Existing residential areas face significant barriers on the path to decarbonised heating. District heating networks are often operating at full capacity, while individual systems lack both space efficiency and cost effectiveness. Local heating and cooling solutions can bridge this gap: we call them neighbourhood heating and cooling (H&C) networks!
HeaTogether supports around 15 pioneering neighbourhoods in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany and the Netherlands to develop actionable investment plans for renewable H&C networks. In this way, the foundation for a broader roll-out of neighbourhood H&C networks is laid, with the aim of decarbonising the heat and cooling supply of densely populated urban and suburban settlements.
The established forms of heat supply, conventional large district heating networks on the one hand and individual heating systems on the other, have limited potential for decarbonisation. Existing high-temperature district heating systems are already at or near maximum capacity and still rely heavily on fossil fuels. They also require high heat density and are therefore not suitable for urban and suburban areas with medium to lower densities.
Decarbonising individual heating systems in these settlement structures is also restricted, mainly by space requirements (e.g., for air heat pumps, geothermal probes, or PV installations) and by economic drawbacks from missing economies of scale.
Local heating and cooling solutions can bridge this gap: we call them neighbourhood heating and cooling (H&C) networks!
Neighbourhood H&C networks are low temperature or anergy (cold water) grids for more than one building, primarily supplied by locally available renewable energy sources, such as near-surface geothermal energy (up to 300m), groundwater, solar thermal energy, waste heat, PV systems or ambient energy, usually applying heat pump technologies. Depending on source and dissipation system the network can also be used for cooling purposes.
In new construction areas, often meanwhile realised as nearly-zero energy quarters or even positive energy districts, neighbourhood H&C networks are being implemented increasingly frequently. The contrary is the case in existing neighbourhoods. There are only very few examples of neighbourhood heating and cooling networks for existing buildings, so that standard approaches in terms of either the technical concepts or the implementation and financing models do not yet exist. This is precisely where the HeaTogether project aims to make an impact by placing a clear focus on existing residential buildings! The project provides comprehensive and targeted support to approx. 15 pioneer neighbourhoods in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany and the Netherlands, with the aim to develop implementable investment plans for renewable neighbourhood heating and cooling networks. In this way the foundation for a broader roll-out of neighbourhood H&C networks is laid to decarbonise the heat and cooling supply of densely populated urban and suburban settlements.
The HeaTogether consortium brings together leading research institutes, energy agencies, cooperative associations, and consultancies from four countries. The team is highly interdisciplinary, combining technical, economic, legal, and social expertise to deliver practical and scalable solutions.
Our strengths in brief:
Together, we create the foundation for pioneer neighborhoods to become role models across Europe
