Buildings Energy Systems Consortium

Consortium leader
Ewa Wäckelgård, Uppsala University

Problem area
Within the Buildings in Energy Systems consortium, we are studying energy system solutions for buildings from a socio-technical perspective. Key factors affecting our results include what the building is to be used for (housing, offices, industrial space, etc.), its geographical location (urban or rural area, primarily in Sweden), and who will own, use and manage the building. The goals of restructuring the Swedish energy system to achieve energy economisation and greater energy efficiency, and to ensure that the supplied energy is renewable, must extend to building energy systems, which are part of the larger energy system. How can this be accomplished? What knowledge and skills are needed, and what actors are involved in the effort? We believe that the key to our ability to carry out such a transition process lies in taking a holistic approach to analysing the energy system, by which we mean two things:

1) Our research is based on a socio-technical systems approach, which means that the building is viewed as a tightly interconnected system in which technical components and social actors interact. The building as a technical subsystem is thus considered in relation to the ways in which various actors will plan, build, manage, and use it.

2) Buildings constitute a part of a larger energy system. Energy use in buildings is tied to the surrounding energy system, and studies of energy systems must be conducted at a high enough level in the system to avoid sub-optimisation.

Doctoral projects
Helena Karresand, Linköping University/Department of Technology and Social Change
Andreas Molin, Linköping University/Energy Systems
Johannes Persson, Royal Institute of Technology/Energy Processes
Magnus Åberg, Uppsala University/Department of Engineering Sciences
Linn Liu, Linköping University/Energy Systems
Pia Grahn, Royal Institute of Technology/EPS
Anna Küller, Linköping University/Department of Technology and Social Change
Josefin Thoresson, Linköping University/Department of Technology and Social Change
Joakim Munkhammar, Uppsala University/Department of Engineering Sciences
Mattias Hellgren, Linköping University/Department of Technology and Social Change

Associated doctoral projects

Annica Nilsson, Uppsala University/Department of Engineering Sciences
Johan Heier, Dalarna University/Energy and Environmental Technology
Philipp Weiss, Dalarna University/Energy and Environmental Technology

Advisors and senior researchers within the consortium
Karin Alvehag, Royal Institute of Technology/EPS
Kajsa Ellegård, Linköping University/Department of Technology and Social Change
Wiktoria Glad, Linköping University/Department of Technology and Social Change
Dag Henning, Optensys Energianalys AB
Bahram Moshfegh, Linköping University/Energy Systems
Patrik Rohdin, Linköping University/Energy Systems
Lennart Söder, Royal Institute of Technology/EPS
Joakim Widén, Uppsala University/Department of Engineering Sciences
Ewa Wäckelgård, Uppsala University/Department of Engineering Sciences