At a time when sustainable energy management is becoming increasingly important, the unused waste heat from IT systems in buildings represents a considerable waste. Hospitals, universities and office complexes have extensive IT infrastructures that not only consume energy but also produce a significant amount of heat that remains largely unutilised. The Horizon Europe project HEATWISE addresses this challenge and brings together twelve research and industry partners from eight countries to develop innovative solutions for utilising this waste heat.
The project, which was launched in early 2024 and will run for three years, is funded by the European Union under Horizon Europe and by the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation. A key element of HEATWISE is the development of predictive control algorithms that not only link the IT infrastructure and building technology, but are also designed to enable energy-efficient, low-carbon and cost-effective operation.
One example of the practical realisation of these goals is Empa’s “NEST” research building in Dübendorf, which serves as a real pilot plant. Here, the waste heat from a microcomputing centre is already being successfully used for heating, supported by innovative cooling technologies such as the “on-chip liquid cooling” system from Israeli project partner ZutaCore. This enables optimum heat recovery and the utilisation of the recovered heat for high-temperature-intensive applications, such as hot water supply.
For specialists from the property and location development sector, HEATWISE not only offers insights into pioneering heat recovery and energy efficiency technologies, but also concrete application examples that show how IT infrastructures and building technology can be used synergistically for more sustainable energy management.