Act!onHeat Training Programme participants received live demos of free H&C planning tools

Last week, the 2023 season of the Act!onHeat Training Programme continued with its second webinar. It focused on creating technical zones and scenarios with the online tools Hotmaps and Thermos.

Via a live demonstration by Aadit Malla (TU Wien), it was shown how the online tool of Hotmaps can be used for zoning and scenario creation. As zoning can define sub-areas within a given city or region, Hotmaps can help find those locations suitable for installing solar thermal energy capacities. Malla explained how such tools can provide quick first analyses of potential CO2 saving options for district heating and cooling as well as a comparison of different variants of demand and supply development options for generating decarbonisation strategies for city planning.

Meanwhile, Martin Holley (CSE) presented another free online tool, THERMOS, which can help in the further refinement of district heating and cooling planning. The basic functionalities of the tool were presented on, such as how energy demand estimation and mapping can contribute to optimising a city’s heating network and energy supply.

Bärbel Epp (IEA SHC Task 68), a solar energy expert on district heating, continued the discussion by introducing how solar district heating can be incorporated in a region’s energy transition strategy. In doing so, she broke down an inspirational case study on how the town Mengsberg (Germany) heats with 100% renewables.

The Training Programme will continue on 23 March with the third and final session “Building a H&C transition strategy in your city.” Based on all the information and digital tools presented in previous sessions, the webinar will jump into building up a viable heating and cooling transition strategy for local authorities. Different existing plans from European cities will be showcased. Additionally, participants from the Act!onHeat Support Facility will present on their experience in the facility and how they are advancing their own plans.

Register for the third session here.

Check out the second session’s recording and full presentations here.