Tag: Trondheim

Summer School organised by NTNU in cooperation with ESITC Caen School of Civil Engineering

This event took place over 5 days in Trondheim in September 2019. Its objective was to investigate community-based facilities management (CbFM) within the City of Trondheim and develop a vision for future CbFM. . +CityxChange was presented to the students before they went into the field.

The participants were 30 Bachelor and Master students from various European universities: Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Hochschule Albstadt-Sigmaringen, University of Applied Sciences Münster, Breda University of Applied Sciences, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Hogeschool Inholland Diemen, Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, Nova University, HAN University of Applied Sciences. 

Several areas in Trondheim were involved: the Sluppen area, the Brattøra area (both industrial urban regeneration areas), Karolinerveien neighbourhood (residential complex – “borettslage”/housing cooperative) and NTNU-IBM, Høgskoleringen 7 A (university premises).

The students visited the allocated case study area over a period of 5 days and conducted observations, surveys and interviews with facility managers, residents and other users in the Sluppen and Brattøra (+CxC sites) and Karolinerveien districts of Trondheim. User requirements were collected and analysed. Each group visualized the liveability of the neighbourhoods and investigated how Facilities Management could offer added value, from an outsider perspective on the case areas.

EuroFM Summer School in Community-based Facility Management

This event took place over 5 days in Trondheim in September 2019. Its objective was to investigate community-based facilities management (CbFM) within the City of Trondheim and develop a vision for future CbFM. . +CityxChange was presented to the students before they went into the field.

The participants were 30 Bachelor and Master students from various European universities: Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Hochschule Albstadt-Sigmaringen, University of Applied Sciences Münster, Breda University of Applied Sciences, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Hogeschool Inholland Diemen, Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, Nova University, HAN University of Applied Sciences. 

Several areas in Trondheim were involved: the Sluppen area, the Brattøra area (both industrial urban regeneration areas), Karolinerveien neighbourhood (residential complex – “borettslage”/housing cooperative) and NTNU-IBM, Høgskoleringen 7 A (university premises).

The students visited the allocated case study area over a period of 5 days and conducted observations, surveys and interviews with facility managers, residents and other users in the Sluppen and Brattøra (+CxC sites) and Karolinerveien districts of Trondheim. User requirements were collected and analysed. Each group visualized the liveability of the neighbourhoods and investigated how Facilities Management could offer added value, from an outsider perspective on the case areas.

Testing Car-Sharing at Trondheim Grocery Stores

Trondheim’s many successes are directly linked to sustainable value creation through public/private partnerships. One of the municipality’s current initiatives is to promote shared mobility and green restructuring through local car-sharing. Trondheim Kommune, together with one of the largest grocery store chains in Norway, REMA 1000 i Norge, and three car-sharing companies including ABG/Zipcar, Otto fra Bertel O. Steen and Hyre are now testing car-sharing at four grocery stores around Trondheim, in an effort to ensure that car share vehicles best meet the needs of users. With a total of 12 shared cars, the cars will be made available through the FourC +CxC developed Mobee app.

This project is one of several of what we call “sprints” on mobility; meaning shorter projects and field testing of shared mobility initiatives. In our experience, business companies are easier to onboard for projects and testing of new concepts and solutions if we define projects of restricted duration, e.g., 6 months, as in this case. This is followed by a period of evaluation, allowing TK to scale up and commercialise initiatives if they have the potential to be successful and generate revenue for the involved actors. 

As a project, we love to see these kinds of on-the-ground public/private partnerships in action!

Trondheim has established two Positive Energy Blocks

European cities are experiencing rapid growth, resulting in strained energy grids and carbon-intensive energy systems. With climate change-fueled energy consumption targets, coupled with energy shortages and rising levels of energy poverty, the present European energy situation requires innovation and implementation of energy efficiency mechanisms, as well as a system-wide shift to renewable energy sources (RES).

In response to these global trends, different Horizon 2020 projects have been exploring solutions to facilitation of just transitions. Through the +CityxChange project, the European Lighthouse City of Trondheim has established two Positive Energy Blocks (PEBs): Brattøra and Sluppen. PEBs are defined as a group of buildings in which the annual building energy consumption is lower than the local energy generation. They are not about single innovations, but rather about a system of innovation. The PEBs are scalable, meaning that they can be expanded to the district level and beyond, and they promote flexible, local energy systems.

