Energy Supply Systems for

Buildings
PCP Buildings as Sustainable Energy Systems

Prof. Dr. L.C.M. Itard

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Index

Introduction pg. 3
Learning Objectives pg. 4
Course Structure pg. 5
Learning Activities pg. 7
Grading pg. 9
Certificate pg. 10
Deadlines pg. 11
What we expect pg. 12
License pg. 13
Attributions pg. 13
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Introduction
Welcome to the TU Delft course Energy Supply Systems for Buildings: Discover how to
convert natural resources into heat, cold and electricity, what the capabilities of renewable
systems are and what that means for energy efficiency, resource depletion and carbon
emissions. Thank you for joining us! In this syllabus you’ll find important information
regarding this MOOC.
This MOOC is the second one of the Professional Certificate Program Buildings as Sustainable
Energy Systems, in which you learn how to design energy efficient and more sustainable
buildings whilst improving their thermal quality and indoor environment. The Program
Buildings as Energy Sustainable Energy System consists of four courses: Energy Demand in
Buildings (MOOC 1); Energy Supply Systems for Buildings (MOOC 2); Thermal Comfort in
Buildings (MOOC 3) in which you will learn how to create a comfortable and healthy indoor
environment; and Efficient HVAC Systems (MOOC 4), which is about how to design, control
and optimize HVAC systems.

They all four can be followed independently, however, knowledge is built up from MOOC 1
to MOOC 4.

All courses are based on a classic system engineering approach, meaning that you will also
learn about the interactions between the different components of the building’s energy
system. The system we look at is the physical building with its energy systems, occupants and
HVAC systems. A classic system engineering approach also means that requirement analysis,
modelling, and simulation play an important role. Once you’ve got a good understanding of
the system itself and the interactions between components, you will be able to model it and
simulate its working in order to create and analyse alternative design concepts in terms of
performances.
In the present course, Energy Supply for Buildings, you will discover the supply side of the
energy chain and how to make it sustainable. You will learn to answer questions like: what
are the options to create heat, cold and electricity? Why is the efficiency of a heat pump
higher than 1? How to make use of waste heat, or the ground to heat or cool a building?
How to combine energy conversion systems at building level in order to match buildings’
energy demand while keeping costs acceptable, using a minimum of natural resources and
producing a minimum of carbon emissions?
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Learning Objectives

The main aim is to learn how natural resources can be converted into heat, cold and
electricity, what that means for energy efficiency, resource depletion and carbon emissions,
what the capabilities of renewable systems are and how to match energy supply with
buildings’ energy demand.
By the end of this course you will be able to:
1. Explain the different heating, cooling and electricity generation systems and what
their working principles are.
2. Estimate primary energy usage, resource depletion and carbon emissions of these
generation systems by using systems’ efficiencies, energy and carbon contents of
resources and building’s energy demand.
3. Cope with mismatches between supply and demand when making preliminary
studies of cogeneration systems for heat & cold and heat & power.
4. Use the principle of rational use and exergy to choose suitable and sustainable
heating, cooling and electricity generation systems at the stage of a preliminary
design.
5. Choose and size renewable energy systems adapted to buildings’ energy demand, at
the stage of a preliminary design.
6. Estimate life cycle costs of the chosen systems.
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Course Structure
The course starts with an introduction week in which you can refresh your knowledge
relating to the basics of energy use in buildings, like the energy chain, design principles, how
to estimate building’s energy demand for heat, cold and electricity and the difference
between energy amounts and nominal loads.

The first week then introduces all basic principles that will be used further in the course. In
the second week you will learn about heat pumps, cooling machines and geothermal energy.
The third week is devoted to (renewable) electricity production, rational use of energy and
cogeneration. During the last week you will learn about solar systems and how to use your
knowledge to design sustainable buildings.

Week one
Efficiency, primary energy, CO2-emissions, and application to electrical heating and
combustion boilers
After the first week you will know what the different energy supply systems are. You will be
able to understand what efficiency is and how energy and carbon contents of fuels are
determined. You will learn how to use this to make estimates of quantities of natural
resources needed to match buildings’ energy demand, and what the related CO2 emissions
and costs are. You will apply your knowledge on electrical heating systems and combustion
boilers, and will be able to describe these systems.

