trials have been conducted demonstrating that demand side flexibility works and even though technology roll-out progresses significantly fast, the business application of residential and small tertiary demand response has been slow to develop. This paper introduces a holistic demand response optimization framework that enables significant energy costs reduction at the consumer side, while introducing buildings as a major contributor to energy networks' stability in response to network constraints and conditions. The backbone of the solution consists in a modular interoperability and data management framework that enables open standards-based communication along the demand response value chain. The solution is validated in four large-scale pilot sites, incorporating diverse building types, heterogeneous home, building and district energy systems and devices, a variety of energy carriers and spanning diverse climatic conditions, demographic and cultural characteristics.European Commission's H2020, 76861

A new era in the energy performance of buildings

Improving energy efficiency in buildings is a major priority for the European Union, yet current modelling processes do not accurately reflect consumption. The MOEEBIUS framework will provide the basis for more accurate energy performance assessment, underpinning efforts to improve efficiency and opening up new commercial opportunities, as Dawid Krysiński explainsH2020 680517 MOEEBIUS

Multiscale building modelling and energy simulation support tools

Building and district modelling (BIM, CityGML…) are key technologies for the deployment of energy efficiency strategies at building and district level, from the initial stages of planning and design to the operation and maintenance ones. These technologies allow satisfying the interoperability requirements that fa-cilitate the cooperation among the multiple stakeholders and provide the framework to develop more intelli-gent tools. This paper introduces five complementary European R&D projects in which TECNALIA is col-laborating, very good examples of innovative systems based on these concepts. MOEEBIUS enhances passive and active building elements modelling approaches enabling improved building energy performance simula-tions. HOLISTEEC focuses on building multi-physical simulations considering the neighborhood context. FASUDIR exploits the high potential of GIS tools for urban sustainability analysis and accurate building en-ergy performance evaluation. EFFESUS integrates district and building scales in historic districts. OPTEEMAL develops a platform at district level, based on an IPD approach.This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 680517

MiR-219a-5p Enriched Extracellular Vesicles Induce OPC Differentiation and EAE Improvement More Efficiently Than Liposomes and Polymeric Nanoparticles

Remyelination is a key aspect in multiple sclerosis pathology and a special effort is being made to promote it. However, there is still no available treatment to regenerate myelin and several strategies are being scrutinized. Myelination is naturally performed by oligodendrocytes and microRNAs have been postulated as a promising tool to induce oligodendrocyte precursor cell differentiation and therefore remyelination. Herein, DSPC liposomes and PLGA nanoparticles were studied for miR-219a-5p encapsulation, release and remyelination promotion. In parallel, they were compared with biologically engineered extracellular vesicles overexpressing miR-219a-5p. Interestingly, extracellular vesicles showed the highest oligodendrocyte precursor cell differentiation levels and were more effective than liposomes and polymeric nanoparticles crossing the blood–brain barrier. Finally, extracellular vesicles were able to improve EAE animal model clinical evolution. Our results indicate that the use of extracellular vesicles as miR-219a-5p delivery system can be a feasible and promising strategy to induce remyelination in multiple sclerosis patients.This work was supported by Carlos III Institute, (PI17/00189 and DTS15/00069), by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional—FEDER, by the Gipuzkoa Regional Council (DFG 15/006), by grant from the Basque Government (RIS3/DTS/2018222025), by the Department of Industry of the Basque Country (ELKARTEK 16/014), and the Spanish State Research Agency (SAF2017-87670-R) and Maria de Maeztu Units of Excellence Program Grant MDM-2017-0720). I.O.-Q., A.A. and L.I. were supported by the Department of Education of the Basque Government. IOQ and LAN were supported by EMBO short Term Fellowship Programme. LAN was supported by a Canadian graduate scholarship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CGS-D CIHR).PRC was supported by Ikerbasque, the Basque Foundation for Science

Diseño y análisis de un cuadro de bicicleta mediante el método de los elementos finitos

