Energy measurement and management systems to save on air conditioning

The European Union has set as one of its primary objectives the improvement of the energy efficiency of its member countries, thus ensuring a safe, sustainable and competitive energy supply.

In this regard, Sensus Metering Systems has worked to support this task with systems management and measurement of energy, especially for residential and tertiary use both buildings.

According to Abel Bascuñana, technical director of Sensus in Spain, "about 35% of the consumption of primary energy in the European Union is due to the buildings and for this reason the European regulations in recent years have emphasized energy consumption in buildings by creating a tool of energy certification as that already used in the case" "of household appliances".

This certification of energy efficiency of buildings is a requirement for Directive 2002/91/EC. It has moved in Spain through the Royal Decree 47/2007 approving the basic procedure for the certification of energy efficiency of new buildings, being a legal requirement that all new buildings have to comply.

The air conditioning of buildings is one of the most influential in the energy consumption of buildings. Thus, according to the practice energy Guide, edited by the Idae (Institute of diversification and energy saving), 67% of the energy consumption of households it is given for air conditioning installations and water hot health (ACS). "Why - explains Bascuñana - is very important both a correct choice of the system of energy (solar, geothermal, biomass, fuel, etc.) as well as measuring instruments, the counters of thermal energy for regulation, control and invoicing of consumption".

To assist in this management Sensus has designed the Pollu line of Accountants of thermal energy that is certified under the directive of instruments of measure (MID) European. These devices are completely legal for metering and billing of thermal energy and have multiple communication options tailored to the systems commonly used in the market: (M, ModBus and Lon) bus, wireless communication (radio) and systems of control and Regulation (PLC)(, Scada).

"This range of communication options allow energy Sensus meters are devices fully integrable in machine-readable (AMR and AMI) systems, used for the recording, analysis and billing of the consumption of energy and systems of control and regulation"", used increasingly in the so-called intelligent buildings", indicates Bascuñana.

To carry out the follow-up of the energy efficiency of installations of heating, cooling and domestic hot water of a building it is necessary to install thermal energy meters at the appropriate points of the installation, in such a way that allows to get the measure of parameters such as useful thermal energy provided to the heating system in kWh, useful thermal energy provided to the production of DHW system in kWh, solar energy provided to the heating system in kWh, solar energy provided to the cooling system in kWh, etc.

Also a registration with the individual consumption of each user by means of measuring instruments of energy should be in the buildings of property and/or use collective (both residential and tertiary). Thus shall be recorded at least individual heating consumption in kWh, use initial of refrigeration in kWh and individual consumption of ACS in m³ or kWh.

Thermal energy or calorimeters Gages consist of a counter flow that continuously records the passage of water from the installation of two temperature probes to measure the difference between the temperatures of water drive and return of the circuit of air conditioning and an electronic system that integrates over time the energy consumed in the home or local (product of the flow by the thermal jump).