Possibilities for the use of geothermal energy in new residential buildings in Serbia, case study Urban Blocks in City of Kragujevac

Abstract

Use of RES is an important element for achieving ambitious results for CO2 emission reduction in EU, emphasized and obligated by RES Directive, among other documents. In Serbia, as a candidate country and a signatory of Energy treaty, targets set by relevant documents reflect in benchmarks set by National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency, setting the level of reduction of energy consumption until 2018 for 9%, with more ambitious projections up to 2030. This calls for extensive research of possibilities for the use of renewable energy in buildings, its potentials and possible restrictions. Since the Directive states that low amount of energy required should be covered to a very significant extent by energy from renewable sources, including energy from renewable sources produced on-site or nearby, an investigation of possibilities for application of geothermal ground probes for a typical residential urban block in the city of Kragujevac is presented. This enables analysis of limitations imposed by legal and physical conditions: planning guidelines, type of ground, functional requests and infrastructural capacities. Typology of characteristic urban block layouts for residential buildings is generated, leading to projections of possible area covered with ground probes and calculations of relevant energy needed for heating, based on current regulations on energy efficiency in buildings. From these calculations, percentage of defined energy needs from possible geothermal ground probes is defined, enabling estimation of geothermal energy potential for new residential building blocks.