Sustainability in Troubled Times

The Shanghai Tower is on most Top 5
lists that rank energy-efficient buildings.
Buildings are the largest contributors
to climate change through their carbon
emissions, but they are becoming greener
as technology and tenant behaviors lower
the impact of urbanization on the planet.
The media company Eco-Business has
ranked the Top 5 most energy-efficient
buildings – among them is Shanghai
Tower. Danfoss has supplied its “Heating”
and “Drives” products to the 632-meterhigh
building.
Urban efficiency is key
Energy efficiency also plays a key role
in our cities. Urban neighborhoods are
about to boom across the world. Today,
half of us live in cities, but by 2050,
two-thirds of the world’s population will
have settled in these metropolises, even
though more than half of the urban areas
that will house this population have not
yet been built.
This means that visionary mayors and
city developers across the world have
the opportunity to get it right from the
beginning by establishing new city areas
and upgrading systems in old neighborhoods.
A lot can be achieved, for example,
by looking at supermarkets as the
backbones of smart cities.
Danfoss technologies can connect supermarkets
to electricity and heating
networks, enabling better use of both.
For example, at a local supermarket
near Danfoss headquarters in Denmark,
excess heat from the refrigeration system
is used for hot water and space heating
within the store. The addition of a district
heating connection also allows the
supermarket to sell surplus heat to the
local district heating company, thereby
supplying heat to 16 homes every year.
This “win-win” solution utilizes existing
energy that would otherwise have been
wasted, and incorporates district heating
as a two-way energy infrastructure.
Addressing the cities of the future
With cities accounting for more than 80
percent of our economic output and 70
percent of the energy consumed around
the world, the benefits of creating energyefficient
cities are numerous.
Danfoss has been working together with
ambitious cities and mayors for many
years to create more livable cities. A
great example is the 632-meter-high
Shanghai Tower in China, which is one
of the world’s greenest buildings and on
most Top 5 lists that rank energy-efficient
buildings. Due to growing Chinese urbanization,
special demands are being
placed on construction projects to reduce
energy consumption and pollution.
The Danfoss control valves in Shanghai
Tower automatically ensure the precise
control and balancing of the water
flow in the pipe work. This also means
that people on the top floor quickly get
the temperature they want, regardless
of the temperatures preferred on the
lower floors. Energy efficiency in the airconditioning
system is further boosted
by pressure transmitters and filter driers
from Danfoss. More than 50 percent of
the building’s energy consumption is
due to the heating, ventilation, and airconditioning
system, and 20 percent of
this can be saved by using Danfoss control
valves. For the heating and cooling
systems, Danfoss variable-speed drives
ensure that the pumps, compressors,
and fans never run faster than is necessary
to deliver the right temperature.
This contributes to additional savings
of 20–40 percent when compared to
running these components without this
technology.
Any city can copy this by improving both
new and existing buildings; introducing
district energy networks; cleaning water
and producing energy at the same time;
increasing the uptake of energy efficiency
in the industrial sector; and by
investing in efficient food infrastructure
to feed the growing population. However,
we need more scale, more speed, and
more acceleration.
To accelerate urban efficiency, Danfoss
works with allied stakeholders such as
Sustainable Energy for All. As a partner
in the District Energy in Cities Initiative
from the United Nations Environment
Programme, Danfoss has established a
team of district energy experts to support
cities in developing, retrofitting,
or scaling-up district energy systems.
The team will assist more than 30 cities
chosen in an extensive consultation
process to identify municipalities with
high district heating or cooling potential.
Danfoss engineers technologies that enable
the world of tomorrow to do more
with less. We meet the growing need for
infrastructure, food supply, energy efficiency,
and climate-friendly solutions.
Global Compact International Yearbook 2017 93