29/03/2021
16 international patent protections for prefabricated energy modules
Full speed at Energy Save
26/03/2021
- We hold as many as 16 international patent protections for our prefabricated energy modules, so of course we will focus on this product area in the future. We have developed a unique expertise in air/water heat pump technology for a cold and demanding climate that the whole of Europe demands. It has a certain credibility with Nordic technology in that market, says Christian Gulbrandsen, general manager of Energy Save AS.
The company, which is currently located at Hvalstad in Asker municipality, was established in 2007, with two founders who came from the heat pump market a few years earlier.
- We established Energy Save in Sweden the same year with the aim of reaching out to the European market, which we considered had greater potential. Energy Save now has three employees in Norway, and a total of 22 people, including at the production facilities in Sweden, all of them with long backgrounds in various relevant disciplines, such as production, refrigeration technology, plumbing, building and construction, and not least specialists in control and regulation technology.
- We invest throughout Norway through distributors, local dealers and installers, notes Gulbrandsen.
Historically, the product portfolio has consisted of air/water heat pumps with typical accessory products such as accumulator tanks and fan convectors intended for the residential market. In the last five years, the company has had a strategy of scaling up existing technology platforms with effects intended for the "light commercial" segment, which means building up to approx. 5,000 sqm.
- During that time, we have delivered several exciting projects, including to agriculture, the Church of Norway, etc. We have delivered projects together with larger consulting companies such as Asplan Viak and smaller local contractors. Throughout, we have seen that "local tailoring" and engineering often cost more than the heating solution itself. We have therefore developed the idea of «prefabricated energy modules» and «environmentally friendly building heating». We now focus mostly on 6-13 kW air/water heat pumps with accessories for the residential market, 20-90 kW for the «light commercial» market and prefabricated energy modules with 80-90 kW heat pump power. All solutions are designed for heating, cooling and hot water production.
In the future, we will also invest more in heat pumps up to 100 kW with modular controls that provide total powers up to 1 MW, he says.
Sales are aimed at the professional market, but the products are also aimed at the consumer market. In addition, special emphasis is now being placed on prefabricated energy modules that Gulbrandsen is convinced will revolutionize the construction industry with fossil-free heating and drying of buildings.
The prefabricated energy modules can easily be adapted to different needs for heating, cooling and hot water production, and can be delivered as both temporary and permanent solutions to easily rehabilitate buildings with e.g. fossil heat sources. Digital readings of recorded and emitted power can be delivered, enabling use as a "local heating plant" with distribution to one or more receivers.
Energy Save takes care of the Norwegian and Swedish markets, while in Europe the company has importers and partners in 20 countries.
- We have built the company via residential heat pumps, even though the market in Sweden and partly Norway was quite saturated when we started. Taking a big position among well-established brands here would be almost impossible in the short term. The big markets for us have been Europe, which is much larger, and more virgin markets, Gulbrandsen states.
He emphasizes that they have reinvested every penny in developing professional solutions that were launched at the end of 2020. This is a relatively young market, he says, also in Norway and Sweden where we see the opportunity to take a position especially in fossil-free heating and drying of new buildings, but also rehabilitation of existing buildings.
- We see that the great growth in the future for us will be in this market.
- We know that heating and drying of buildings constitutes an annual energy requirement of 175-250 kWh/sq.m./year. In 2020, 5.3 million sq.m. were built for residential purposes in Norway alone. If you add public buildings and commercial buildings, it gives a good insight into the savings potential if you reduce this by 50-75 %, Gulbrandsen states.
He points out that this represents a great potential in reduced greenhouse gas emissions through the use of new technology and not least large cost savings. Energy Save has therefore consciously worked with leading players in the industry for several years, both in developing the concept, testing and documentation of it.
- Today, new buildings are heated and dried with high-temperature solutions that mainly use oil or gas as an energy source. We see that there is a growing demand in Norway and Sweden for green certification of the construction process itself, and demand for documentation of drying out of buildings and materials.
- Based on this, we have had a dialogue with UCO through the parent company Skanska AS for a long time to get in position. There has been a great interest for a long time, but technology is known to be more expensive, and without regulations from the authorities, there has not been enough commercial interest, says Gulbrandsen.
He also believes that documentation of the concept is crucial for gaining credibility in the market, and Energy Save has therefore documented the product through projects with the Swedish Energy Agency that concludes the energy module to have an enormous environmental and energy-saving effect.
- Now that UCO has been awarded the contract for the rig and operation of the government quarter in Oslo, greater demands have been placed on both fossil-free heating and drying with both local and central authorities. In addition, the authorities have banned the use of oil for heating and drying of buildings during the construction process as early as 1 January 2022. The next step is totally fossil-free construction sites from 2025. UCO has had an energy module on testing for a long time and, based on experience decided to focus on this commercially. UCO is at the forefront of modern solutions and wants to take a leading position in environmentally friendly and green solutions, Christian Gulbrandsen concludes.
