Funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, RESPONSE is a project that is working towards Finland’s and the EU’s goals of carbon neutrality. HögforsGST is part of the project’s international consortium with a total of 53 partners.
HögforsGST’s role in the project focuses on innovating and developing energy solutions in the Turku Student Village. In practice, the goal is to create a positive energy district with future energy solutions. Innovations such as phase change thermal storages, an intelligent control system and efficient heat pump technology are an integral part of the Student Village’s energy system.
According to Antti Hartman, Managing Director of HögforsGST, the company is participating in the project with excitement and strong motivation.
– The basic principle of a positive energy district is that it produces more energy than it consumes. The smart heating and cooling solutions we have developed are of utmost importance when it comes to utilizing energy flows as efficiently as possible. We get to showcase our expertise in an exceptionally demanding implementation, so we’ve invested heavily into this project, Hartman says.
HögforsGST has designed and implemented a smart and energy-efficient heating and cooling system as part of the RESPONSE project. According to Juha Virkki, Business Director of HögforsGST, the system operates the heating and cooling of the Turku Student Village in a new and innovative way that utilizes the entire energy network.
– We have practically developed the entire heat production and distribution system. It is a smart HybridHEAT system, whose energy sources are district heating, exhaust air heat recovery and surplus heat from the district cooling network. At the heart of the entire system is the Fiksu Control System. The goal is that the surplus heat produced in the area can be transferred to Turku Energia’s district heating network and utilized in it for heating Turku’s homes, Virkki says.
