Newsletter #10

Managing energy demand is today one of the major challenges of the energy transition. In its roadmap for energy transition, Nantes Metropole has committed itself to addressing fuel poverty, reducing the energy consumption and thus the greenhouse gas emissions in its territory, and improving the comfort of occupants in their homes. Achieving these objectives requires the facilitation of energy renovations.

The new construction area “Schleusengraben” is a focus development area of the City of Hamburg along the shores of an old industrial channel. The University of Applied Sciences Hamburg, the energy utility company enercity AG and the gas grid operator Gasnetz Hamburg GmbH have tested a district heating system with a hydrogen content of up to 30 % in the fuel gas in the “Am Schilfpark” area.

Smart heating management systems play an important role in reducing the energy consumption in Helsinki’s building stock. Different systems were piloted in a residential apartment building in Merihaka (the smart heating solution of the energy management provider Salusfin) and an office building in Viikki Environment House (the smart heating solution of the Finnish start-up Fourdeg).

The extension of the Nantes Urban Data Platform was developed based on a common architectural framework, co-constructed and defined by each of the three Lighthouse Cities (Nantes, Hamburg and Helsinki). This framework of open specifications enables the three cities to share their information and developments through interoperability at three levels.

The Urban Data Platform Hamburg follows a system of systems approach and aims at making the city’s urban data findable, accessible, interoperable, and re-usable between systems. The Urban Data Platform builds on the existing Spatial Data Infrastructure and extends it with additional components, e.g., for handling sensor data or conducting data analysis.

mySMARTLife project set a new ambitious goal of defining the urban platform as a supportive element of the Helsinki’s digital twin, Climate Atlas. The Climate Atlas was the first service to build on the 3D city model and expand it into a digital twin of the city with the simulations and scenarios.

In Nantes Metropole, transport represents the main source of greenhouse gas emissions (49 % of total emissions). Nearly 88 % of these emissions are generated by cars and 11 % by public transport. An innovative action in mySMARTLife is the use of 22 fully electric e-Busways delivered by the local company Semitan, responsible for the public transport network of Nantes, and Nantes Metropole.

There are a total of 527 buses on 154 lines in Hamburg and its‘ surrounding area. The majority of the Verkehrsbetriebe Hamburg-Holstein GmbH (VHH) fleet still drives with diesel or hybrid drive. But that was to change to procure exclusively electric buses from 2020 onwards. Until 2030, the conversion to electromobility will be completed in Hamburg.

The automated electric minibus, with a passenger capacity of up to eight seats, produces no emissions and no noise. The robobus was operated at low speed (approximately 20km/h) in road traffic among other vehicles.

As part of mySMARTLife Final Conference in Hamburg (14 & 15 September), the consortium organised its 4th Knowledge Transfer Workshop to engage with the members of the mySMARTLife Cities Network. Several Knowledge Transfer Discussion Groups presented the mySMARTLife Lighthouse and Follower Cities' solutions and actions in lively round table discussions.

The mySMARTLife project aimed at making the three Lighthouse Cities of Nantes, Hamburg and Helsinki more environmentally friendly by reducing the CO₂ emissions of the cities and increasing the use of renewable energy sources.

Other activities were focusing on "Inclusive cities", offering a high quality of life in the cities. READ MORE