Partners
01. University of Exeter (Lead Partner ; Work Package 4 Leader – Project Management ; Work Package 5 Leader – Communications)
The University of Exeter has a substantial and very diverse set of active energy researchers, primarily working in the area of increasing sustainability of energy generation and consumption. Active and recent work covers areas including energy efficiency, renewable electricity, renewable heat and renewable transport. Research areas include policy & regulation, behaviour of energy consumers, ecological impacts of energy usage, engineering around new solutions in multiple technology areas. technologies covered include PV, concentrated PV, solar thermal, wave energy, tidal energy, floating and fixed offshore wind energy, biomass as well as smart grid and system flexibility.
Our Renewable Energy Group forms part of Exeter’s Engineering discipline and comprises researchers undertaking interdisciplinary research on frontier issues of developing and integrating sustainable, low carbon generation into the wider system and to better meet consumer needs. This bid is further supported by our College of Life and Environmental Sciences, home to two internationally renowned groups, the first specialising in behavioural approaches to energy use led by Prof. Patrick Devine-Wright and the second, the energy policy group lead by Prof. Catherine Mitchell. SHIFFT is a strong fit with our ongoing research, enabling us to develop additional capacity and enhance the scope of our understanding of the complex problems relating to public adoption of low carbon heat.
The University of Exeter has been involved in a large number of European projects, funded by Interreg, H2020, ESIF and others. We have been involved in a substantial number of energy related projects. The Exeter lead for this project is currently working on an INTERREG FCE project ‘Intelligent Community Energy’ and two ESIF projects ‘Local Energy Markets’ and ‘Cornwall New Energy’; all involve working with local communities to develop sustainable energy related research and opportunities for industry. He has previously worked on the INTERREG FCE project ‘Merific’ and the FP7 project ‘RES-H Policy’, researching achievable national renewable heat targets. Other Exeter staff on this proposal have wide experience in low carbon energy policy and behavioural work in UK and European projects.
University of Exeter’s SHIFFT Microsite
02. City of Bruges
The city of Bruges, capital city of West-Flanders (Belgium), has over 118000 inhabitants. Its city centre is a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO.
Bruges contributes to the SHIFFT project at different levels. Firstly, The city will work, together with the other partners, to develop a sustainable heating strategy and to lay out a roadmap for the transition to sustainable heating. Secondly, Bruges wants to achieve a CO2 reduction of 276 ton/year by mobilising citizens to invest in sustainable heating installations or to take measures to optimise their existing installations. Bruges will do this, together with De Schakelaar (The Switch) in a co-creation process with citizen committees by organising information and brainstorm evenings to facilitate the transition process (bottom-up based) and promote the gas-free renovation scan for 1000 homes.
Stad Brugge’s SHIFFT Microsite
03. Stad Mechelen (Work Package 1 Leader -Sustainable Heating Strategies & Guidance for the Heating Transition )
Mechelen wants to become a carbon neutral city. Mechelen has signed the Covenant of Mayors and Mayors Adapt.
Key actions in our sustainable energy action plan (SEAP):
Explore opportunites for sustainable heating (i.e. geothermal sources, residual heat, etc.) and accelerate the renovation rate of its building stock.
EU projects See2Do!, Triple A and BE-REEL!, enabled us to build up capacity on home energy renovation, and how to convince house owners to improve their homes by reducing the energy demand.
Mechelen Klimaatneutraal (Mechelen Climate Neutral) is the local communication campaign.
Mechelen has 2 urban renewal projects on-going with fossil-free heating solutions: Keerdok-Eandis, (collective geothermal heat pumps), and a new library with cold water storage.
In 2011, CO2-emissions from fossil-fuelled residential heating in Mechelen were 125 kTon/year or 20,6 % of all CO2-emissions of the city. There is a need to accelerate the actions in the SEAP related to sustainable heating: Mechelen has a really old housing stock and the heating solutions are not fossil-free. There is an enormous potential for energy savings and green house gas reduction. However, it is very hard to convince citizens to give priority to a sustainable heating device
In SHIFFT the city will experiment with energy cooperations, group purchases. Mechelen will have a sustainable heating strategy to convince the board and the politicians, also the citizens. The city of Mechelen will have also a investment pilot by the collaboration with the Care Institution Rivierenland.
