Project: Harnessing Synergies and minimizing Trade-off among Deep Renovation measures and decarbonizing District Heating system (STaDRenDHeat)

This research will analyze synergy, complementarity, or competition between development in district heating (DH) system and deep renovation of detached houses in Växjö, Kalmar (Sweden), and Ålesund (Norway), and will propose the coopetition strategies.

Facts about the project

Project manager
Brijesh Mainali
Other project members
Krushna Mahapatra, Linneaus University and Amin Moazami, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
Participating organizations
Linnaeus University, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, AugmentCity, Klimatfastigheter Småland AB, Villaägarna Kronoberg, Växjö Energy and Kalmar Energy
Financier
FORMAS – Swedish Government research council for sustainable development
Timetable
1 Jan 2022 - Dec 2025
Subject
Sustainable built environment (Department of Built Environment and Energy Technology, Faculty of Technology)
Research group
Sustainable Built Environment Research (SBER)
Linnaeus Knowledge Environment
Green Sustainable Development

More about the project

The revised Energy Performance of Building Directive (EPBD) urges member states to seek a cost-efficient balance between decarbonizing heat supplies and enhancing energy efficiency in buildings. Reduced energy demand due to energy renovations may have business implications for district heating (DH) companies. For example, in urban areas, energy renovation of district heated buildings will have business implications for biomass-based DH companies. The challenges may be more pronounced considering that the global warming effect is estimated to reduce the heat demand by 30% by the beginning of the next century.

A market strategy needs to be made going beyond the traditional approach and with a vision of competition and collaboration simultaneously with other businesses i.e. forming new coopetition strategies. Such coopetition needs to be reflected in the business models for the district heating and renovation companies/OSS adapting to the changing energy landscape. Most of the studies in the past have investigated the unidirectional effects of energy efficiency measures in buildings on the operation of DH systems. However, these studies used exogenously defined investment scenarios combining demand and supply-side options. A holistic approach is required to understand the synergy, complementarity and trade-off among the actions, and visualize the results and scenario analysis at the city level using a digital twin platform.

The project aims to:

Analyze synergy, complementarity, or competition between deep renovations and district heating market,
Analyze how a balance between deep renovation and district heating investment could be made for a sustainable future, and
Develop coopetition based business models which could be win-win for the existing district heating companies and renovation companies exploring environmental and social value creation on the top of economic value creation.

The project is part of the research in the research group Sustainable Built Environment Research (SBER) and in Linnaeus Knowledge Environment
Green Sustainable Development.