3 posts tagged with "ZHAW"

The UPCHANGE project has reached an important milestone with the completion of the Resilience Assessment Framework for buildings and district heating and cooling (DH/DC), documented in the Deliverable D1.2 – Energy Flexibility and Resilience Framework. This work tackles a recurring gap in urban energy resilience practice. While building and DH/DC modelling tools have matured significantly, resilience assessments are still often difficult to compare across studies and rarely translate simulation outputs into decision-ready guidance. In particular, three limitations persist: multi-hazard coverage is uneven, resilience KPIs are fragmented and not consistently mapped to resilience phases, and the link from model outputs to prioritized actions is often missing.

Why regulation, technology, and social inclusion must evolve together

The transformation of Europe’s energy system is accelerating. With the rapid deployment of variable renewable energy sources and decentralized assets, flexibility has become a critical enabler of a reliable and cost-efficient power system.

While much attention has been paid to electricity-based flexibility, demand-side flexibility provided by decentralized heat and electricity prosumers remains underexplored — particularly within district heating networks. Our report addresses this gap by applying a PESTLE framework (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental) to identify the conditions that shape the development of demand-side flexibility in multi-energy systems.

This report provides a concise overview of current and emerging energy efficiency solutions, combining both technological and behavioural approaches. It highlights their applications, benefits, and limitations, offering practitioners practical insights for implementation.