Other EU Projects include:
Interreg 2seas: Lead partner in SCIFI and PACE ; Project partner in SIREE, TRIPLE A, WRC. Interreg Northsea Region: Project partner in Surflogh. Interreg Vlaanderen-Nederland: Project partner in See2Do!. Life IP+: Project partner in BE REEL!. Horizon 2020: Project partner in NOVELOG and CITYCHANGERCARGOBIKE. Cosme: Project partner in Greenways Heritage. Several EFRO projects: Hoogstraat Natuurlijk, Mechelen Meemaken, TheBox and APBC.
Stad Mechelen’s SHIFFT Microsite
04. Gemeente Middelburg
The engineering department of Middelburg has ambitious goals for household consumption of energy. The municipality developed an integral strategic vision to be energy neutral in 2030. In recent years, the municipality has gained experience in solar applications and recent solar storage for households.On the other hand we gained experience in the preservation of monuments DUMO pilot; sustainable monuments. We are one of the first municipalities in the Netherlands implemented “passiefhuisniveau”.
A senior member will ensure that policies and strategies and meetings will be duly executed and organized. Project results will be communicated and shard both internally, province, local stakeholders, externally at the domestic level and international scale, where appropriate.
Through SHIFFT the municipality of Middelburg will:
- Participate in a cross-sectorial and cross-border ( knowledge) network that bundles all available expertise and competence on implementing sustainable heating on a larger scale. So in less time, more can be achieved.
- Become aware of new possibilities to generate renewable energy.
- Establish partnerships so that the expertise can be shared to relieve the building/property owners of the technical, economical and organisational aspect/side and so that the expertise can be applied in Zeeland and Middelburg especially.
- Gain knowledge of energy awareness.
- Have the opportunity of taking measures and testing pilots
- Meet the needs of the climate ambition of the municipality
Middelburg has experience in implementing projects in the Interreg A Flanders- Netherlands programme 2005-2008. Middelburg was a partner in the WW2- Heritage project and in Geography of Inshore Fishing and Sustainability ( GIFS), Interreg IV A “2 seas”crossborder cooperation 2007-2013. In the 2 Seas programme Middelburg was the lead partner for the project Bike Friendly Cities and we actively participated in the clusterproject Tourfish. Middelburg is in the present programme a partner in SCAPE, WRC, Solarise and Siree.
06. CD2E – Création Développement des Eco-Entreprises
Cd2e is a French environmental cluster which brings together SMEs, laboratories/universities, local authorities, ecofriendly companies to work together in order to develop new ecotechnologies and environmental solutions in many thematic such ecobuilding, recycling, water management, energy efficiency, renewables energies (solar energy in particular) and sediment management. In 2011, cd2e has launched a “Solar Test Center“ for training, testing, production and storage of electricity and heat by renewables energies.
Cd2e has conducted 2 projects Interreg IIIA , 2 projects Interreg IVA (FUSION for circular economy and service economy, and earlier ECOMIND, for the development of ecoinnovation) 3 Interreg IVB (CAPEM for the development of ecomaterials,ENVIREO, a Strategic Initiative Cluster on sustainable buildings and CEAMAS on marine sediment reuse in civil engineering applications) and 1 LIFE project (LCIP, to help SMEs to reduce their environmental impacts through life cycle approaches). 1 Interreg 2 seas ongoing (BISEPS for the developement of sustainable energy synergies in business clusters)
Cd2e is willing to participate to the project in order to encourage : the development of renewable heating alternatives and the optimization of energy system adapted to our region, the development of environmental technologies, products, materials and services the development of skills and competitiveness from the supply side (SMEs) the integration of best available solutions and the creation of sustainable energy concepts such as solar thermal energy.
