The Path to Positive CO2 Balances

Everyone is talking about carbon-neutral construction—and yet it’s already old news. Forward-thinking builders are focusing on positive carbon footprints. That’s the goal of tomorrow. Anyone who wants to achieve it must get started today and set the right course. Of course, that’s easier said than done. Especially in large, complex facilities such as industrial buildings and logistics centers, achieving positive CO2 footprints is “a huge challenge,” as Dirk Diehl, Managing Director of BuildingEngineering at io, reveals. After all: “The customer- and process-specific requirements vary greatly. There are no magic formulas—especially since the life cycle of each building is a key factor. Tailored technical solutions are needed. And they must be affordable.”

Reducing Energy Consumption

The overarching goal is not to limit building services engineering to just the core and shell, but to harness the energy potential and interactions between processes, logistics, and the building itself to take sustainability to a new level. In addition to the carbon footprint, minimizing primary energy demand and avoiding the use of fossil fuels are the hot topics of the moment. For the industry, this means prioritizing: “Avoiding energy consumption,” says Diehl. “After that, the focus is on energy recovery and, as a last resort, on energy generation.” To achieve sustainability, existing systems must be linked into an interoperable unit. To this end, for example, all energy consumption must be evaluated for potential reuse. That, too, depends heavily on the specific client, as Diehl goes on to explain. “This is an enormously complex issue and must therefore be considered on a highly individualized basis, which makes it an extremely exciting challenge.” For the pharmaceutical company Beyvers, for example, io is planning an energy concept to make the waste heat from the compressed air available to the heat pump, while the excess waste heat from the condensate return is fed into the heating system via a buffer tank. In addition, PV and PVT modules are being installed on a single surface—the latter for generating both electricity and heat.

“In addition to the legal requirements for the use of renewable energy in the building sector in combination with heat pumps, we are exploring the possibilities of using solar thermal and photovoltaic systems,” Diehl continued. “We are exploring cost-effective and customized solutions using heat sources such as ice storage, groundwater, or near-surface geothermal energy. We’re also analyzing our customers’ peak loads and the possibility of strategically managing load consumption through peak shaving to reduce energy costs and grid strain.”

Teamwork at io

At io, all of these services can be utilized either as individual services or directly as part of a General Planning // plus project. “This is well received,” says Diehl. “On the one hand, because engineering services like these would otherwise have to be outsourced, but also because we’re definitely at the cutting edge when it comes to energy solutions. The topic is trending. And we’re helping to shape it.”

Diehl and his team are also considering the use of electrolysers. These are highly efficient hydrogen generators for producing hydrogen as a green energy source. Green hydrogen can serve equally well as both an energy carrier and a storage medium. It can be used, for example, to refuel a fleet of hydrogen-powered vehicles or to operate a gas-hybrid steam generator or heat generator. It also plays a significant role in the decarbonization of industrial CO2 sources. “We are collaborating with ENAPTER, for example,” reports Diehl. The Saerbeck-based company holds a patent on its anion-exchange membrane (AEM) technology. It largely eliminates the need for expensive metals and rare earth elements—and enables the series and mass production of modular and scalable AEM electrolysers ranging from 2.4 kW up to the megawatt range. In total, ENAPTER has already delivered over 3,600 units to customers and partners in more than 50 countries. “We see the local production of green hydrogen as a promising model for the future. With this setup, we can cover everything that’s needed—from the feasibility study to the final design.”