Krassimir Gurov ABB Smart Buildings, Electrification Oerlikon, Switzerland, krassimir.gurov@ch.abb.com
With urbanization and connectivity dramatically increasing over time [1], by 2050 most people will live in cities surrounded by a plethora of connected devices. As such, they will spend around 90 percent of their time inside buildings [2] – buildings that consume around 30 percent of the world’s energy production and collectively account for around 40 percent of energy-related CO₂ emissions today [3]. Nowadays, around 80 percent of existing buildings are without automation of any kind, while electricity is projected to rise to 30 percent of the energy mix by 2040 [1,4]. Considered together, it follows that vast amounts of energy, CO₂, and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions could be saved by the electrification and automation of buildings by increasing their energy efficiency, optimizing space occupancy and adding comfort. As part of their sustainability strategy 2030, ABB developed the Mission to Zero™ program, a program to help ABB achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, with strategic partnerships, at their own sites, directly and indirectly, and to encourage their suppliers and help customers in their efforts to reach carbon neutrality too.
Working toward a carbon-neutral future
Relying on expertise and collaboration, both in-house and with third parties, the Mission to Zero™ blueprint, developed in 2020 following the success of ABB’s light-house project at the Luedenscheid facility in Germany →01, integrates advanced technical and smart digital solutions to reduce GHG emissions →02-03. This is made possible by the vast amounts of accessible, manageable and utilizable data available for sustainable and energy efficient buildings, infrastructure and processes. By combining ABB’s energy management solutions, and those of partners, with electrification, distributed energy resource (DER) technologies and renewable energy sources (solar, geothermal, wind, storage and grid, etc.), customers – ABB factories and external customers alike – are provided with a tailored yet flexible and holistic solution to improve sustainability and efficiency, cost transparency, convenience and well-being for better productivity [1] →02-03.
ABB’s approach to building a smarter and more sustainable future includes:
• Energy collection and storage
• Energy distribution and protection
• Energy analysis and optimization
• Energy efficiency
In addition to incorporating ABB’s own smart solutions, third party and partner solutions and services are also considered to ensure customers are provided with the best possible solution for their individual sustainability needs. This might include solutions for water conservation and recycling, and even for smart energy management, as well as overall system integration eg, Caverion [5]. By combining the solutions, capabilities and expertise of partners, ABB is better able to bring along their industry-peers and further their customers aims toward carbon-neutral buildings, which is at the core of the Mission to Zero™ program.
Applications for a complete solution
ABB’s building applications encompass a wide range of power distribution and protection solutions→04:
• Low voltage (LV) and medium voltage (MV) switchgear
• ABB Ability™, Condition Monitoring for Electrical Systems (CMES)
• Storage systems including BESS¹
• Building and energy management solutions: eg, metering and ABB Ability™ Energy and Asset Manager →04b
• Heating, ventilation, air-conditioning (HVAC) control products and systems →04c such as ABB Cylon® ASPECT® & INTEGRA™ Building Control as well as the recently released ABB Ability™ Building Analyzer, electrification of heat via heat pumps
• Use of artificial intelligence (AI) from ABB Ability™ Efficiency AI solution powered by BrainBox AI
• Lighting systems, eg, dimming system based on a digital addressable lighting interface (DALI) and KNX
• Electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions, eg, Terra AC Wallbox and Terra DC fast chargers
• Motors and drives, eg, IE5 SYNRN motors and variable speed drives.
04a Global reference architecture. 
04b An example of the building energy management electric metering architecture. 
04c An example of the building energy management architecture for HVAC and lighting.
04 The combination of state-of-the-art technology and advanced digital solutions, as the architecture schematics shown here illustrate, help customers achieve more sustainable operation.
By choosing the right applications in concert with the designed energy architecture →04, customers can benefit from reduced CO₂ emissions, energy savings, reduced energy loss, as well as cost savings while fulfilling the requirements of environmental product declarations (EPD) or certificates on their path toward carbon neutrality.
Lighthouse project demonstrates success
The proof-of-concept of this approach was demonstrated in 2019 as ABB subsidiary Busch-Jaeger presented its first carbon-neutral industrial site, located in Luedenscheid, Germany →01. Relying on solar power, smart energy management using ABB’s OPTIMAX® scalable energy management system and a highly efficient cogeneration plant that features a solar power plant, this flagship site now generates 1,100 MWh annually (albeit this varies according to weather conditions) from a combined heat and power plant (CHP), of 200 kW, 1,250 kW from PV, up to 50 kW of EV charging and has a battery storage with an output of 200 kW and a capacity of 275 kWh, this Mission to Zero™ site saves 744 tons of CO₂ annually, depending on the weather conditions in a given year.
This lighthouse project site demonstrates just how a carbon-neutral and energy self-sufficient ecosystem for industry can result from combining the production data from the Internet of Things (IoT), electrification and buildings. Here, data is gathered from all involved entities, such as utilities, and connected digitally with the data derived from physical entities such as EV chargers, solar panels, or building automation appliances to achieve interoperability. This complete solution results in the ability to optimize energy use and achieve a carbon-neutral ecosystem at this factory.
