Posco E&C announced Monday it has commercialized Eco Saver, a unit-level automatic control system designed to reduce heating and cooling energy consumption in apartment complexes, and will begin full-scale supply.
Posco E&C jointly developed Eco Saver based on an MOU it signed last year with Kyung Dong Navien and Seoul National University's Construction and Environmental Research Institute. The system completed commercialization after pilot testing and is the first of its kind applied to an actual apartment complex by a construction company.
The system comprehensively analyzes residential conditions — including outdoor temperature and indoor status — to automatically control cooling on a unit-by-unit basis. Summer pilot tests showed that linking a dehumidification ventilation system with air conditioning cut cooling energy consumption by about 18 to 25 percent compared with running air conditioning alone. The system also maintains indoor humidity at around 50 percent, keeping conditions comfortable even at higher temperature settings.
The system also incorporates heating efficiency control for winter. A control algorithm that factors in outdoor temperature and boiler return-water temperature reduced heating energy use by about 8 to 12 percent compared with conventional systems. Heating is handled by the Posco PosMAC Premium Boiler, co-developed with Kyung Dong Navien, which uses corrosion-resistant PosMAC steel for enhanced durability and features rapid hot-water supply and AI-based smart operation.
Yeo Myeong-seok, a Seoul National University professor who verified the system's heating performance, said it was significant that "an energy-saving system developed through industry-academia-research collaboration has advanced all the way to actual application in apartment housing."
Posco E&C will introduce Eco Saver as an optional product at The Sharp Songdo Grantterre, a complex currently in pre-sale. The company plans to refine the technology based on operational data after residents move in and to expand its application to additional complexes.
"Eco Saver is a lifestyle-integrated technology that cuts cooling energy by 18 to 25 percent in summer and heating energy by 8 to 12 percent in winter," a Posco E&C official said. "We will continue to expand differentiated residential energy solutions that address climate change, including extreme heat and cold."
Meanwhile, Posco E&C posted second-quarter sales of 1.769 trillion won ($1.23 billion) and operating profit of 44 billion won.
hwshin@heraldcorp.com
