Focus on community energy optimization: The EU CONCERTO initiative

Date: 13/05/2013

CONCERTO is a European Commission initiative within the European Research Framework Programme (FP6 and FP7). It aims to demonstrate that the optimization of the building sector of communities as a whole is more cost-effective than optimizing each building individually. The total amount of the EU funding for the CONCERTO initiative is €175.486.501.

CONCERTO is the intermediate step from the individual building via the community to the whole city approach, as planned in Smart Cities and Communities European Innovation Partnership (SCC). CONCERTO activities support the demonstration of energy, transport and information and communication technologies (ICT) in urban areas to enable innovative, integrated and efficient technologies to roll out and enter the market more easily, with cities as the center of innovation.

The EU initiative of the Directorate General for Energy started in 2005 and has co-funded 58 cities and communities in 22 projects in 23 countries. The CONCERTO initiative covers 892 buildings and 336 technical installations ranging from houses to swimming pools and from roof-integrated photovoltaic systems to CHP plants that can supply anything up to a whole district with heat and power.

The 58 CONCERTO cities and communities integrate innovative energy efficiency measures with a substantial contribution from decentralized renewable energy sources (RES), smart grids, renewables-based cogeneration, district heating/cooling systems and energy management systems in larger building settlements. This set of innovative technologies and measures are optimized locally in order to take all specifications of the local site, climate and cultural differences or local political aspects into account.

Results so far have been very encouraging: CONCERTO cities and communities have shown that existing buildings can cut their CO2 emissions, at acceptable costs, by up to 50%. CONCERTO does this by implementing renewable energy sources, innovative technologies and an integrated approach.

CONCERTO cities and communities demonstrate new realistic models to get close to being zero energy communities. The results will pave the way for a future European legislation in the form of energy policy recommendations for the 2020 energy and climate change targets and the 2050 Energy Roadmap. CONCERTO demonstrates good examples of sustainable district development as well as of refurbishment in buildings.