E.ON ERC - Energy Research Center, Institute for Energy Efficient Buildings and Indoor Climate
Head of the Institute
Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dirk Müller
Field of Study
Energy process engineering
Main Focus
Research and lecturing in the field of building and community energy systems, indoor climate, thermal comfort and cabin climitization
Research Focus
The research and lecture of the institute is focused on the demand of the energy efficient city of tomorrow. The technological knowledge gathered within the context of building technology has been transferred to the research areas of vehicle and cabin climatisation.
The research activities are:
- Energy concepts for buildings and communities
- Room air flows, thermal comfort and indoor air quality
- Heating and air-conditioning systems
- Systems for power generation and storage
Besides the components of engineering systems and their interplay with innovative façade and insulation systems for single buildings the supply systems of communities are analyzed. Regenerative energy sources are integrated precisely combined with decentralized solutions for combined heat and power or trigeneration. The use of natural potentials through adequate storage systems, e.g. latent heat storage systems, can decrease the energy demand. Since the reduction of the demand for energy shall not be accompanied by the diminuition of comfort, the technical requirements of supply systems has to derive from the consumers´needs.
Both experimental and simulation methods are used within research and development. Besides three dimensional flow simulations and coupled simulations of building structure and building services an extensive experimental work is realized in the test hall of the institute. Hardware-in-the-Loop simulations fill the gap between pure lab experiments and field tests. The component under test is an embedded component in the overall system.
Lectures:
Integration of renewable energy systems, Basic operations of energy technology, Energy grids, Air conditioning technology, Renewable energy for buildings, Energy economics, Lab Alternative energy technologies
Students are being integrated into research projects by their work on bachelor and master theses and as student assistants.
Contact
E.ON ERC Energy Research Center
Institute for Energy Efficient Buildings and Indoor Climate of RWTH Aachen University
Mathieustr. 10
52074 Aachen
Phone: +49 241 80-497 60
Fax: +49 241 80-497 69