The Trondheim PEBs are comprised of a variety of building uses and types, including office buildings, small industries and wholesales, a health care center, restaurant and leisure/cultural spaces, and apartments. These PEBs constitute a complex mix of interventions, including the following main ingredients:

  • Extensive feed-in of renewable energy from rooftop PV, heat pumps, and waste heat recovery
  • Energy efficiency measures, focusing on measures with a high benefit/cost ratio and short payback times
  • Utilization of local, end-user electric flexibility through the establishment of local flexibility markets in the PEBs with open trade at high time resolution, based on innovative trading and energy market solutions
  • Couple electric & thermal sectors with efficient coordination of both types of resources (sector-coupling)

At this stage, the two PEBs are active and generating energy. Brattøra recently recorded a positive dPEB balance of 230,857 kWh/yr (10 % of the PEB BRattøra total energy demand) and Sluppen 224,880 kWh/yr (5.2 % of the PEB Sluppen total energy demand). A lot of progress is still needed, but improvements are ongoing in an iterative process. Importantly, the work done in Trondheim has generated a number of crucial lessons in PEB building, and has made it clear that the process cannot be achieved without involving numerous stakeholder groups. 

As seen in the Figure below, the Trondheim system architecture can be simplified into four stages: 1) Key Enablers, 2) Installation & Configuration, 3) Smart Control of Assets, and 4) Deployment of +CxC dPEB. While the process in practice is not so straightforward, these stages outline the basic requirements for building a successful and scalable dPEB.

So what (and who) enabled Trondheim’s success?

  • Single Management Platform: In order to manage and operate such complex, local energy ecosystems, all buildings and energy assets (resources and consumers) need to be integrated into one single management platform (distributed energy resource management system). In Trondheim, this platform is provided by ABB (ABB Optimax ®).
  • Building owners and real-estate companies at the core: To establish PEBs, it is imperative to have building owners and real-estate companies on board. In the Trondheim projects, we work with R Kjeldsberg, a real-estate company and official project partner, as well as associated partner Entra.
  • Energy trading platform (ETP) & local flexibility market (LFM) developers and owners: The project would not be possible without a highly innovative energy trading platform and solutions, developed by Volue. Market solutions for local energy and flexibility markets were developed and implemented for the local flexibility markets by ANEO (formerly Trønderenergi).

The final report from the Trondheim projects – D5.11, Trondheim dPEB Demonstration – describes the process of planning, set-up, and implementation of the PEBs, including a comprehensive guideline that outlines the main steps for establishing a scalable PEB. Curious and want to know more? Visit our knowledge base for a more detailed overview of everything Trondheim and our other cities have been up to!

The dPEB PED approach - important for moving towards a green and clean energy transition. Photo by +CityxChange.

LHC Trondheim presents at Digital Davos

The LHC Trondheim +CxC team attended Digital Davos in Switzerland on the 22nd of September! We presented on three main topics: 1) why we’ve had the successes that we’ve had, 2) how we systematically approach mobility, and 3) how we work with energy and mobility. Data is at the forefront of how we share what we do, allowing us to communicate our successes through the numbers. 

LHC Trondheim has anchored support from the highest levels of government in its endeavors to facilitate the green transition and promote the initiatives of +CxC. Energy is a very important topic both across Europe and globally, and the Norwegian government believes that for the sake of the planet, adaptation and innovation are critical.

As a municipality, Trondheim works with energy and mobility at all levels, building off of existing knowledge and asking, what do our inhabitants already know about their options for energy and mobility, and how can more sustainable options be incorporated into their everyday lives? We work together with citizens to cocreate projects and strive to inform the public about what can be expected in the future. We believe this systematic and inclusive approach allows social mobility to thrive.

Thank you to all who participated in and supported the event, including Silja Rønningsen, Tom Jensen, Bjørn Ove Berthelsen, and Klaus Livik.

LHC Trondheim wins third place for Smartgrid center’s innovation prize

LHC Trondheim is very honored to have received third place for Smartgrid centre’s innovation prize for 2022. The theme of the award this year was “Pioneer projects in Norway that have contributed to the green shift through the development and utilization of the energy system using secure digital solutions”. 

After being nominated into the top 3, we were able to present at their annual conference in Norway and demonstrate our value, explaining how we have contributed to the green shift. +CityxChange is continuously launching projects in Trondheim for more efficient energy utilization, local energy systems which use renewable energy, and energy storage, based on solutions developed by Norwegian partners.

The aim of innovation award is to spotlight pioneering activities within smart grids, and in this way increase the dissemination of concepts and best practices across the industry. We are very grateful to have been given the chance to present at the conference, and are excited to have won third place!

Check out the original news source here

New energy market in Trondheim is now being tested

The kick-off for testing a separate flexibility market for electricity took place at Brattøra, a neighborhood in Trondheim, on July 4th, 2022. For the first time, building owners are able to share electricity between their own buildings and trade electricity with neighboring businesses. This is a huge step forward in electricity trading, and power sales between neighboring buildings will help us utilize locally available power. We assume that 10 percent of all electricity consumption is flexible and can be moved in terms of time and volume.

As of today, there are no incentives for neighboring buildings to cooperate on production and consumption of energy, and we believe that Trondheim and Norway as a whole have a huge potential to save space when developing grids if energy sharing is built into the system. The opportunities associated with the sale of electricity between buildings are numerous, and allow us to more efficiently use available electricity. This test has the potential to empower the development of energy grids in the future and make big differences both locally in Trondheim, and globally.

