Building owners get a “thermic photography” of their own buidling or house
To do so, owners have to gather and bring a number of key information to the city energy manager (heating energy consumption, size of the house,…).
This enables him to:
- Calculate the energy spending ratio of the building
- Generate an interesting discussion with private owners so that they act on their own bulding/house.
A DISPLAY sticker will eventually be issued. This tool allows for a quick understanding of the building general energy consumption (heating, electricity and water). All this is available for as little as 65 Euros.
More information: Christian Trachsel, Neuchatel City energy manager
Other cities went through an aerial thermography:
Aerial thermography
On the 11th and 12th of February 2008, in the early hours of the morning, before dawn, at the very coldest moment of the year, an helicopter equipped with an infrared camera monitored Neuchâtel from the air. Images of the whole city have been gathered and analysed so that “good and poor quality” buildings can be classified.
A wonderful communication tool
Colours show temperature differences. Thus we can see which buldings do loose a lot of heat (yellow and red) or not (black and violet).
The City of Neuchâtel organized a public exhibition to show results to the entire population.
Lycée Jean Piaget
Data need to be interpreted…
Image through thermographic photography is immediate, but an accurate interpretation of data is needed. “Parasite effects”, such as the heat generated by special materials, can alter results at first.
Why thermography
Aerial thermography allows for a monitoring of thermic losses of buildings. The heat released thrugh the roof of buldings is captured by the camera of the helicopter. The warmer the roof is, the more energy is lost. Considering the roof is responsible for approximately 30% of building energy losses, it gives a good indicator of the quality of insulation. Thermic images that have been monitored are analysed so that the level of energy loss of each and every bulding is determinded and “thermic maps” are generated. Building roofs can have a difference of up to 15 degrees Celsius.
A perfect complement to other HOLISTIC projects
The data gathered help to
- Feed into the area “energy models” generated by LESO/EPFL
- Set up priorities for buildings that need actions from local authorities ( energy management and control)