3. Useful tools during strategic H&C planning
3.1 Hotmaps
Hotmaps website
The Hotmaps toolbox provides an open-source software for heating and cooling mapping and planning across Europe, both nationally and locally. It helps identify, analyze, model, and map resources and solutions to efficiently meet energy needs.
An evaluation of the Hotmaps toolbox for national strategic heat planning
This report evaluates the Hotmaps tool design for strategic planning, starting with an introduction, followed by methodological considerations and a tool comparison, and concluding with an analysis of national system effects of Hotmaps district heating potentials using EnergyPLAN.
Guidance for comprehensive assessment of efficient heating and cooling
This guide from the Hotmaps project addresses the assessment of efficient heating and cooling. It covers the framework and approach for strategic heat planning, evaluates the first comprehensive assessment, discusses experiences in strategic planning, explains Article 14 content and methodology, and concludes with recommendations for strategic heat planning based on Article 14.
3.2 THERMOS
Thermos website - Thermos Tool, What is Thermos?
This website presents the THERMOS toolbox, a free, web-based energy planning software designed to optimize local district energy network planning and sustainable energy master planning. It facilitates the deployment of new low-carbon heating and cooling systems, covering its functioning, usage outcomes, and utilization advantages.
Advantages of using Thermos for DH pre-feasibility studies
This document on the advantages of THERMOS for the prefeasibility analysis of heat network deployment highlights how the software streamlines heating and cooling network planning by generating multiple options quickly, reducing costs, and simplifying complex processes. It emphasizes THERMOS's accessibility, its ability to overcome data limitations, and its potential to save costs in later feasibility and design stages.
Thermos website - Tool Support, Publications
This website showcases THERMOS user case studies on high-efficiency energy projects, illustrating their selection rationale, involved stakeholders, researched, information, results obtained, and conclusions reached.
Thermos website - Tool Support, Training & Tool Materials
This website provides THERMOS tool training materials, enabling users to appl THERMOS for optimized energy system mapping and modeling, develop their own case studies, integrate results into urban planning, identify district energy planning and financing methods, and ultimately improve local energy and climate action planning.
Demonstration of THERMOS supply model
This video demonstrates the new THERMOS supply model feature. It aims to determine how to build an energy center to meet heat demand at the lowest cost, considering technology and heat storage. It focuses on heat supply over time, outputs from the network optimization model to determine the heat load profile, and user-defined supply technologies, substations, and energy storage considerations.
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This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 101033706. The sole responsibility for the content of this website lies with the Act!onHeat project and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union.