Background

Energy supply in the building sector accounts for roughly one third of Austria’s final energy demand and offers substantial potential for decarbonization. However, renewable energy sources face challenges without suitable storage solutions because of timing mismatches between generation and demand. Building thermal mass, in both existing buildings and new construction, offers significant storage potential due to its thermal inertia, and thermally activated building systems (TABS) can make this potential usable. This technology not only enables indoor temperature control, but also allows energy from local and grid-connected renewable sources to be stored, including in power-to-heat applications. IEA ES Task 43 was initiated to identify opportunities and challenges for broad international implementation and to develop approaches to solutions.

Project Objectives

The task’s central objective is to prepare thermal building-component storage for scalable, efficient, and economically attractive implementation. To this end, four core questions are addressed: investigating sustainable materials and scalable construction techniques for new construction and renovation; developing strategies for efficient system integration at building and district level, including suitable control strategies for storage operation and load management; analyzing non-technical challenges and barriers to market introduction; and defining KPIs to enable comparability and assessment of systems. In addition, implementation guidelines, including sensor technology, and demonstrator fact sheets will be developed to provide practical points of reference for potential implementers.

Target Outcomes

• Collection of information and measurement data from successful implementation projects in Austria
• Construction techniques and manufacturing concepts for TABS in new construction and renovation, including in combination with prefabricated envelope elements made from different materials, such as wood or clay
• Development of prototype system concepts and control strategies for thermal building-component storage at building and district level
• Investigation of the impact of load management on indoor comfort and occupants
• Development and analysis of new business models for energy and flexibility trading at building and district level