Niko Heeren


Last Name

Heeren

First Name

Niko

ORCID

0000-0003-4967-6557

Organisational unit

01109 - Lehre Bau, Umwelt und Geomatik

Search Results

Publications 1 - 10 of 48
  • Modelling environmental impacts of buildings – energy, material, and dynamics
    Item type: Doctoral Thesis
    Heeren, Niko (2017)
  • A novel integrated framework to evaluate greenhouse energy demand and crop yield production
    Item type: Journal Article
    Golzar, Farzin; Heeren, Niko; Hellweg, Stefanie; et al. (2018)
    Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
    Greenhouses are complex systems that require considerable amounts of energy. In order to optimize their performance, it is necessary to reduce the amount of energy per unit of crop produced. This requires a combined assessment of greenhouse energy balance and crop growth, as well as their interaction. In this work, more than 30 existing greenhouse models are reviewed and different algorithms are combined to propose an integrated energy-yield model. The physical model of greenhouse energy demand is based on the dynamic energy and mass balance while yield production is based on a physiological crop model. The integrated model is validated with observed energy demand and crop yield datasets during one full tomato growing period. There was good agreement between modeled results and measured data. The key ad- vantage of the integrated model is that it can analyze drivers for greenhouse energy losses and quantify the influence of measures on both energy demand and crop yield. Due to the model's dynamic and high temporal resolution, it is possible to study the use of renewable energy sources in greenhouse operation, as illustrated for thermal storage by means of phase change materials. A sensitivity analysis by changing day/night temperature, CO2 indoor concentration and artificial lighting is performed. The results illustrate how the model can be used for optimizing the performance of greenhouses in terms of specific energy demand (energy per crop produced). Therefore, the integrated model can be a tool for determining the optimum design and control parameters, which is particularly relevant for growers and sustainable agriculture systems in general. This study presents a para- metric decision support tool that assists planers with optimizing energy performance of greenhouses while analyzing the trade-off between energy demand and crop yield.
  • Comparative emission analysis of low-energy and zero-emission buildings
    Item type: Journal Article
    Kristjansdottir, Torhildur F.; Heeren, Niko; Andresen, Inger; et al. (2018)
    Building Research & Information
  • Influence of construction material choice and design parameters on greenhouse gas emissions of buildings
    Item type: Conference Paper
    Heeren, Niko; Hellweg, Stefanie (2014)
    World Sustainable Building 2014 Barcelona Conference - Conference Proceedings - Volume 4
  • Energetic and comfort benefits of composite buildings: Learning from vernacular techniques
    Item type: Conference Paper
    Szkordilisz, Flóra; Heeren, Niko; Habert, Guillaume (2014)
    World Sustainable Building 2014 Barcelona Conference - Conference Proceedings - Volume 1
  • Gebäudeparkmodell Zürich – 7-Meilenschritte – Wirkungsanalyse anhand des Gebäudeparkmodells Stadt Zürich
    Item type: Report
    Wallbaum, Holger; Jakob, Martin; Heeren, Niko; et al. (2010)
  • Housing and mobility demands of individual households and their life cycle assessment
    Item type: Journal Article
    Saner, Dominik; Heeren, Niko; Jäggi, Boris; et al. (2013)
    Environmental Science & Technology
  • The future in and of criticality assessments
    Item type: Journal Article
    Ioannidou, Dimitra; Heeren, Niko; Sonnemann, Guido; et al. (2019)
    Journal of Industrial Ecology
  • Towards a public policy of cities and human settlements in the 21st century
    Item type: Journal Article
    Creutzig, Felix; Becker, Sophia; Berrill, Peter; et al. (2024)
    npj Urban Sustainability
    Cities and other human settlements are major contributors to climate change and are highly vulnerable to its impacts. They are also uniquely positioned to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lead adaptation efforts. These compound challenges and opportunities require a comprehensive perspective on the public policy of human settlements. Drawing on core literature that has driven debate around cities and climate over recent decades, we put forward a set of boundary objects that can be applied to connect the knowledge of epistemic communities and support an integrated urbanism. We then use these boundary objects to develop the Goals-Intervention-Stakeholder-Enablers (GISE) framework for a public policy of human settlements that is both place-specific and provides insights and tools useful for climate action in cities and other human settlements worldwide. Using examples from Berlin, we apply this framework to show that climate mitigation and adaptation, public health, and well-being goals are closely linked and mutually supportive when a comprehensive approach to urban public policy is applied.
  • A virtual platform to evaluate policy scenarios targeting environmental impacts from household consumption
    Item type: Conference Poster
    Froemelt, Andreas; Heeren, Niko; Buffat, René; et al. (2017)
    Household demand for products and services triggers a multitude of economic activities along the supply chain of each product and service, involving the use of resources and the release of emissions. Assessing environmental footprints of households is thus an important basis to identify environmental strategies. This study aimed to develop a comprehensive regionalized bottom-up model for Switzerland which is able to assess the environmental impacts induced by individual households. The purpose of this overarching model is to provide a virtual platform for detailed scenario analysis which shall support effective political decision making on different scales. Three existing bottom-up models were merged: a building stock energy model, an agent-based transport simulation and a household consumption model. All of them were tested and evaluated beforehand. The physically-based building energy model estimates space heating, hot water and electricity demand for each residential building based on simplified energy balances as a function of time, site, climate data, building characteristics, surrounding topography and 3D-geometries. The mobility sub-model builds upon the simulation results of MATSim, an agent-based traffic simulation framework. The application of MATSim to Switzerland reproduced the mobility behavior of the Swiss population and provides spatio-temporal information on chosen traffic modes and driven routes for each agent. The third sub-model derives a detailed financial budget for each Swiss household and enables the quantification of consumption of food, consumables, and other goods and services. Linking these sub-models with environmental background data enabled to compute an environmental profile for each individual household in Switzerland. The application of this model to the current situation of Switzerland revealed interesting differences between individual households, different regions and different consumption areas. These differences emphasize the importance of bottom-up modelling. However, the potential of this model goes even beyond: The high resolution of all three sub-models permits detailed scenario analysis. The component-based approach of the building sub-model facilitates the investigation of detailed refurbishment scenarios with regard to improved insulation or new heating technologies. The link to MATSim allows for analyzing future mobility scenarios, ranging from electric car penetration and increased home office activities to autonomous vehicle systems. The household consumption model considers these scenarios not only in the context of total household consumption and potential burden shifts between consumption areas (rebounds), but enables additionally the simulation of further scenarios such as changes in diets. In follow-up research, the interlinking of the three sub-models is currently reinforced in order to form a complete agent-based model for Switzerland in which agents can manage their expenditures and interact with the mobility system as well as with buildings. This improved model will allow for analyzing also dynamic scenarios such as the diffuse penetration of new technologies and associated rebound effects. By covering the variability of household behavior and quantifying the demands and environmental footprints of households in the current state and in scenarios, the model identifies reduction potentials of environmental impacts and delivers important insights for the derivation of constructive and targeted environmental strategies for different regions and different household types.
Publications 1 - 10 of 48