Resumen: en el presente proyecto se realizará el diseño y el análisis de un cuadro de bicicleta, con el objetivo de simular el cuadro bajo distintas solicitaciones y realizar dos ensayos de fatiga definidos en la Norma ISO 4210-6:2015. Primeramente, se estudiarán los efectos de los distintos parámetros del cuadro en el rendimiento de la bicicleta, tanto los aspectos geométricos como los materiales de fabricación. Esta información se utilizará para desarrollar un diseño del cuadro, que posteriormente será objeto de análisis. Para llevar a cabo el proyecto se utilizarán programas de modelado para el diseño del cuadro y de simulación por Elementos Finitos. El análisis del cuadro consta de 5 ensayos diferentes: tres correspondientes al estudio de las fuerzas que transmite el ciclista en diferentes situaciones (empezando a pedalear, subiendo una pendiente y frenando); y dos ensayos de fatiga según la normativa vigente (ensayo de fatiga por fuerzas horizontales y ensayo de fatiga con una fuerza vertical).Laburpena: proiektu honek, bizikleta baten koadroaren diseinu eta analisia du helburutzat. Koadroak hainbat egoeratan jasaten dituen kargak simulatuko dira eta horrez gain, ISO 4210-6:2015 araudiaren araberako bi neke entsegu burutuko dira. Lehenik, koadroaren zenbait parametrok bizikletaren errendimenduan zelan eragiten duten ezagutuko da, bai karakteristika geometrikoek zein koadroaren materialek. Informazio honetaz baliatuta, koadroaren diseinu bat proposatuko da, geroxeago entseatu egingo dena. Bi programa mota erabiliko dira proiektuan zehar; bata, diseinua egiteko eta bestea, Elementu Finituen bitartezko simulazio programa bat. Koadroaren analisia 5 entseguz eratzen da: hiru entsegu txirrindulariak egoera desberdinetan transmititzen dituen indarren ikerketak omen dira (pedalei eragiten hasten denean, aldapan gora doanean eta gelditzerakoan) eta beste biak, araudiaren araberako neke entseguak (indar horizontalen neke entsegua eta indar bertikal bakarraren neke entsegua).Abstract: the following project will deal with the design and analysis of a bicycle frame. The aim is to simulate the frame under certain loads and carry out two fatigue tests, specified in the ISO 4210-6:2015 standard. Firstly, the effect that the parameters of the frame have on the performance will be studied (geometrical aspects of the frame and the materials). Once this is known, the design of the frame will be developed. In order to accomplish the project, two different types of programs were used: a CAD software for the modelling and a Finite Element analysis software for the trials. 5 different tests will be carried out: three of them concerning the study of the frame under certain loads in different cycling situations (starting, climbing and braking) and two fatigue tests according to the ISO standards (fatigue test under horizontal forces and fatigue test under a vertical force)

Plotting a path to reduce the energy performance gap

Improving energy efficiency performance in buildings is a major priority for the European Commission, with a target of achieving 20 percent energy savings by 2020. The EU promotes solutions which reduce energy consumption in the building sector to achieve this, an area which forms the primary research focus for the MOEEBIUS projectH2020, MOEEBIUS, 68051

d-Dimer elevation and adverse outcomes

d-Dimer is a biomarker of fibrin formation and degradation. While a d-dimer within normal limits is used to rule out the diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism among patients with a low clinical probability of venous thromboembolism (VTE), the prognostic association of an elevated d-dimer with adverse outcomes has received far less emphasis. An elevated d-dimer is independently associated with an increased risk for incident VTE, recurrent VTE, and mortality. An elevated d-dimer is an independent correlate of increased mortality and subsequent VTE across a broad variety of disease states. Therefore, medically ill subjects in whom the d-dimer is elevated constitute a high risk subgroup in which the prospective evaluation of the efficacy and safety of antithrombotic therapy is warranted

Energy, Environmental and Economic Analysis of Air-to-Air Heat Pumps as an Alternative to Heating Electrification in Europe

Heat pumps (HP) are an efficient alternative to non-electric heating systems (NEHS), being a cost-effective mean to support European building sector decarbonization. The paper studies HP and NEHS performance in residential buildings, under different climate conditions and energy tariffs, in six different European countries. Furthermore, a primary energy and environmental analysis is performed to evaluate if the use of HPs is more convenient than NEHS, based on different factors of the electric mix in each country. A specific HP model is developed considering the main physical phenomena occurring along its cycle. Open data from building, climatic and economic sources are used to feed the analysis. Ad hoc primary energy factors and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission coefficients are calculated for the selected countries. The costs and the environmental impact for both heating systems are then compared. The outcomes of the study suggest that, in highly fossil fuels dependent electricity mixes, the use of NEHS represents a more efficient decarbonization approach than HP, in spite of its higher efficiency. Additionally, the actual high price of the electric kWh hampers the use of HP in certain cases.European Commission's H202