07. Places for People Group (Work Package 3 Leader – Demonstration of Sustainable Heating Technologies)
Places for People group positions itself as a place maker. It’s our mission to build sustainable communities that are for everyone, whatever their background and whatever their needs. In the housing market, we provide property management services for market rent and affordable housing etc. We design, build and manage regeneration projects and homes to rent and buy. We also provide specialist accommodation for students and older people. We provide care for people with support needs, victims of domestic abuse and people battling homelessness. We also deliver health and well-being programmes. Finally, we offer innovative financial products, so that even people who have been turned down by traditional banks can have financial security.
Previous projects include:
FRESH project (IEE) Financing energy Refurbishment for Social Housing – was a project that aimed at demonstrating to Social Housing Operators that Energy Performance Contract (EPC) can be used for low energy refurbishment on a large scale. The main objective of this project was to test EPC in 4 countries (France, UK, Italy and Bulgaria) and to develop generic tools for the broader dissemination of EPC in social housings. DREEAM-project (Horizon 2020) DREEAM aims to show that renovating at a larger scale opens the opportunity for a better integration of renewable energy and is generally more cost effective. The project demonstrates a multi-building and single owner renovation approach that can achieve a 75% reduction of total energy demand.
Places for People’s SHIFFT Microsite
08. Ville De Fourmies
The SHIFFT project provides Ville de Fourmies with an opportunity to valorise one of the most important local resource and heritage of the region: waste wood from the hedges which are available in abundance and will be used for producing renewable heat.
Fourmies is an historically important city of France with about 12,300 inhabitants which is using the idea of “Third Industrial Revolution” to transform and dynamize the city. Hence, it is involved heavily in the projects concerning energy efficiency, renovations, renewable energy and social empowerment.
The potential of this project is to create awareness and promote renewable heating technologies will help us to achieve our objectives to be Energy Positive by 2050.
Ville de Fourmies’ SHIFFT Microsite
09. Delft University of Technology (Work Package 2 Leader – City Co-creation Pilots – Creating the Sustainable Heating Transition with Local Communities)
Delft University of Technology is the largest technical university in the Netherlands and covers practically the entire spectrum of engineering sciences. In SHIFFT two faculties of the university participate: the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management and the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment.
The Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management combines insights from the engineering sciences with insights from the humanities and the social sciences. Its mission is to develop robust models and designs in order to solve the complex challenges of today’s networked, urbanized knowledge society. The Faculty is comprised of three closely collaborating departments, each with a different perspective on addressing these complex societal challenges: systems, governance and values. The smart combination of these three perspectives is at the core of “Comprehensive Engineering”.
The Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment is working on improving the built environment with the help of a broad set of disciplines, including architectural, design, urban planning, building technology, social sciences, process management, and geo-information science. The faculty works closely with other faculties, universities, private parties, and the public sector, and has an extensive network in the Netherlands as well as internationally. Its section of Environmental & Computational Design focuses on moving towards a society that creates positive footprints to build sustainable, livable and healthy cities and buildings.
11. Woonpunt Mechelen
Woonpunt Mechelen is a social housing company in the city of Mechelen. It is one of the biggest social housing companies in Flanders. The company has composed a renovation roadmap for its building stock (Renovatieplan 2.0) and is involved in a number of large-scale district renovations. The biggest and most ambitious project is the urban renewal of the Mahatma Gandhi district in the south of the city. Woonpunt Mechelen will realise a sustainable heating installation in the building blocks of the final phase of the Mahatma Gandhi district renovation. The company also want to increase its experience and knowledge in the topic of sustainable heating as this will be one of the main challenges in the future. The work offers the potential for both increased affordability in decarbonising heat in our building stock and in gaining knowledge of this for future projects.
Woonpunt Mechelen is also involved in the H2020 project ASTER. It is an ELENA Project Development Assistance initiative coordinated by the association of Flemish Social Housing Companies (VVH). The aim of the project is to tackle energy poverty by retrofitting existing social housing with solar panels. Tenants will benefit from a minimum 20% net saving on their energy bill. Woonpunt Mechelen will implement ASTER’s finance investment programme in Mechelen.