We are testing the energy market in several places currently, with Trønderenergi, a Norwegian company, currently responsible for establishing and operating the market. We will soon expand into other urban areas in partnership with other companies, such as R. Kjeldsberg . This project is also a collaboration between Trondheim municipality, ABB, Volue, IOTA, as well as the building owners who participate. In addition, +CityxChange collaborates with Enova’s large-scale project; Brattøra Mikronett, along with Entra, Skanska, Trondheim municipality and others. In other words, this project is made possible thanks to the collaboration between many different people working to spur innovation and contribute to the future of energy positive neighbors.

Check out the original news article here: https://www.trondheim.kommune.no/aktuelt/nyhetssaker/barekraft-nyheter/plussbyen-nyheter/nytt-energimarked-i-trondheim-testes-na/ 

 

We are very happy to announce that the city of Trondheim has finished its Bold City Vision!

We are very happy to announce that the city of Trondheim has finished its Bold City Vision!  

Led by Astrid Haugslett and Kelly Riedesel, Vision for Sustainable Urban Transition – Bold City Vision – is Trondheim’s guide to becoming an energy positive city by 2050. The team also included Silja Rønningsen, Bjørn Ove Berthelsen, Tom Jensen, Leendert Wienhofen, Dirk Ahlers, Marit T. Myrstad, Jens, Vida, Cole Grabinsky, Klaus Livik, Kristian Mjøen Morten Wolden Courtney Killion, Annemie Wyckmans Kristian Dahlberg Hauge Øyvind S. Tanum Samah Elsaadi, Agata Krause, Henriette Louise Krogness and many more.

In order to create an energy positive city, there are many aspects that need to be considered. The vision is energy specific, but strongly connected to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This elevates the work by involving other sectors relevant for the multi-level, multi-disciplinary and multi-angle sustainable transformation.

Linking the SDGs to the Norwegian context, the BCV is a framework for Sustainable Societal Development. As a result of Trondheim’s role as a Lighthouse city and commitment to Sustainable Value Creation (SVC), Trondheim Municipality received 3rd place as Rising Innovative City in the 2021 European Capital of Innovation Awards. SCV is comprised of four pillars; potential, readiness, opportunity, and impact, and the BCV is directly connected to the second pillar, readiness. This is demonstrated within this deliverable, together with practical examples serving as guidance, as shown in the illustration below. 

There are two guidelines presented in the deliverable; “Guidelines on sustainable value creation” and “Guidelines to create an energy positive city by 2050”. They are both a result of the four pillars of SVC, built around the logic that they represent, but the guideline for LHC Trondheims BCV has some additional prerequisites and future recommendations based on lessons learned. “Guidelines to create an energy positive city by 2050” is accompanied by a visualisation of the Trondheim BCV integrating activities, actions, and measures over the time span, and displaying relations between crucial steps and actions. The guidelines will be useful for other cities and regions when exploring or expanding their scope and possibilities on achieving the SDGs and becoming an energy positive city. 

For more details about Bold City Vision story and guideline to create an energy positive city by 2050, check out Deliverable 5.7 in the +CxC Knowledge Base . 

The world’s most sustainable data center is now operational at Trondheim !!

Since August 2021, Trondheim Municipality has partnered with Green Edge Compute to develop a sustainable data centre at Sluppen. The construction and installation go as planned, and the new data center will rely on renewable energy and reduce close to 40 percent of energy consumption than traditional data centers. While the municipality continues digital transformation and is developing into a smart city, this new facility can reuse surplus heat to supply it to Statkraft Varme. Moreover, the energy will sell in a local market through a solution Volue developed for Trønderenergi. All that, this will become a very energy-efficient data center. Next step, The new data center is tested and measured by SINTEF with sustainability measurement before the operation to customers. And results will publish at Datasenterdagen Event on June the 15th.

Click here to the news source or this link for more event information. 

Trondheim selected as one of the EU Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030!

Trondheim is among the cities that the EU Cities Mission has selected for its major programme “100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030”. This underscores Trondheim’s ambitions and activities towards becoming climate neutral by 2030 as an EU Mission City.

The EU Mission has selected 100 cities within the EU and 12 cities outside the EU. Overall 3 cities in Norway were chosen, namely Trondheim, Oslo, and Stavanger.

“Our urban areas are home to 75% of EU citizens. Globally, urban areas consume over 65% of the world’s energy, accounting for more than 70% of CO2 emissions. It is therefore important that cities act as experimentation and innovation ecosystems to help all others in their transition to become climate-neutral by 2050.”

The idea is that the 100 + 12 cities selected will lead the way and accelerate emission reduction by 2030 so that all European cities can become climate neutral by 2050.

Congratulations to Trondheim municipality, its Environmental Unit, the project +CityxChange, to Mayor Rita Ottervik, and the Trondheim team.

Now the job starts for all of us together.

 

Click here to find the Cities Mission Factsheet and the EU press release