Energy efficiency planned and put into practice
Buildings and production processes are networked in terms of energy
The buildings on the Scharnhausen factory premises with a floor space of around 66,000 square metres and 1,200 employees need to be supplied with energy. In order to keep energy consumption to a minimum, the Festo experts took innovative paths when planning the factory and building.
Energy management: everything is networked
The energetic interplay between building equipment and production systems is balanced in the Technology Plant. All the departments involved were closely interlinked during the comprehensive planning phase. The energy flows were precisely analysed and concepts for an energetic network of production and buildings were developed. Researchers at the Technische Universität Braunschweig (Technical University of Braunschweig) supported the process by carrying out life cycle and profitability analyses. The result is lower consumption, less costs and fewer emissions.
Electroplating is the single facility that consumes the most energy. The surfaces of components are electrolytically treated there. The planners deliberately chose to integrate this process with the factory. Sophisticated insulation on the tanks today saves around 15,000 cubic metres of exhaust air each hour; the ventilation system is equipped with a heat exchanger to recover energy.
Another large energy consumer is the compressed air generation. The pressure levels of the different networks at the site were therefore reduced from eight to six and 18 to 13 bar – a sustainable measure, as just a single bar less pressure saves five per cent of energy.
Building technology: flexible infrastructure
All the supply facilities, such as combined heat and power stations, boilers, cooling machines, pumping stations and the central compressed air system, are housed in a separate building. Heat, cold, cooling water and compressed air are fed from this technical centre to the production levels. Pipe routes form a consistent supply network. Production equipment can thus be flexibly rearranged at any time, without changes to the building infrastructure.
Central building management system
To safely operate the equipment in the buildings, all consumption data and the correct function of the individual facilities are continually recorded. The data comes together in a central building management system. The facilities are automatically controlled from here. Any faults can be displayed in real time on a computer or tablet and action taken if necessary.
The focus was on resource efficiency when the factory was planned. As a result, the waste heat from the two block heat and power plants is used, just as that from the production machinery, for heating purposes and to heat water. A 70,000-litre rainwater reservoir supplies the sanitation facilities and waters the green areas.