ALPHA - Advancing 5th-Generation District Heating and Cooling Networks in Alpine Space

Buildings consume 42% of energy in the EU, with heating and cooling accounting for a large proportion of this. However, the introduction of optimised solutions, such as heat pumps and renewable energy systems, is lagging behind in the Alpine region.

The objectives of the EU co-funded ALPHA project include

• the development of a practicable procedure that can be used to quickly recognise whether a building is suitable for 'classic' high-temperature district heating or for anergy grid heat supply - or whether a suitable individual building solution needs to be found,
• the provision of a comprehensive information platform on the possibilities of anergy networks, the description of the planning method and a guide for application.

This takes place under consideration of technical, energy policy, ecological, social and economic aspects. The planning method and planning process developed in the ALPHA project is intended to improve the overall energy efficiency of the heat supply system (e.g. through lower heat losses in the pipework system, higher efficiency of the heat pumps compared to individual solutions with air heat pumps) and thus accelerate the planned heat transition. The results from the already completed 'ENERGYatlas' project (led by the Salzburg Institute for Spatial Planning & Housing - SIR, a subcontractor of the ALPHA project) will also be incorporated and compared and supplemented with approaches from other countries. To this end, a co-operation was agreed with the Salzburg Institute for Spatial Planning and Housing - SIR. The pilot area to be worked on in the ALPHA project in Austria will be selected together with the SIR and the planning method, which also incorporates the findings from the ENERGYatlas, will be applied. The ENERGY Atlas is primarily GIS-based and is one of several planning methods. As part of the ALPHA project, the different planning methods and their advantages and disadvantages are being analysed. Simpler methods such as analyses using google street view are an important supplement, for example if certain GIS data is not available or not valid.

The results are aimed at:

• Departments in municipal administrations such as departments for energy spatial planning, municipal infrastructure or open space planning,
• Companies such as municipal utilities or heat supply contractors, who can use them to better assess their market potential and plan for the long term,
• Building owners who want to get an idea of the advantages and disadvantages of the types of heat supply offered to them. By providing instructions and seminars, building owners are empowered to set up their own anergy network with their neighbours.
• Supra-regional planning centres at both state and federal level, which are responsible for the strategic planning of the heating transition.

Project Partners

Lombardy Foundation for the Environment (Lead) www.flanet.org
ÖGUT/ Austrian Society for Environment and Technology www.oegut.at
Liguria Region www.regione.liguria.it
Eurac Research www.eurac.edu
National Institute of Applied Science – Lyon insa-lyon.fr
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Nice Côte d'Azur www.cote-azur.cci.fr
Technical University of Munich www.epe.ed.tum.de
European Center for Renewable Energy Güssing Ltd. www.eee-info.net
Municipality of Trebnje www.trebnje.si