Energy Efficient Cities

This conference has ended

The Paris agreement frames a global action plan to put the world on track to avoid dangerous climate change. The aim is to limit global warming to well below 2 °C. This goal can only be achieved when plans and concepts for increasing energy efficiency will be put into action.

Many Baltic and European cities and regions have already developed such “Sustainable Energy Action Plans” (SEAPs). Previous activities of municipalities for climate protection were more or less voluntary. In the future, however, there will also be legal obligations for municipalities to contribute to climate protection by enhancing energy efficiency at local level. The revised EU directive 2018/844 on Energy Performance of Buildings has come into force on July, 9th, requiring EU countries to transfer new rules into national law. The directive aims at the release of the huge potential for energy efficiency in the building sector, which is the largest single energy consumer in Europe.

The challenge is to implement the existing strategies and SEAPs and to apply measures which fulfil the requirements of the directive. These measures include old building renovation towards more energy efficient systems and new smart energy buildings both using innovative heating technologies (e.g. low temperature district heating systems) and energy management systems. These topics will be discussed during the conference “Energy Efficient Cities”, which is based on the two Interreg projects Act Now! and LowTEMP.

Act Now! will show how local SEAPs can be turned into concrete measures to reduce energy consumption in buildings. For this sake the project aims at capacity building in the administration and local stakeholders who are dealing with energy issues. Staff members will be trained in energy management, investment planning and communication with private investors and facility users. Besides learning, the project will also analyze workflows and administrative structures which hamper an effective energy management and the planning of energy efficiency measures. Tools like a software-based energy management system will help to identify the “low hanging fruits” and prepare investments outside the project budget.

Act Now! has been selected as a flagship project in the EU Baltic Sea Region strategy. It is expected that the project will deliver a significant added value to enhance the Energy Efficiency of local public authorities.

LowTEMP addresses municipal representatives responsible for urban and energy issues, heat suppliers, planners, engineers and energy agencies. District heating systems are widespread around the Baltic Sea but are often outdated. Future-oriented energy supply includes low temperature district heating systems that lose less heat and use renewable energy and waste as heat sources. The project provides actors with knowledge on technical, organizational and financial strategies to increase energy efficiency in district heating by implementation of low temperature district heating systems.