Kirils Gončarovs’s research while affiliated with Riga Technical University and other places

As demand for data centers (DC) has increased rapidly, so has their electricity consumption. Cooling DCs is essential to maintain optimal temperatures for the operation of servers and equipment. The consequence of the cooling process is that most of the electricity consumed in DCs, including cooling, is eventually dissipated as heat that is released into the atmosphere without any useful application. Recovering and reusing waste heat offers a sustainable solution to reduce primary energy consumption and minimize the environmental impact. Using waste heat from DCs to heat buildings can significantly improve the energy efficiency and environmental sustainability of DCs. Therefore, this research analyzes the existing potential of waste heat recovery from data centers in Latvia and proposes a system dynamic modelling approach for evaluation of the future impact of waste heat on the national heat supply. The overall waste heat generated by DCs in 2022 was 51.37 GWh at a temperature of 65 °C. By 2050, the total heat energy production potential from DCs will increase to 257 GWh, with 201 GWh being utilized.

Multi-family building renovation represents a key policy area at the same time, predominantly affects the daily life of residents. The paper tackles the energy renovations of multi-family buildings in Latvia. Specifically, it investigates how the renovation process affects the residents’ health and well-being, their perception, and their understanding of the renovation process. To evaluate the residents’ perception, a survey was conducted in thirteen buildings renovated using energy performance contracting to assess the preparation, execution, and impact of the renovation project. The survey revealed the lack of communication between the parties involved and co-design as the roadblocks to upscale the renovation process in Latvia using energy performance contracting. The paper shows aspects of the process that need to be improved to scale up the renovation in Latvia.

Data centres are large global energy consumers that create low-temperature waste heat. To alleviate the impact of the temperature increase on the information technology equipment, the data centres are cooled with different technical solutions, drastically increasing the facilities’ power consumption. In different regions, the use of data centre waste heat combined with heat pumps in district heating systems was identified as a lower-cost heat energy generation solution compared to alternative fossil or renewable energy-based heating solutions. The research paper aims to identify the data centre’s waste heat potential as an energy source in district heating in Latvia. The technical and economic potential for using heat pumps in the data centre’s waste heat systems was evaluated. To reach the goal of the study, a mixed methodological approach was used divided into four steps: the creation of the statistical calculation method, stakeholder survey to evaluate the energy consumption, mapping of the quantitative results to evaluate technical potential and distribution patterns, and system dynamics modelling to evaluate possible adoption scenarios of the technological solutions. The results of the research reveal a heterogenic distribution of data centres in Latvia, which limits the use of waste heat at the national level. Furthermore, the study identified the total waste heat potential of data centres in Latvia and provided recommendations for the adoption of data centres’ waste heat based on the results of the system dynamic simulations.

The renovation of the multifamily buildings represents a key policy area and at the same time largely affects the daily life of residents. In the time of energy crisis, when energy price rises and saving energy becomes especially important, the building sector is among the most affected and a key sector to mitigate the consequences. The paper tackles the energy renovations of multi-family buildings in Latvia that use energy performance contracts. Specifically, it investigates how the process of renovation affects the resident’s health and well-being, their perception, and understanding of the renovation process. To evaluate the perception of the residents, a survey was conducted in thirteen buildings renovated by using energy performance contracting in three cities in Latvia. The survey addressed the preparation and execution of the energy renovation project, the state of the building before and after the renovation, and the impact of the renovated building on the residents. The survey revealed the lack of communication between the parties involved and co-design as the roadblocks to upscale the renovation process in Latvia. In particular, the financial communication to the residents on the project costs was insufficient. Additionally, even though the resident’s perception of safety, health, and comfort improved, the survey showed a decrease in communication between the residents of the same building after the renovation. Assessment of the survey results revealed the need to improve the communication by the ESCOs on the costs of the energy renovation projects and address the lack of community engagement after it is completed.