Administrative Centre, Zwevegem, Belgium
Administrative Centre, Zwevegem, Belgium
The municipality of Zwevegem, located in West Flanders in Belgium, a town of more than 25,000 citizens, wanted to centralise all of its administrative services into one building, opting for the refurbishment and enlargement of the whole site.
All the public functions are easily accessible on the ground floor. The town hall chamber, which is ideally the symbol of the openness and the transparency of the community, is glazed over and visible from the garden situated on the beautiful south side of the building. The municipality saw the refurbishment as an opportunity to pay special attention to energy performance and therefore resolutely opted for a combination of affordable, low-maintenance, long-lasting technologies. The sunlight provides two patios with an important source of natural light, saving on the consumption of artificial light. A system of wooden facades is combined with controlled solar screens and a coverage on the south facade, thus ensuring that excess solar heat in summer is kept under control. This was an optimum balance of maximum daylight and minimum heat load.
The solution
The heating system was the priority for the Administrative Centre. The chosen heating system consists of three Robur Gas Absorption Heat Pumps, fired by
natural gas with air source renewable energy for high efficiency heating combined with a condensing boiler.
3 Robur GAHP-A Gas Absorption Heat Pumps were installed, giving a heating capacity of 114.9 kW.
The outcomes
The three Robur GAHPs fired by natural gas and with air source renewable energy installed at the Administrative Centre increased the total efficiency of the heating system when they are combined or integrated with boilers. Morevover, GAHPs are the most beneficial heating system to enhance the energy qualification of buildings with a considerable promotion of the building’s energy classification. GAHP-A is the tested heat pump with the highest delivery water temperatures. This proves that GAHP technology is particularly suitable for retrofit applications with radiators. Moreover, absorption technology is particularly suitable for climates with severe winter conditions, having been confirmed by tests as the heat pump with the most stable performance over the entire operational range of outdoor temperatures.
With the installed system used in Zwevegem, every year 13.2 tons of CO2 emissions are saved, which are equivalent to those absorbed by 1,812 trees or those produced by 6 green cars. Every year 6 TOE are saved.
