In the framework of the micro-project implemented under the umbrella project "Polish-Norwegian cooperation platform for climate and energy conservation", the representatives of the Raciechowice municipality visited their Norwegian partners in Oslo, on 16-18 January 2017. The visit was preceded by a visit of the Norwegian partners in Raciechowice in November 2016. During this meeting, a representative of the municipality of Oslo got acquainted with Polish municipality’s plans to replace oil boilers with heat pumps in selected public buildings.
The trip to Oslo was focused exclusively on seeing building where the solutions similar to those planned in Raciechowice were used. One of them was school powered since 2010 with a heat pump equipped with two lower heat sources: vertical collector and horizontal one, installed directly under the asphalt surface of the school playground. Horizontal installation is mainly used in the summer, while vertical in the cold season. In addition, as a backup source, in case of low efficiency of the heat pump, the oil boiler, installed in the school before, is still used.
Another visited building was also a school, but the new one, not used yet. Here also a heat pump with a reserve electric boiler has been installed as a main heat source. The entire facade of the school is covered by photovoltaic panels with a total power of ~ 100kW. The electricity produced by this installation will be used mainly for the needs of the school.
The most effective was the visit to the City Enterprise in Oslo (Undervisningsbygg Oslo KF). One of the company’s tasks is the management of school buildings. In Oslo there has been developed a plan for a central system of indoor conditions control and supervision, which now covers nearly half of the schools. Despite ambitious assumptions, further expansion of this system will not be possible due to problems with the interoperability of systems already existing in schools but coming from different producers. The engineer from Undervisningsbygg presented to the representatives of Raciechowice the advantages and disadvantages of automation remote control, as well as indicated solutions aimed at improving the energy efficiency of the building.
With this visit the Polish delegation had the opportunity to learn about the strengths and weaknesses of solutions they want to introduce in their municipality.
