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The heating and cooling grid of the Paris-Saclay science and technology cluster, delivered in 2019, is one of the pilot sites of the European D2Grids project. This so-called "fifth-generation" heating and cooling grid (5GDHC) should make it possible to meet many of the challenges of the energy transition: energy autonomy, consumption of renewable and local energy, grids decarbonation, etc. It covers an area of 28 municipalities in the south-west of the Île-de-France region.

Mawya Rahal, energy project manager at the EPA Paris-Saclay, and Lucas Lazzarini, energy engineer at SEQENS, answer relevant questions on the topic in the following interview. 

Reinhard Six, a retired engineer and European energy efficiency policy and implementation leader, won the Roger Léron Award 2022 in the event celebrated last 4th October in Brussels: “Energy efficiency is not just something we can do. We can do it, but we must do it. So let’s do it!”. 

What is the future and potential for district heating grids in Europe? In this interview, Mathilde Henry, Energy Project Manager at GreenFlex, presents the European D2Grids project: a unique concept so-called “5GDHC” to be developed in North-West Europe, which is experimented on five pilot sites, while working on the potential synergies with renewable electricity. 

The H2020 EXCESS project aims to spearhead four innovative demonstration projects, introducing technical solutions that enable buildings to produce more renewable energy than they consume over the course of a year. One of their demonstration projects is based in Hasselt which represent the coastal climatic zone.

Two years into the Horizon 2020 project ePANACEA, the project partners shared videos of the ePANACEA Assessment Method 1 implemented on the SEPAP (Smart Energy Performance Assessment Platform) on the project’s YouTube channel.

The Green Solutions Awards for sustainable buildings, districts and infrastructures organised by Construction21 and its partners aims to bring out exemplary achievements from around the world, to share them to as many people as possible and to inspire the profession to accelerate the reduction of its carbon emissions.

The current world is defined by technological innovation which has led to a population growth. Hence, there is a need for a sustainable transition towards circularity and circular construction. How can the industry engage stakeholders more to cooperate towards this goal?

How can we foster the circularity of construction materials to make them profitable for the complexity of today´s industry? How can we improve processes which are so fragmented? The article suggests four digital technologies which can enhance circularity and processes.

Are you interested to learn more about 5th generation district heating and cooling (5GDHC)? The D2Grids project is providing such opportunity. Open Universiteit, together with other D2Grids partners (BRGM, VITO, Greenflex, Mijnwater, ASPER), has developed a course on 5GDHC.

The Future Envelope conference aims at providing new points of view on the current state, upcoming challenges, and innovations in the field of the building envelope design, manufacturing, installation, operation, dismantling, EoL. Registrations are open and the booklet is online!