Dalmine – the importance of energy transparency
The Mission to Zero™ blueprint is being successfully applied to other ABB factories as well. A particular highlight is ABB’s circuit breaker and switchgear factory in Dalmine, Italy, where Mission to Zero™ efforts have aimed to reduce CO₂ and other GHG emissions, conserve resources, and increase visibility and insights into their own energy management →05a. To promote circularity and resource conservation, ABB also evaluated and certified products and processes using life cycle assessments (LCA) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPD). By installing photovoltaics (PV) for power generation and consumption, coupled with smart energy and asset management technology to monitor and assess power use, this ABB factory has been able to generate over 20 percent of its own energy in the summer months, and has reduced CO₂ emissions by over 2,200 tons over the past two years.
05a In addition to reducing CO₂ emissions at the Dalmine factory, ABB evaluated and certified products and processes using LCAs and EPD, thereby promoting sustainability overall. 
05b The digital solution at the Porvoo site relies on ABB Ability™ History data collected from thermal, electricity and water consumption as well as ABB’s technical solutions to reach carbon neutrality ambitions.
05 Two examples of Mission to Zero™ sites are shown.
ABB’s retrofit factory achieves carbon ambitions
The newest ABB Mission to Zero™ site with completely carbon neutral operations is a factory that produces wiring accessories and material for the smart building market located in Porvoo, Finland →05b. With the total elimination of fossil fuels, this site utilizes almost 100 percent renewable energy derived from a combination of solar and heating systems via eg, a heat pump, and the use of recycled plastic for the production process. Specifically, 238 MW/yr power is self-generated from a 375 kW PV system; the heat pump system covers 93 percent of the heat needed. Results from this industrial site demonstrate that factories with legacy technologies can be successfully retrofitted in efforts aimed toward carbon-neutral ambitions.
In its first year of operation, this retro-fitted facility achieved a 21 percent increase in energy efficiency and a savings of 636 tons of CO₂ emissions. This is a stark demonstration of what is possible when ABB’s advanced digital solutions are integrated with state-of-the-art technical solutions. By combining ABB Ability™ History for real-time data gathering and storage, with ABB Ability™ Building Analyzer for near real-time data visualization and third party information systems, data is collected on thermal energy, electricity and water consumption, which has been registered by meters, electrical equipment and production cells →05b. This information is then used for monitoring and analyzing energy consumption, for assessing and optimizing the energy balance and processes. Importantly, this same process can be applied to other factories as well as to homes and even to entire cities.
Looking at the future through a new lens
Within the context of recent global geo-political events and economic crises, forming strategic alliances within the private sector is of paramount importance [6]. By zooming out it becomes crystal-clear that there is a need to facilitate the implementation of smart, safe and sustainable energy management technologies, so that their impact at scale can be magnified, for the benefit of all.
A prime example of this amplification effect is demonstrated by the strategic partnership between ABB and Microsoft², which was first introduced in 2016. When ABB launched the Mission to Zero™ Program in 2019, the primary objective was to “walk the talk” on sustainability by bringing ABB's own operations close to carbon neutrality, while concomitantly building up a customer-centered commercial offering around decarbonization services. The approach has been powered by a broad network of partners, such as Microsoft, across the energy sector and beyond. Since then, Microsoft has been a close implementation partner – one that has accompanied ABB along their journey toward carbon neutrality. Microsoft has supported ABB Ability™ digital solutions with its Azure cloud services and ecosystem. Moreover, since Microsoft launched their Cloud for Sustainability recently, ABB has begun to onboard these products and solutions into the new sustainability-centered ecosystem. Beginning in 2023, ABB will be rolling-out the joint offering within its plants under the umbrella of the Mission to Zero™ program.
The success of the Mission to Zero™ program to date, not only demonstrates ABB’s commitment to sustainability and carbon neutrality, it provides a tested means to reach carbon and reduction ambitions in buildings around the world whether they already have some automation or digitalization capabilities or not. By fostering strategic alliances with commercial partners such as Microsoft, Caverion and others, ABB is integrating technologies in an effort to reduce reach energy and CO₂ reduction goals at scale – a boon for business and humanity alike – and an important step toward a more sustainable future in an increasingly uncertain world.
Footnote
1 Battery energy storage systems (BESS) comprises batteries, a battery management system, an inverter, switchgear, transformer, protection and a control system.
2 See “Perfect Partners” in this issue of ABB Review on pp. 194-199.
References
[1] ABB, “Mission to Zero™ Building Solutions” ABB eBOOk, Available: https://buildingsolutionsebooks.abb.com/view/822880579/ [Accessed June 11, 2023.]
[2] KLEPEIS, N., et al. “The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS): a resource for assessing exposure to environmental pollutants”, Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, 11, 2001, pp. 231–252.
[3] IEA, “Global energy use and energy-related CO emissions by sector”, 2020, Available: https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/global-energy-use-and-energy-related-CO -emissions-by-sector-2020[4] ABB, ELSB red line strategy 2021 [Accessed June 11, 2023.]
[4] European Commission “A renovation wave of Europe, Greening our buildings, creating jobs, improving lives”, 2020, Available: https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/energy-efficiency/energy-efficient-buildings/renovation-wave_en [Accessed June 11, 2023.]
[5] ABB press release, “Development of carbon-neutral buildings accelerated through ABB and Caverion collaboration”, Sept. 8, 2022, Available: https://new.abb.com/news/detail/94574/development-of-carbon-neutral-buildings-accelerated-through-new-abb-and-caverion-collaboration [Accessed June 11, 2023.]
[6] The World Bank. “Global Economic Prospects”, June 2020. © Washington, DC, Available: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/d29e6c95-4753-58e8-b368-d03c78cacab5 [Accessed June 11, 2023.]
