Pilot 3: Bračak Manor in Croatia
Description of the Pilot in Bračak, Croatia
Overview
In Croatia, the so called Bračak Manor has been chosen as the pilot site. The Manor is a protected cultural and heritage monument listed in Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia. Within the Store4HUC project it is planned to install a properly sized photovoltaic system and battery storage in addition to the already installed air-water heat pump and the advanced central BMS system. Because of the cultural heritage protection, the competent authority needs to approve the planned investments within the project after the planning phase is finished. Therefore, the department that deals with the preservation of cultural heritage sites is an important stakeholder. In addition to that there have been six other stakeholders, like the Regional energy agency which is in service of energy transition or identified “Experts in the field of Energy efficiency and renewable energy storages”. A first action plan of the involvement of these stakeholders has also been created and will be updated time by time. At the end every stakeholder should gain a benefit for participating in the project, either it is an advanced knowledge of the integration of storages in historical urban centres or some new ideas for other similar sites, etc.
Description of the Pilot
Bračak Manor is located in the village Bračak, which is part of the City of Zabok. City of Zabok has a total population of 8.994 and it is situated on the main crossroads in the heart of Hrvatsko Zagorje region. Manor was built in the period 1889-1890 and it was designed by engineer Seca from Zagreb. The manor is a protected cultural and heritage monument listed in Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia, and it is owned by Krapina-Zagorje County. Bračak Manor was reconstructed and restored in 2017 in accordance with the best practices in renewing heritage on the principle of energy efficiency. The long-term goal is to show innovative materials and technology in reconstruction as a demonstrative example to other similar examples of cultural heritage and show that despite of strict conservation requirements project of this type is possible. It is equipped with wood pellets boiler for heating, micro CHP for hot water and power production during summer, air-water heat pump system for cooling and heating in transitional periods, wall insulation on the inside and energy efficient windows and doors, efficient lighting system, HVAC system, advanced central BMS for monitoring of heating, cooling and energy consumption, rainwater harvesting for irrigation of green areas and wastewater treatment as well as electric vehicle charging station.
Today the Bračak Manor is used as central place for organizations, companies and institutions interested in the renewable energy as well as small and medium companies (SME) from other sectors. It also serves as business incubator for young companies with favourable lease of business office space. The main objective of the Bračak Manor is continuing education, exchange of experience and information to all stakeholders on the sustainable use of energy. Within Store4HUC project it is planned to add a properly sized photovoltaic system and battery storage to it (up to 10kWp and 10 kWh), in accordance with placement decisions and sizing decided during the pilot preparation phase. The alreadyexisting systems will be combined with the new ones through an advanced energy management ICT system that can be built ontop of the already existing central monitoring system as a coordination service that optimally exploits different available assets.
