ROYAL HASKONING NEWSLETTER > INTERNATIONAL VERSION > MAY 2008

Biggest sustainable ground source heat pump system in the north of the Netherlands

Working with heat pump systems is technically no longer unique in the Netherlands. Nevertheless, an interesting large-scale project is being carried out in Groningen on the Zernike Complex on behalf of the University Groningen and the Hanze College in Groningen. Royal Haskoning is involved on the campus with building and renovating five impressive buildings for the two educational establishments, including that for the Centre for Life Sciences, Economics and Sport Studies. A sustainable solution for heating and cooling their new educational buildings was of paramount importance to both the University of Groningen and the Hanze College. This led to the biggest sustainable ground source heat pump system in the north of the Netherlands. Half of the buildings have now been connected. The last building will be completed and connected in 2014.

The construction of the sustainable energy generation system on the Zernike Complex is part of the Zernike Energy Vision. The aim of this vision is to provide at least five percent of the energy consumed on the industrial complex using sustainable energy. Thanks to underground heat storage in combination with heat pumps, up to around forty percent energy savings can be achieved as compared with a conventional installation. Royal Haskoning devised the overall technical concept, was responsible for supervising the tendering and carried out the contract negotiations and the contract management during the construction.

The whole campus
“The special feature of the project is that the whole campus will be connected to this ground source heat pump system. An investment with a payback time of less than five to six years,” according to project leader, Darryl Tjin Wong Joe. “Not only will the annual energy costs be significantly lower, but the whole campus will also achieve a substantial reduction in CO2 emissions. The heat pump system can be expanded further in the future. In that context, consideration is being given to linking student housing in the neighbourhood.”

A cycle
In the summer, water at around 7ºC is pumped up from a depth of 100 to 170 metres via boreholes of around a meter in diameter and can be used to cool the buildings. That water is heated up to around 20ºC during this process and is then pumped back to a different reservoir under the ground. This ‘residual product’ from the cooling in the summer can be pumped up again in the winter and used as the starting point for heating the buildings. In this way the cycle can continue for ever. “A characteristic of this project was the unique and intensive collaboration with our clients”, explains Darryl Tjin Wong Joe. “Each was represented by multidisciplinary teams with members from the property and investment, general services, legal and financial affairs departments.”

 

Contactpersoon: Darryl Tjin Wong Joe
+31 (0)24 3667 595
d.tjin@royalhaskoning.com

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