Builtwins makes strong progress within the HeriTACe Horizon Europe project through the deployment of Model Predictive Control (MPC) in a residential heritage building pilot. While Builtwins has already established commercial traction in the commercial building sector, this pilot provides an important opportunity to demonstrate the value of MPC in residential applications, particularly within the challenging context of heritage buildings.
The pilot has been operational since 12 March 2026 and has successfully completed its first months of operation in heating mode. During this period, MPC has delivered reliable comfort while using low supply water temperatures, which results in an improved COP for the air water heat pump.
A key objective of the pilot is to address one of the main challenges associated with heritage buildings: the limited availability of accurate building information and the uncertainty of building parameters. To overcome this, Builtwins is developing and validating a calibration methodology that uses on-site measurements to fine-tune a physics-based (white-box) digital twin of the building. This approach aims to improve model accuracy and ultimately enhance control performance in complex existing buildings.
As the cooling season approaches, the project is entering a new phase. The pilot is equipped with a reversible air-to-water heat pump capable of both heating and cooling, making it an ideal demonstration case for advanced HVAC control strategies. Current work focuses on integrating the cooling functionality into the MPC framework while maximizing the utilization of locally generated photovoltaic (PV) energy. By aligning cooling demand with renewable energy availability, the system aims to improve both energy efficiency and self-consumption.
Looking ahead, further efforts will concentrate on advancing and validating the building model calibration methodology. At the same time, the team is addressing several technical challenges related to the input/output communication with the Daikin heat pump, which are essential for unlocking the full capabilities of the control system.
The pilot represents an important step toward demonstrating how advanced predictive control can improve comfort, energy efficiency, and renewable energy integration in heritage residential buildings, paving the way for broader adoption of MPC in this traditionally difficult building segment.