A newly completed project in Berlin calling itself the first smart-city quarter in the city has used a wide range of sustainable and digitally networked components to create an energy efficient zone covering 7.6 square kilometers. Featuring 90 apartments along with 10 commercial units, the project includes substantial use of photovoltaics, air-to-water heat pumps and storage tanks. Panasonic took part in the project, called Future Living, by supplying some of the most important technology. The solar powered heat pumps are used to heat both the buildings and the water used by their owners. “The solution was developed with leading research partners here in Germany for decentralized energy management,” said Ralf Becker, project manager of the energy group of Panasonic’s research and development team in Europe. “In simulations together with university test laboratories, we have achieved an improvement in energy use of up to 15%.” As well as saving energy, the project’s developer GSW Sigmaringen hopes to be able to offer a 15 percent reduction on the price of energy by using highly advanced, efficient systems.
