Heating & cooling planning made easier

Heating and cooling in residential and industrial sectors accounts for half of the EU’s energy consumption. More than 80% of this energy is still generated from fossil fuels and heat losses are also significantly high. European and international institutions recognise the importance for heating and cooling planning to achieve ambitious results. Local governments are aware this sector is key if they want their cities to be sustainable in the long term. However, a lot of knowledge and information is needed in order to develop heating and cooling strategies at local level (heat demand density, renewable energy potentials, load profiles, excess heat sources…).

The EU-funded project HOTMAPS can help! Its experts designed a free and adaptable toolbox to support public authorities, energy agencies and urban planners in strategic heating and cooling planning on local, regional and national levels, and in line with your Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan. This webinar presents the free online software, the open access datasets, the manuals and wiki. Two Covenant of Mayors Signatories, the Spanish city of San Sebastian and the Danish city of Aalborg, contributed the development of the toolbox and illustrate their experience.