The EUROPE 2020 Strategy and the EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy highlight that territorial competitiveness is closely associated to sustainability and resource-efficiency. Improving energy efficiency in buildings, the use of new technologies – such as low-temperature district heating and heat pumps, the recovery of waste heat and energy from industry, the exploitation of biomass potential are key actions to ensure that our energy systems are more efficient and less polluting. Building on the results of the Urban Energy Web project, IDEE intends to create a cross-border research network for the integrated assessment and planning of efficient and innovative urban energy systems.

The network brings together the complementary competences of four research institutions and one public authority with the aim of developing a bottom-up framework for the assessment of urban energy-systems. That will enable an integrated interpretation of geo-referenced energy, environmental, building and economic data and generate a new basis for decision-making which local authorities can use to plan efficient investments. Indeed, the framework allows authorities to gain strategic information on the existing potential, the most innovative technical solutions applicable and their environmental impacts, while bearing in mind costs and the return on investment. The framework will be implemented in some pilot areas (Maniago in Friuli Venezia Giulia, Feltre in Veneto and the region of Salzburger Seenland), with a view to transferring it to other territories.