City districts and neighbourhoods with a positive energy balance - i.e. less energy is consumed over the year than is generated - are called "Positive Energy Districts" (PEDs). They are being viewed as role models for a future in which the necessary energy turnaround could also be achieved locally. In the new TRANS-PED project, Michael Ornetzeder and his team are therefore investigating such districts in Sweden, Belgium and Austria.

"We want to learn from each other and develop new approaches to how such plus-energy districts can be implemented effectively and responsibly throughout Europe at the same time. This is a challenge because they require fundamental changes in the way cities are planned, designed and maintained in the long term," emphasises Ornetzeder, energy expert at the Institute of Technology Assessment (ITA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.  

The two-year pilot project will therefore establish a learning network of PED actors in Sweden, Belgium and Austria. The participating institutions, under the leadership of Stockholm University, will assess energy innovations online and on-site and investigate what significance they can have for sustainable urban development. The results are expected to contribute to the formation of international networks that will cooperate more closely in the development and dissemination of European PEDs in the coming decades.

European cooperation for more energy efficiency

The project consortium includes eleven research institutions and practice partners from Sweden, Belgium and Austria. The project, funded by the Urban Europe programme, is led by Stockholm University. The Institute of Technology Assessment (ITA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences is responsible for researching the possible consequences and risks of plus-energy neighbourhoods and coordinates the national project partners.