Introduction

Heat4Cool is a European funded research project (2020-EEB-2016 EU framework – Project Number: 723925) where 13 European partners are involved. The project develops, integrates and demonstrates an easy to install and highly energy efficient solution for building retrofitting using three main technologies:

1. Gas and solar thermally driven adsorption heat pumps, which permits the full integration with existing natural gas boilers to ensure efficient use of current equipment

2. Solar PV assisted DC powered heat pump connected to an advanced modular PCM heat and cold storage system

3. Energy recovery from sewage water with high performance heat exchangers


In order to assess the benefit of the developed technologies, a novel retrofitting planning tool is being developed, to support the decision-making process of the following stakeholder groups: architects, retrofitting companies, manufacturers, building administrators and residents. The main goal of the tool is to quantify and compare the benefits of implementing such technologies into building retrofitting, and support users of the tool in finding the optimum solution.


At this moment the design tool is being defined and with this questionnaire, the project team intends at identifying the key features for the prospective users of the tool. Your answers, therefore, will help the project team to adjust the novel tool best to your requirements.


You will also be able to follow the progresses on the following webpage: www.heat4cool.eu 


Thank you very much for your answers and support in this process 

Personal Details

Which of the following roles describes your activity best?Mandatory field


 
 

 

Are you currently using any energy calculation tool?Mandatory field


If Yes, please proceed with the following question 3.
If No, you can proceed directly to question 7.

 

Current tool

Which tool do you use currently?



Which key features of the current tool motivate you using it?

Price of software tool

relevant

unimportant


 

Accurate calculation/prediction

relevant

unimportant


 

Fast calculation

relevant

unimportant


 

Reference tool in country of application

relevant

unimportant


 

Easiness of use – Web tool rather locally installed

relevant

unimportant


 

All required performance indicators can be easily calculated

relevant

unimportant


 

Request/Requirement from project partner

relevant

unimportant


 

Large library of components

relevant

unimportant


 

Longtime experience with tool

relevant

unimportant


 

Flexibility to represent complex geometries and technologies

relevant

unimportant


 


Which applications/use cases are you covering with the current software tool?

Performing retrofitting for old buildings

very important

not important


 

Engineering of retrofitting for old buildings

very important

not important


 

Retrofitting districts

very important

not important


 

Energy optimization consulting

very important

not important


 

Manufacturing components

very important

not important


 

Designing novel buildings

very important

not important


 

Designing solutions for retrofitting

very important

not important


 


What would you change about the current tool that you use?

Make it less complex

very important

not important


 

Lower the calculation time

very important

not important


 

Improve accuracy of calculation

very important

not important


 

Improve support center

very important

not important


 

Lower the price of the software

very important

not important


 



Which key features would motivate you to use a new additional tool? Or any tool?

Easiness of use (Simple user interface, many parameters predefined)Mandatory field

Very important

Not important


 

Fast calculation times (1 – 10 s)Mandatory field

Very important

Not important


 

Automatic search for optimum retrofitting solutionMandatory field

Very important

Not important


 

High precision of predictionsMandatory field

Very important

Not important


 

Information on technical restrictions of configuration (e.g. noise level, limits on connection power etc.)Mandatory field

Very important

Not important


 

Information on legal restrictionsMandatory field

Very important

Not important


 

Tool as a web applicationMandatory field

Very important

Not important


 

Expert mode (all parameters of the components can be adjusted)Mandatory field

Very important

Not important


 

Large library of components (explicit type and manufacturer indicated)Mandatory field

Very important

Not important


 


Which key performance indicators are relevant to you?

Energy consumptionMandatory field

very important

not important


 

Return of investmentMandatory field

very important

not important


 

Greenhouse gas emissionMandatory field

very important

not important


 

Environmental indicators (average indoor temperature, humidity)Mandatory field

very important

not important


 

Comfort indicators (temperature stability)Mandatory field

very important

not important


 


Which information about components are relevant to you?

Large library of buildingsMandatory field

very important

not important


 

Gas condensing boilerMandatory field

very important

not important


 

Oil condensing boilerMandatory field

very important

not important


 

Wood pellet boilerMandatory field

very important

not important


 

Air/Water heat pumpMandatory field

very important

not important


 

Water/Water heat pumpMandatory field

very important

not important


 

Brine/Water heat pumpMandatory field

very important

not important


 

Different control system optionsMandatory field

very important

not important


 

Parametric models for districtsMandatory field

very important

not important


 

Different building hull configurationsMandatory field

very important

not important


 

Different windows configurationsMandatory field

very important

not important