Energy & BuildingsAdvisory & TrainingScope 1Scope 2
VDB Engineering is an engineering firm in Mechelen that designs the HVAC and energy systems of buildings. For SMEs, developers and public owners, it runs energy audits, compares heating and cooling options such as geothermal heat pumps, and follows the project from tender to delivery.
About VDB Engineering
VDB Engineering is an engineering firm for building services and energy based in Mechelen (legal name VDB Engineering Group). Its young team offers HVAC and electrical engineering with one goal: making renewable energy and sustainable building feasible in every project, today and on the road to 2050. It works for three groups: SMEs, through energy audits and energy plans; project developers and public bodies, through feasibility studies, BIM design, EPB and TOTEM studies and site supervision; and private homeowners. Its BIM-Light approach models only the essentials, such as technical installations, shafts and basements, to avoid clashes and needless drawing work. References include Brouwerij Het Anker, the City of Mechelen, Covestro, Woonland, Cogiva, Syus Housing and InvestPro, with several collective geothermal projects in Mechelen, Willebroek, Leuven and Brussels. VDB Engineering also works with the City of Mechelen on its renovation master plan for apartment buildings.
What VDB Engineering has delivered
Brouwerij Het AnkerBrewing and hospitality
Cooling beer with a geothermal field in a former church
Brouwerij Het Anker turned the church of Battel into Batteliek, a micro-brewery open to the public. Brewing means cooling a hot mix quickly, which usually takes a large chiller that uses a lot of power and can be noisy for the neighbours. VDB Engineering developed with Het Anker a cooling installation based on cold storage instead. The heat taken from the brewing process is recovered by a heat pump for the church's underfloor heating, using the buffer capacity of a geothermal borefield.
Process heat from brewing reused to heat the building
Cold storage and a geothermal borefield instead of a large chiller
Bautonic ProjectontwikkelingResidential development
Collective geothermal heating and cooling with a measured SCOP of 6.0
For the Den Atelier apartment project, VDB Engineering designed a central geothermal heat pump with four-pipe distribution, so each apartment can heat or cool efficiently and choose between the two on its own. VDB designed the heat pump installation, modelled all the piping in BIM and followed the works on site. The building also has a large solar installation to keep residents' energy bills to a minimum.
Lower energy demand while growing from about 100 to 168 student rooms
A large student building in the centre of Leuven, with about a hundred rooms, needed a full aesthetic and energy reset. With the developer and the architect, VDB Engineering brought the energy demand down sharply, even though the building grew to 168 rooms. Mapping all energy flows in its BIM model let the team fix the system and the budget early. All pipes and ducts were then modelled, and every opening through structural and fire-rated walls was listed and checked in advance.
In another project with the City of Mechelen, VDB Engineering analysed the indoor climate and energy use of the Huis van de Mechelaar at Mechelen town hall. The audit brought several pain points to light and proposed a solution the city could act on, to give staff and visitors a better place to work and be received.
Pain points in indoor climate and energy use identified
A concept study that secured extra investment for geothermal energy
For a social housing project in Mechelen, VDB Engineering carried out the full concept study. By weighing up modern techniques, it allowed the housing company to qualify for extra investment, which went into a mix of individual and collective geothermal systems spread over the houses and apartments.
Extra investment secured by the housing company
Individual and collective geothermal energy across houses and apartments
“Onze samenwerking groeide van losse projecten uit tot een duurzaam partnerschap. Ze combineren innovatieve oplossingen met een pragmatische en gestructureerde aanpak. Voor ons is VDB Engineering een betrouwbare partner waarop we met vertrouwen bouwen.”
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