Week two
Heat pumps, cooling machines and geothermal energy
In this week you will discover the working principle of heat pumps and chillers and how
these systems are able to upgrade low temperature environmental heat to the temperatures
needed in buildings. You will learn how to combine them with thermal storage in the ground
to obtain highly efficient heating and cooling systems and you will be aware of the
possibilities offered by geothermal energy to produce heat and electricity. You will apply
your knowledge on the pre-design of an energy flexible building in terms of CO2-emissions,
costs and primary energy usage.

Week three
Electricity production, rational use of energy and cogeneration
After this week you will know about the different ways of producing electricity using
turbines and generators. This also includes wind and hydropower. You will learn what
cogeneration is and how to cope with waste heat; and how the principle of rational use of
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energy will help you in selecting systems that are really efficient all over the energy chain.
You will apply your knowledge to the pre-design of a building, weighting different
cogeneration systems at building and city level.

Week four
Solar energy and energy efficient building concepts
In the final week you will learn about solar heat and power (photovoltaics) conversion
systems and how to cope with their intermittency. You will be able to roughly size such a
system, also accounting for batteries when needed. Finally you will be able to make
informed decisions on how to choose diverse alternatives for the energy supply of a building,
leading to energy efficient, low carbon and affordable building concepts.
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Learning Activities

In this course, we will use a mix of methods to help you to understand the subject and to
integrate and apply your knowledge in practice.

Online video lectures

Every week, you will be able to view several video lectures, mostly 5 to 7 videos of 10-15
minutes. In these videos the core of the theory is explained and guided concrete examples
are given, that give you an impression of real situations.

Quizzes
After almost each video lecture, there will be quizzes and multiple choice exercises including
hints and feedback to help you make sure you have understood the main items of the
lecture.

Guided examples
When the matter becomes a bit more complex, and you need to integrate various theories
and practices, guided examples will show you the way first.
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After such a guided example, you will be given a new example to solve yourself; answers will
have to be given in the form of a multiple choice with hints and feedbacks.

Assessments
There will be two assessments, one in week 2, one in week 4, accessible to verified learners.
These assessments take approximately 1 hour each. The verified learners will get a grade.

Discussion forums

Beside the Q&A threads built into each week, we have created specific threads in which you
can have a discussion with your peers on the topics of that week, the exercises and
assessments. We encourage you to help each other out and answer each other’s questions,
though we ask you not to share full answers to graded assignments (see the edX Terms of
Service and Honor Code). Let’s have an active discussion forum where we hear from
everybody, not just from the course staff! Staff will step in quickly for errors and technical
questions, but will allow you some time to brainstorm and interact before answering
content-related questions. Be sure to pitch in if you know the answer to a peer’s question.

Course Reader and additional materials

Of course, the slides supporting all videos are available, as well as the transcripts of the
videos. Next to this, a course reader is available as reference. When needed links to other
MOOCS or videos are available.

Need help?
If you have any questions regarding the content of the course, you should go to the
discussion forum. Click on the 'Discussion' tab in the upper menu; there you will find
discussion threads for each course week (Q&A Week 1, Q&A Week 2, ...).

We will scan through these forums once a day and we will try to answer your questions as
quickly as possible. Please check whether your question has not already been asked before.
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Grading
For the verified learners the two assignments of week 2 and week 4 will be automatically
graded. The grades will be available just after the deadline for the assignment’s submission.
The first assignment counts for 50% of the final grade, the second one for 50%. For a
certificate, a total score of 60% is needed on the final grade.
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Certificate
If you're interested in a certificate you can upgrade to a Verified Certificate. Upgrade to a
verified Certificate gives you:

-A certificate if you successfully completed the course;

-Access to graded assignments;
-Access to the archived course after the end date.

These certificates will indicate that you have successfully completed the course, but will not
include a specific grade. Certificates will be issued by edX under the name of DelftX,
Designating the institution from which the course originated.

