Automatic device for electro-ventilated summer and/or winter air conditioning units. UNIUDT-PLUS
About this good practice
The current air-conditioning and switch-on and switch-off systems were conceived in a period of low energy costs and almost no environmental awareness. They are made with the aim of constantly guaranteeing service and therefore always being switched on and timed, without a consumption measurement and without a control of internal well-being.UNIUDT-plus is an easy-to-install low-cost device that does not require any modification of the thermal and electrical system and that reverses the logic of the air-conditioning system from always on to a service at the request of the user and which can be easily programmed in the event of a change of use of the room/ building. It is connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) to transmit operating data useful for maintenance/ temperature/ absorption/ humidity etc. and for remote fan coil switching on/off. Furthermore, the system can be customised by introducing specific detectors (e.g. dust and CO2 measurement)
The prototype was conceived and designed by three engineering professors(of mechanical systems and electrical drives)and then implemented within the university's laboratories with some students. At present, the device is undergoing experimentation
The main stakeholders and beneficiaries are: public premises and private activities with air-conditioned volumes characterised by occasional occupation and without the control of user(s) presence and activation in buildings where the installation of new smart systems would be too expensive
Resources needed
The system is to be integrated into the existing one without system modifications. Each device costs approximately 36€, plus the costs of installation and training of personnel(max. 4 hours). The inventors were 3 engineering professors and their students who produced a prototype during the lessons.
Evidence of success
The invented devices foster the reduction of energy consumption, increase sustainability and smartness in university buildings and improve users’ well-being. Early results demonstrate the merits of the idea of producing a monitoring element of a structure without additional planting costs. Early monitoring allows a hierarchy of energy-efficient interventions to be identified and the facility to be optimized by the time the present one needs to be replaced (4-5 years).
Potential for learning or transfer
This new approach allows buildings to be more sustainable and intelligent, to reduce energy consumption and not least to increase the participation and well-being of users, all of which are highly topical and necessary issues to be addressed.
The economic reasons for interest in these innovative devices certainly include limited production costs with short return times, which do not require any modification of the thermal and electrical system, making installation extremely simple, fast and low-cost. The UNIUD-Tplus makes the service more flexible as it allows, for example, the activation and deactivation of fancoils even outside the premises, as well as the monitoring of any system losses and consumption levels of individual rooms and even buildings for data analysis.
Public institutions in all European regions may therefore decide to adopt these innovative and accessible devices to move towards the path of energy transition and energy efficiency of their buildings.
Further information
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