The Installation and Energy System of the Future Does Not Need Circulation Pipes

Energy losses in today’s buildings are often hidden in plain sight – buried in the installation and energy system, and especially in circulation systems that continuously waste heat throughout the building’s lifetime.

The good news is that this is not inevitable. It is the result of how buildings are designed and how installation and energy systems are structured. And that means it can be solved – but only if we address it from the start.

Why this matters

New buildings today are designed to meet strict energy performance requirements. Yet measurements repeatedly show that actual energy use is significantly higher than predicted.

One of the biggest sources of that gap hides in the invisible – the installation and energy system, and in particular hot water circulation and heating distribution.

A feasibility study from BEBO revealed that heat losses from hot water and circulation can be almost ten times higher than the figures used for building permits. In one student housing project, measured losses reached 28 kWh per square metre per year, even though the energy model predicted only 3 kWh per square metre. The difference came down to the length and design of the pipe runs within the installation and energy system.

This is not a marginal problem. It is a structural one – and it has direct consequences for operating cost, energy demand, and long-term asset performance.

Energy Losses Built Into the Design

The problem often begins at the drawing board. When architectural layout is completed first, the installation and energy system is forced to adapt afterward. The result is long pipe runs, extra shafts, and tight spaces that amplify heat losses before a single resident moves in.

As Edwin Måradson, Chief Sustainability Officer and Co-founder of Nordnest, puts it: “It is well known that shorter pipes mean lower losses. But when the installation and energy system is designed as an afterthought, the energy gap is built into the building itself. Recovering that loss over the lifetime of the building is expensive and often impossible without major intervention.”

Beyond unnecessary energy use, this also creates operational risk. Shafts where hot water loses heat can reach temperatures that warm nearby cold water pipes – raising the risk of Legionella, something the Swedish Building Code explicitly warns against and sets temperature limits for.

These are not edge cases. They are predictable consequences of an unstructured installation and energy system.

Hot Water Circulation – An Invisible Cost Driver

Traditional installation and energy systems circulate hot water continuously throughout the building to ensure it reaches the tap within seconds. This approach comes at a significant cost: hot water circulation can account for up to 30 percent of total heat losses in a multifamily building. It also drives up return temperatures in district heating systems and increases peak-load demand in heat pumps – raising both energy costs and operational complexity for the asset owner.

The financial impact accumulates quietly over decades. For developers, owners, and operators, it represents a structural drag on performance that was locked in long before the building was handed over.

A Structured Approach: Ekonod

Ekonod is an installation and energy architecture that defines how building systems are structured from the very start. Rather than circulating hot water throughout the entire building continuously, Ekonod organises buildings into clearly defined installation zones – each representing a functional area such as a residential dwelling, a care room, or an office space – where heating and hot water are produced and managed locally within each zone.

Only the heating water required for space heating is distributed vertically through the building. That heat is then used to produce domestic hot water locally within each installation zone. The result is a fundamentally simpler, more efficient installation and energy system – with significantly shorter pipe runs, no hot water circulation losses, and no conditions for Legionella to develop.

The outcomes are measurable and direct: up to 30 percent lower heat losses, lower operating cost, improved energy system stability, and individual metering and billing integrated from the outset. Any faults or leaks are contained within a single installation zone rather than affecting the entire building – reducing both maintenance complexity and operational risk.

As Edwin Måradson explains: “When the installation and energy system is structured from the start, energy performance stops being a prediction and starts being a controlled outcome. That is a fundamental shift in how we think about buildings – not just at handover, but across the full lifecycle.”

Prefabrication as a Quality and Cost Strategy

Because Ekonod structures the installation and energy system from the start, the most complex components can be factory-assembled, tested, and verified before arriving on site. This is not just a construction convenience – it is a quality and cost strategy.

On-site installation is reduced to minimal work that can be carried out by a single installer, rather than the three or four trades typically required when installation and energy systems are coordinated under pressure. The result is faster delivery, fewer errors, lower build cost, and significantly higher reliability at handover.

For developers and builders, this translates directly into predictable delivery and reduced financial risk across the construction phase. For owners and operators, it means a building that performs as designed from day one – not one that requires costly remediation to close the gap between predicted and actual energy use.

Ekonod can also recover heat from shower water within each installation zone, turning what is typically a source of waste into a contributing element of the overall energy system – further reducing both energy demand and peak-load costs.

Conclusion: Structure the Installation and Energy System From the Start

Shorter pipes matter. But they are not the whole answer. To truly close the energy performance gap, the installation and energy system must be structured as an integral part of the building from the very beginning – not adapted to fit around decisions that have already been made.

With Ekonod as the installation and energy architecture, buildings can meet their designed energy performance not just on paper, but in operation. Construction time is reduced, lifecycle cost is lower, and the installation and energy system becomes a controlled and value-generating part of the business case rather than a source of ongoing risk.

As Edwin Måradson concludes: “We need to move from reactive problem-solving to systematic thinking. It is not enough to insulate better or reroute pipes after the fact. The installation and energy system must be structured correctly from the start – because that is where the real value is created, and where the real losses begin if we get it wrong.”