The Helene-Lange Gymnasium (HLG) in Fürth, Germany, is a high school for almost 1,200 students and 100 teachers. The expansion and modernization aim to increase capacity and reduce GHG emissions with a climate-neutral heating system.
Baumann Consulting was contracted by Dess + Falk, the MEP designer, to verify the functionality of the innovative heating system with a thermal dynamic simulation.
The central components of the energy system are the heat pumps, ice storage tanks, cooling tower, air handling units, buffer storage tanks with their hydraulic controls, and a boiler fired with wood pellets.
The heat pumps use three ice storage tanks as heat sinks and is in turn regenerated via a cooling tower. The peak load is covered with the boiler. Free cooling is utilized for the AHU and radiant cooling systems.
The simulation of the ice storage system verified the dynamic operation of the ice storage system, specifically the loading and unloading processes under changing load conditions. The simulation was also used to optimize the sizing of the individual system components and to evaluate the impact of free cooling on the overall energy use in the building.
