Energy savings use case · Model predictive control
How Herman Teirlinck uses Builtwins Model Predictive Control and a physics-based digital twin to cut energy use across 52,000 m² without compromising comfort.
Herman Teirlinck, Brussels — 52,000 m², ATES + concrete core activation, MPC + excitation tests
A 52,000 m² office building over 14 above-ground floors with two underground parking levels, mixing open-plan offices, meeting rooms, auditoriums, a restaurant and an indoor street — designed to a very high standard of energy efficiency (passive building). Heating and cooling come from geothermal energy via an Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) system connected to concrete core activation with room-level control; most rooms add VAV boxes and heating coils, with ventilation from air handling units with adiabatic cooling.
The first challenge is the sheer number of HVAC actuators: more than 600 rooms, nearly every one with its own temperature, humidity and CO₂ sensors plus a VAV box, a heating coil and a valve controlling its concrete core activation circuit. The second is the building’s substantial thermal inertia from its activated concrete floors, which fixed-rule control cannot anticipate.
Builtwins goes beyond monitoring. We build a physics-based digital twin of the building — modelling production, emission and ventilation together across every zone — and run Model Predictive Control on top of it. For Herman Teirlinck, Builtwins and Sweco developed a dedicated excitation-test methodology that lets the MPC test every single actuator and sensor of the emission system overnight, detecting anomalies in 24% of them and helping resolve them. By anticipating heating and cooling needs from weather forecasts, MPC cut the heat pump’s energy use by around 38%.
A digital twin built from floor plans, HVAC installation and sensors, zone by zone.
Weather, solar radiation, and the building's own thermal response are anticipated per zone — not just today's temperature.
Energy minimised within comfort limits (temperature, CO₂); re-run every 15 minutes.
Anomalies surfaced automatically, so maintenance acts on the faults that matter most.
Heating, ventilation and cooling drive a large share of a building's energy use — yet most systems are still steered by fixed rules that ignore how the building actually behaves. A digital-twin approach moves beyond dashboards: it reveals the real levers of optimisation, turns technical data into decisions, and helps owners meet tightening energy and ESG requirements.
Let's turn your HVAC data into measurable savings.
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