We have some very interesting test infrastructure at our disposal on our campuses where our researchers can perform tests for your verifications
Infrastructure
E-cube | Zero Energy Test House
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The E-cube is a zero energy test house for researchers developing energy efficient building components and systems. It is a full scale test facility, operated by the Research Group Building Physics of Ghent University, to investigate innovations designed for the zero energy buildings of the future in realistic climatic conditions.
Recent research contributes to the development of energy efficient ventilation systems, and investigates the influence of environmental parameters (wind speed, direction, solar irradiance, temperature, relative humidity) on the indoor air quality with particular focus on volatiles released by building materials
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In 2011 the E-cube participated in the worldwide solar Decathlon competition in the US, a contest among universities to design and build a solar energy driven house. The E-cube was 16th in the global competition and won 1st prize for the most affordable dwelling.
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Research topics
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In-situ performance of energy systems
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Energy neutral construction concepts
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Quality of the indoor environment
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Building physical performance of building components
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Validation of simulation models for energy use and indoor air quality in buildings
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Downpour load on facades
Principles of design
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Passive house principles
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Affordable and modular DIY package
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Phased: upgrades with extensions
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Plug and play for all techniques
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Structural flexibility: pallet racks as load-bearing elements
Pictures: Beeldbank UGent
Coastal & Ocean Basin
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Flanders Maritime Laboratory, Wetenschapspark 8, 8400 Oostende
The Coastal & Ocean Basin (COB) wave tank facility in Ostend (Belgium) has been designed to study the effect of waves and currents on coastal and offshore engineering scale models, as well as the hydrodynamic behaviour of floating and marine renewable energy devices. With wave tank dimensions of 30 m x 30 m, a variable water depth up to 1.4 m and a central pit with up to 4.5 m water depth, the infrastructure offers excellent test conditions for coastal to near offshore applications.
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The state-of-the-art generation and measurement systems boast several unique features, such as the ability to generate waves and current at any relative angle. Extreme directional wave conditions with a wave height up until 0.55 m can be generated, in combination with maximum current velocities of 0.4 m/s. The Qualisys motion capture system, a unique twin system of above and underwater cameras, enables users to accurately capture 6-Degree-of-Freedom motions of floating or semi-submersed objects. The wide range of testing possibilities includes – but is not limited to – coastal defence solutions, renewable energy technologies such as offshore (floating) wind turbines, wave energy converters or floating photovoltaic systems, as well as capturing seagoing ship motions, testing of marine observation equipment or mooring applications.
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The Coastal & Ocean Basin is situated within Flanders Maritime Laboratory, which also houses a towing tank for manoeuvres in shallow water. The COB is managed by a consortium composed of Ghent University, KU Leuven and Flanders Hydraulics Research. Fully operational since first half of 2023, the COB welcomes users from academia, industry and governmental institutions.
Labo Lemcko
We use our research equipment to detect your voltage dips, harmonics, imbalance, flicker, EMC problems. You want to know which measurements and analyzes we do in our lab? Discover which troubleshooting we perform for you:
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Test field PV systems | Test different technologies side by side in various setups
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Test field for decentralized production and storage | Realistic distribution grid with different grid configurations, Power injection from PV park, Freely adjustable grid quality up to 180 kVA
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DC Net | DC bus energy storage
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Generator test bench (grid-emulator) | Wind turbine emulator up to 150 kW, GenSet & CHP emulator at different synchronous speeds, Emulation of electric vehicles and impact on the grid
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EMC lab | Semi-anechoic cage in EMC lab
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Power Quality lab | Freely adjustable grid quality up to 180kVA
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Pictures: Labo Lemcko
HomeLab
HomeLab is a unique residential test and co-innovation environment for smart home services of 600 m2 in Ghent, Belgium. HomeLab is both a lab and a real two-story house in which people can live temporarily to test and co-create IoT services. It supports innovation from brainstorming, over early proof-of-concept testing to pre-pilot testing in a real living environment for a variety of application domains (home automation, health & care, energy, social robotics, audio & video, AR/VR, etc.).
Technical corridors, hollow floors and ceilings allow to add and hide new devices and prototypes ensuring a natural interaction with the services under development and test. An extensive sensor infrastructure captures relevant context information (temperature, air quality, energy consumption, user presence, etc.) supporting in-depth analyses of the performed experiments. Via an open home automation system all functional elements (HVAC, blinds, curtains, switches, doors, windows, etc.) can be controlled and monitored. The captured sensor and actuator data are stored in a scalable and secure data platform providing access to real-time and historical data.
HomeLab aims at serving the needs of different stakeholders including SMEs as well as large businesses, researchers, non-profit organizations, etc. HomeLab is also ideally suited for organizing brainstorms, demonstrations, hackatons, trainings, and even small-scale events.
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Example use cases for which HomeLab could be used:
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Detection of typical residential user activities & lifestyle patterns for home automation and assisted living services
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Validation of smart home energy management systems with real assets
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User interaction with social robots
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Subjective video quality testing
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Evaluation of residential AR/VR services
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Accurate speech recognition in (challenging) home environments
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IoT interoperability testing
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