Use Case 6: Integrating Space Cooling into Energy Communities
Target Users
Civil society, citizens, public administrations.
User Story Description
Energy communities build an idea of collective energy management that provides shared benefits to participants. There is an interest in understanding how, in the future, thermal and space cooling (SC) interventions could be integrated within energy communities.
Research Question
How can space cooling be integrated into energy communities to enhance collective energy management, improve energy efficiency, and ensure shared benefits for participants?
Calculation Module Use and Order
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Economic Feasibility: To assess the viability of integrating space cooling into energy communities, it is necessary to evaluate the economic feasibility of different cooling interventions. The Economic Feasibility Calculation Module allows users to compare the costs of passive cooling measures and active cooling technology scenarios at both the national and building archetype levels. This module helps determine the most cost-effective approaches for incorporating cooling solutions into energy communities, ensuring that shared investments lead to long-term financial and energy efficiency benefits. The national and building stock averages can be used to estimate economic potentials in energy communities.
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Demand-Side Management: Efficient cooling integration within energy communities requires leveraging demand-side flexibility. The Demand-Side Management Calculation Module evaluates the potential for demand response and PV self-consumption in cooling demand. By analyzing how cooling loads can be shifted to align with renewable energy generation, this module supports the design of community-wide strategies that optimize cooling energy use. This includes load balancing techniques, peak demand reduction, and integrating solar-powered cooling, all of which contribute to increasing the energy efficiency of shared cooling resources.
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Comfort, Lifestyle, and User Behavior: Energy communities rely on collective engagement, and understanding cooling demand patterns within communities is essential for designing effective interventions. The Comfort, Lifestyle, and User Behavior Calculation Module provides insights into how thermal comfort expectations and behavioral patterns influence cooling demand. This module helps identify community-based behavioral interventions, such as shared cooling solutions, demand response programs, and adaptive practices that can optimize energy consumption while maintaining comfort.
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Legal and Regulatory Layers: Integrating space cooling into energy communities must align with existing regulatory frameworks. The Legal and Regulatory Layers Calculation Module maps out relevant EU and national policies, planning strategies, and regulations that impact space cooling and energy communities. This module helps identify legal opportunities and potential regulatory barriers to implementing shared cooling solutions, ensuring that initiatives are compliant with national and EU energy laws.
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Financial Instruments: Access to financial support is critical for deploying shared cooling solutions in energy communities. The Financial Instruments Calculation Module enables users to explore funding mechanisms, including subsidies, grants, and EU-level financing programs. This module helps identify financial opportunities that can support the integration of energy-efficient cooling systems into energy communities, ensuring that shared investments align with long-term sustainability goals.
By applying these calculation modules, public administrations, civil society, and citizens can explore pathways for integrating space cooling into energy communities. This structured approach allows for an assessment of economic feasibility, demand-side flexibility, behavioral factors, regulatory alignment, and financial support, ensuring that space cooling is effectively incorporated into community-based energy management systems. The result is an optimized approach that enhances collective energy efficiency while delivering shared benefits to participants.
How To Cite
Aadit Malla, in CoolLIFE-Wiki, User Story 6: Integrating Space Cooling into Energy Communities
Authors And Reviewers
This page was written by Aadit Malla EEG-TU WIEN.
This page was reviewed by Ardak Akhatova e-think.
License
Copyright © 2024-2025: Aadit Malla
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 International License.
SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0
License-Text: https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-4.0.html
Acknowledgement
We would like to convey our deepest appreciation to the LIFE Programme CoolLIFE Project (Grant Agreement number 101075405), which co-funded the present investigation.