An ID verified Certificate of Achievement is available for 83 EUR. You can upgrade to

‘verified’on your edXdashboard during the course until December 7th 1, 2020 at 23:59 UTC

Working towards a certificate has proven to keep students more motivated. Above that you
will get two additional peer-reviewed assessment. If you want to, you can change your
registration on the website.

The certificates will be issued at few days after the final course deadlines, (October 18th1
2020) to all paid participants who achieved a score of at least 60%. The certificate can be
downloaded from your Student Dashboard.

Once produced, a certificate cannot be reissued; hence it is very important that you verify
the way in which your name appears. Check that, in your edx.org account, your name is
correctly spelled, since it will appear on the final certificate. Please note that no Honour Code
certificates will be given out by edX for this course.

Do you need financial assistance? EdX offers up to a 90% discount on our verified certificates
to learners who cannot afford to pay full price. Check the edX support page for financial
assistance.

1
Please always check the verification upgrade deadline and the course end date indicated on the right of the
course main page in edX: https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:DelftX+ECObuild2x+1T2020/course/. In
case of changes they will always be up to date, whereas this syllabus may not be.
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Deadlines
The course consists of recommended deadlines and hard deadlines.

Recommended deadlines are the moments that we suggest you to finish the assignments;
this will help you stay on track. We recommend both verified and audit learners finish each
week’s assignments before the start of the next week. However, there are no immediate
consequences if you miss these deadlines.

The hard deadlines are only applicable for verified learners. They are the last possible
moment to participate in the graded quizzes. It is not possible to submit your answers in the
graded quizzes after the hard deadline has passed.

Overview deadlines
(Please always check the deadlines indicated in the course outline and assessment units. In
case of changes they will always be up to date, whereas this syllabus may not be.)

• Quizzes and exercises week 1: November 24th , 2020 12.00 hrs UTC
• Quizzes and exercises week 2: December 1st , 2020 12.00 hrs UTC
• Assessment week 2 (submit): December 8th, 2020 12.00 hrs UTC
(hard)
• Quizzes and exercises week 3: December 8th , 2020 12.00 hrs UTC
• Quizzes and exercises week 4: December 15th , 2020 12.00 hrs UTC
• Final assessment (submit): December 18th, 2020 12.00 hrs UTC
(hard, there will be no extension possible.)
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What we expect…
This MOOC is developed to give you the opportunity to learn which (sustainable) energy supply
systems you can choose in buildings and what is the combined impact of building design and
energy supply systems on carbon emissions, resource depletion, primary energy uses and costs.

It is based on years of practice, research and education and it offers the basics of what every
designer, policy maker or energy specialist should know on the thermal behavior of buildings.

So we expect you to be an active participant in this course, not only by doing the exercises but
also by sharing your knowledge with us and your peers and by helping others in the discussion
forums.

Regarding the deadlines, we expect you to keep on track in order to benefit from
learning with the community: learning from others by answering each other’s questions and by
receiving feedback on your ideas in the discussion threads. By following at the same pace as
other participants, the overall learning experience is enriched. When you give feedback on the
work of your fellow students please be respectful and give the feedback in a constructive way.
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License
The course materials of this course are Copyright Delft University of Technology and are
licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported
License.

If you choose to reuse or repost DelftX course materials you must give proper attribution to the
original TU Delft faculty author(s). Please utilize the following citation "This material was created
by or adapted from material posted on the Delftx website, delftx.tudelft.nl, and created by TU
Delft faculty member (Name), (Title), (Year). DelftX is not responsible for any changes made to
the original materials posted on its website and any such changes are the sole responsibility of
[name of user/adapter]."

You must also include a copy of the Creative Commons license used by DelftX, with every copy of
the TU Delft materials or the derivative work you create from it.

Attributions
Course reader:
The course reader is based on the pre-edited version of chapter 5 of the book ‘Sustainable
Urban Environments: An Ecosystem Approach’, 2012, Springer Netherlands, Editors: van
Bueren, E.M., van Bohemen, H., Itard, L., Visscher, H. . DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-1294-2.
Chapter 5 was written by L.C.M. Itard. The book is available at:
https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789400712935#aboutAuthors