Vattenfall - Berlin-Spandau: Energy partnership

Energy partnership: There are only winners

Berlin-Spandau. Vattenfall lowers cost of heating, electricity and water at a Berlin hospital by a quarter

Expenditure on natural gas, electricity and water totals € 750,000 a year at Havelhöhe Hospital in Berlin-Spandau. Twenty-four per cent of this can be saved, making a good € 180,000. At Vattenfall we are confident in our calculations, so we have contractually promised the hospital operating authority this potential saving. This includes modernisation of the energy technology to a total value of around € 900,000, without having to invest a cent. Our arrangement is known as an energy partnership, and it results in winners on all sides.

Permanent investment

The hospital will benefit immediately from the decrease in operating costs. The conversion measures must, however, be refinanced from the amount saved, and it has been agreed that this will take place within an eight-year period. After that, the hospital's expenditure will decrease enormously – and permanently. For many decades, major consumers in this field have been provided with exhaustive advice on how they can optimise their energy usage. Increasing energy prices, growing awareness of the costs and ecological considerations have sparked greater interest in an even more comprehensive technology package. The expansion of this line of business has therefore also proved worthwhile for VE Berlin. Havelhöhe, with its 15 buildings, is one of the city's major energy-saving projects, but by no means the first. As far back as ten years ago, the city-state of Berlin started curbing consumption with the aid of such models, and 500 properties comprising over 1,300 buildings have been included in similar projects since then. VE Berlin was entrusted with carrying out energy modernisation in around 200 of these public buildings. But its services are also aimed at private operators.

Outdated building technology

How do we manage to actually reduce energy costs by nearly a quarter? In the case of Havelhöhe there was much that was over-dimensioned, hardly regulable or not regulable at all, and there was a complete lack of process-control building technology. No wonder. The extensive complex at Gatow Airport was built in 1936 as the 'Imperial Academy for Air Travel'. After the war, the buildings were converted for use as a hospital. At that time people were not yet aware of the issue of energy conservation – this did not surface until the 80s, at a time when the interest of the city operator at the site was beginning to flag. Since 1995, major investments have once again been made, but it is not possible to finance all necessary investments at the same time. Thus, the heating system alone is now undergoing extensive – but much-needed – renovation. After all, it is by no means always the case that the existing plant technology has to be scrapped; a regulatory measure usually suffices. As a consequence, eight of the facility's smaller buildings that were previously served by the heating station via an excessively long supply pipe, now form a single network. Demands on the remains of the original installation consequently decreased, allowing reorganisation to be carried out.

Saving water with Vattenfall

VE Berlin helps Havelhöhe Hospital save not just energy but also water. The tap installations have been fitted with flow regulators that let through a completely adequate and economical six litres a minute – normal taps sometimes allow up to twelve litres to flow through. The same is being done with the showers, with the quantity of water thus being reduced from 18 to nine litres a minute without compromising on comfort.

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