LLEC in brief

The Living Lab Energy Campus (LLEC) is about building a sustainable energy system and testing it under real-life conditions. In short: energy transition is being tested. More than ten participating institutes and organizational units of Forschungszentrum Jülich are seeking to find out how technology, energy sources and consumption can be optimally designed and coordinated. The findings are intended to serve as a blueprint for residential and industrial areas.

A key factor is the coupling of different sectors. On the Jülich campus, electricity, heat and chemical energy are coupled using various storage technologies, while the mobility sector is also integrated. Forschungszentrum Jülich has not only been building new technologies for its living lab since 2018, it is also retrofitting 20 existing buildings and integrating them into the system.

The brain of the living lab is the information and communication platform. Behind this is an intelligent IT system with predictive, adaptive algorithms regulating the energy systems. Intelligent networking and largely automatic control based on various parameters – such as weather and incidence of light, but also humidity and the number of people in a room – is essential for optimally coupling the sectors, using energy as efficiently as possible and reducing consumption. Much of the technology and equipment is already in place at the LLEC, which is funded by the Federal Government, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Helmholtz Association. By the end of 2023, all components are to be in operation, and a climate-neutral new administration building is schedulded for completion by the end of 2024.