City districts and neighbourhoods with a positive energy balance, meaning that each year less energy is consumed than generated, are called "Positive Energy Districts" (PEDs). In the TRANS-PED project, Michael Ornetzeder and his team studied such districts in Sweden, Belgium and Austria, including the “Sonnendorf” of Schwoich in Tyrol.
"We not only measured the energy values, but also asked: was this model successful? Was there something missing?", emphasises Ornetzeder, energy expert at the Institute of Technology Assessment (ITA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. "Can a successful model be transferred to other districts from today's perspective? How do technological innovations in the energy sector influence urban planning?" Project collaborator Barbara Saringer-Bory adds: "It is exciting to see what different ideas are being implemented: In the Tyrolean project, for example, the Sonnedorf of Schwoich, they managed not only to implement sustainable construction methods but hired exclusively local companies to build it. Something like that should also be included in energy assessments."
Getting fit for the future together
"The aim of the project was to develop new approaches on how to effectively implement such plus-energy neighbourhoods across Europe. This is a particular challenge because they require fundamental changes in the way cities are planned, designed and maintained in the long term," says Ornetzeder.
Thus, in the course of two years, the participating international experts profited not only from their joint research but also from interpersonal exchanges: "The joint workshops and meetings were impressive. It is clear that we can only achieve more energy efficiency through European cooperation," says Ornetzeder. Finally, the ITA team developed a method with the help of which previous experiences can be collected, evaluated and passed on to other city districts. There is also a compact how-to guide that summarises the most important findings from the project in a quick and uncomplicated way.