Energy storage for sustainable buildings and districts

Sustainable energy transition requires integration of major technological changes in energy generation by renewable energy sources, energy storage for resilience and energy savings on the demand side. This course presents students with a broad understanding and focus of energy storage systems. The buildings sector is responsible for about one-third of global energy use and energy-related CO2 emissions. With the rising deployment of renewables, energy storage plays a critical role for shedding and shifting building loads flexibly and increasing building energy savings, performance and indoor comfort. This course equips students with a systems approach for building energy storage systems to decarbonise building sector. Upon completing the course, students will be equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to analyse, design, and optimise advanced energy systems, contributing to the development of sustainable energy solutions for future generations.

Course contents

• Overview of energy vector and conversion technologies (overview of energy vectors such as heat, biogas, transportation fuels, and hydrogen, alongside the principles and applications of electromechanical, wind and solar energy conversion technologies.
• Energy storage systems (including electricity storage and capacitor systems like electrical double-layer capacitors, mechanical storage systems such as pumped hydro, compressed air, and flywheels, as well as geothermal energy storage. The course will also cover electrochemical (secondary batteries, flow batteries), chemical (hydrogen) and thermal storage technologies.
• Future energy systems and district heating (Analysis of future energy systems, with a focus on future district heating systems incorporating distributed heat sources. Discussion on the integration of seasonal storage technologies and modeling techniques for smart buildings in local energy communities).
• Multi-objective optimisation for building energy storage and renewables accounting for electricity market.

Learning outcomes

After the course the students have

• knowledge of energy vectors, including heat, biogas, transportation fuels, and hydrogen and their significance in the context of energy conversion and storage systems
• knowledge and can describe physical and performance characteristics of important energy storage technologies (e.g. mid-term or long-term (seasonal) thermal energy storage)
• acquired comprehensive knowledge of electricity storage and capacitor systems such as electrical double-layer capacitors, mechanical storage systems including pumped hydro, compressed air, and flywheels, as well as geothermal energy storage
• knowledge of electrochemical (secondary batteries, flow batteries), chemical (hydrogen) and thermal storage technologies
• gained basic understanding of passive and active storage systems for buildings
• gained insight into future energy systems, including future district heating systems with distributed heat sources and seasonal storage technologies
• learned modeling and design of smart buildings in local energy communities, considering factors such as energy efficiency, resilience and sustainability
• the means to design system-level optimisation for on-grid/off-grid building integrated energy storage systems, considering multiple criteria such as energy efficiency, cost-effectiveness and environmental impact
• acquired knowledge and skills for transition of current buildings to sustainable buildings and districts of the future.

Course materials

Lecture materials and other materials announced in lectures. Software will be introduced, e.g. Matlab.

Teaching schedule

FITech students can study the course fully online.

Lectures online in Zoom:

• Wed 02.04.2025 14-16
• Tue 08.04.2025 10-14
• Thu 10.04.2025 14-16
• Tue 15.04.2025 10-12
• Wed 23.04.2025 14-18
• Thu 24.04.2025 12-14
• Tue 29.04.2025 12-14
• Wed 30.04.2025 12-14
• Tue 06.05.2025 12-14
• Thu 08.05.2025 12-14

Note that the schedule provided is tentative and may be subject to changes. Please refer to the University of Vaasa website for the most up-to-date information.

Completion methods

Assignments.

Please check the schedule from the University of Vaasa study guide.

You can get a digital badge after completing this course.