Innovation, low energy buildings and intermediaries in Europe: systematic case study review

As buildings throughout their lifecycle account for circa 40% of total energy use in Europe, reducing energy use of the building stock is a key task. This task is, however, complicated by a range of factors, including slow renewal and renovation rates of buildings, multiple non- coordinated actors, conservative building practices, and limited competence to innovate. Drawing from academic literature published during 2005-2015, this article carries out a systematic review of case studies on low energy innovations in the European residential building sector, analysing their drivers. Specific attention is paid to intermediary actors in facilitating innovation processes and creating new opportunities. The study finds that qualitative case study literature on low energy building innovation has been limited, particularly regarding the existing building stock. Environmental concerns, EU, national and local policies have been the key drivers; financial, knowledge and social sustainability and equity drivers have been of modest importance; while design, health and comfort, and market drivers have played a minor role. Intermediary organisations and individuals have been important through five processes: (1) facilitating individual building projects, (2) creating niche markets, (3) implementing new practices in social housing stock, (4) supporting new business model creation, and (5) facilitating building use post construction. The intermediaries have included both public and private actors, while local authority agents have acted as intermediaries in several cases

Future Trends in District Heating Development

Purpose of Review: This article describes challenges that should be overcome towards implementation of low-temperature district heating (LTDH). The trends in development, operational issues, and legislative framework were revised. Recent Findings: The new substation design with solutions to avoid legionella bacteria issue, improved network topology and control strategies, opportunities of LTDH for buildings under various renovation stages and construction year were identified as the most crucial for the transition to 4th generation district heating (DH). Importance of heat load aggregation to avoid peak load issue in the areas with low-energy buildings (LEB) and solutions for transition from high temperature to low temperatures in the DH network have been shown. Summary: The findings indicate that there is a huge potential for achieving low-carbon society and improvement in energy efficiency under transition to LTDH. The solutions for transition from high-temperature DH to LTDH exist; however, they need good policies and market availability to be implemented.submittedVersionThis is a pre-print of an article published in [Curr Sustainable Renewable Energy Reports]. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40518-018-0111-