The institute for energy technology (ife) invited the municipalities of the district of forchheim, which are part of the energy efficiency network, to the eastern bavarian technical university (oth) in amberg for the third network meeting to present practical approaches.
After a short report on the current status in the network by ingo endres from the ife, the technical part of the agenda was started. The mayors reported on projects underway and initial experiences: it became clear that some projects could also serve as blueprints. Several municipalities are interested in generating their own electricity at kindergartens and schools in order to save costs in the long term and make a contribution to climate protection. Similar was the case with the conversion of the street lighting to efficient LED technology. This is the topic to be focused on at the next meeting, agreed the participants.
Sensors record consumption
Engineer maximilian conrad then gave a lecture on municipal energy management, which went into the topic in greater depth. The control of the energy and water consumption in the different properties is a challenge for the municipalities. As examples, conrad cited undetected water pipe bursts and leaks, misaligned heating controls due to one-time events, and technical defects that led to increased energy consumption and costs.
With a digital energy management system that records consumption via sensors at electricity and water meters and transmits it via radio technology, the municipality keeps track of the situation. All information has been centrally organized in one place and the effort of data collection has been minimized. Conrad concluded by outlining the requirements for digital management of this kind.
Initiative of the climate protection management
Background: the two energy efficiency networks forchheim 1 and 2 were initiated by the climate protection management of the district, since june 2018 the federal office for economy and export control demands the intermunicipal project.
Moderated meetings: the network work consists of regular moderated meetings on current energy-relevant topics and individual municipality-specific energy technology consulting by ife employees. Until 2021, a meeting of the entire plenum will be held once a year to exchange progress among the participants and to plan the further course of action; three further network meetings will be held in working groups 1 and 2.
Twelve municipalities from the district of forchheim belong to the network: obertrubach, weibenohe, effeltrich, hallerndorf, heroldsbach, egloffstein, hiltpoltstein, igensdorf, eggolsheim, neunkirchen am brand, grafenberg and ebermannstadt. In addition, the special-purpose associations for wastewater disposal in the trubach valley and upper schwabach are also taking part.