Energy Systems for the Built Environment

Energy Systems for the Built Environment

Background

In our research group, The Built Environment Energy Systems Group (BEESG), we specialize in system studies of new energy technologies and engineering solutions for the built environment. Given the wide range of new and emerging technologies for buildings and urban environments – from diverse mature technologies such as solar cells and energy-efficient windows to cutting-edge technologies like autonomous vehicles – improved knowledge is needed on how to introduce and combine these in existing urban energy systems while improving the function of the whole system.

Aims

The main aim of the research is to improve the knowledge on how new energy technologies and systems can be resource-efficiently integrated into the built environment while avoiding sub-optimizations. The research also aims at developing state-of-the-art system models for studying these questions.

Approaches

We use system-analytical and mathematical methods such as simulation, optimization, probabilistic modeling and machine learning to study the whole chain from utilization of renewable energy sources to integration of technologies into distribution systems. The output of the research ranges from basic knowledge about natural phenomena, such as the variability of solar irradiance on the urban scale, to practically applicable knowledge and innovations, such as the potential contribution of building-applied solar cells on city-scale and freely available state-of-the-art simulation programs for energy systems.

Keywords

Built environment, Buildings, Energy system, Solar, Transports, Distribution systems

Links

Link to the webpage “Civil and Industrial Engineering” at Uppsala University

Project leader

Joakim Widén, Professor, Division of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering

Other project members

Dahlström, Lukas, PhD student

Fachrizal, Reza, PhD student

Johari, Fatemeh, PhD student

Lindberg, Oskar, PhD student

Lingfors, David, Assistant Professor

Monie, Svante, PhD student

Munkhammar, Joakim, Associate Professor

Ramadhani, Umar Hanif, PhD student

Shepero, Mahmoud, Postdoctoral fellow

Åberg, Magnus, Associate Professor

All members are at the Division of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering

Other funding agencies

The Swedish Energy Agency

Formas

Vinnova

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