New Smart City project will test green solutions for European cities

New EU-funded project in Denmark and Sweden will be a frontrunner for green urban development all over Europe. The project will test both new and existing solutions in a practical environment. COWI will act as project coordinator and specialist consultant.

​A new EU-backed Smart City urban development project entitled READY (resource efficient cities implementing advanced smart city solutions) will in the next five years put new as well as known energy-efficient technologies to the test in homes in Aarhus, Denmark, and in Växjö, Sweden.

Green frontrunners
The project is to be seen as a demonstration project, says Project Manager Reto Michael Hummelshøj, where the cases in Aarhus and Växjö make up an out-set for a large-scale city transformation, which in turn will be used as an out-set for future urban development processes in cities all over the world.

“The project aims at achieving optimum interaction between, on one side, buildings and local, renewable energy systems and, on the other side, the overall power and heating supply systems,” says Hummelshøj.

“We’ll adjust consumption to match energy generation by storing locally generated power in used batteries, e.g., from electric cars. Rather than scrapping batteries that are no longer useful for transport purposes, we want to show how they can be used in stationary facilities where reduced battery capacity isn’t an issue. In this way, residents are able to primarily draw on locally stored energy when the public utilities experience peaks – allowing the systems to be used in the optimum manner.”

Innovative sustainable solutions
By joining forces with leading industrial companies (including Danfoss, RaCell, IKEA, Kamstrup, and local energy supply companies, universities and housing companies), unique solutions will be developed, tested and integrated into the business concept of the companies.

The project will test a palette of technologies in practice, ranging from smart solutions for low-temperature district heating and local storage, over new components such as PVT solar panels that generate power as well as heat, to ICT systems that send out command signals, which allow the project to test the flexible energy systems. The homes will also be fitted with new kitchen solutions that optimise power and water consumption and waste sorting.

“It’ll be interesting to see all these solutions on a large scale, interacting, and not least get the residents’ verdict after they’ve used them in their daily lives. With this project, we hope to show how the existing building stock may be renovated profitably to achieve a high standard in terms of energy efficiency,” says Hummelshøj.

 Source: COWI