Services for the Energy Efficiency City

Cities and communities need to act for climate protection, reduce consumption of primary energy sources and lessen their ecological footprint. The German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) therefore initiated the Competition „Energy-Efficient City“. Driven by the climate-protection goals of the German Government and based on the prevailing urban conditions, participants in the city competition had to develop innovative and holistic approaches, constantly recognizing the key role services can and must play to spur energy efficiency in German cities. In September 2010, Delitzsch, Essen, Magdeburg, Stuttgart, and Wolfhagen were awarded the opportunity to implement their concepts.

An IZT research project will accompany the winners’ urban implementation process between 2011 and 2016. IZT research will place great emphasis on further reinforcing the stimulation effect of the BMBF competition and puts a special focus on service innovations with respect to climate protection on the local level.

Firstly, It is IZT’s task to accompany the implementation process of the five winning cities in the field of service research in a scientifically and methodological sound way. Urban case analyses with regard to innovation strategies and implementation steps will be analyzed in depth and good examples will be identified. Secondly, IZT research will focus on key fields of action to increase urban energy efficiency: the potential of information and communication technologies to monitor energy consumption, the social acceptance of energy efficient technologies, the acceleration of diffusion processes in an urban context, urban value creation processes and business models will be at the centre of research. Thereby, IZT will draw on latest findings in the fields of services, energy, innovation and actor-network analyses.

The implementation concepts of the winning cities prove that there is great potential for increasing energy efficiency and climate protection. Services for energy efficiency to be put into practices within the BMBF city competition include:

• Information services for citizens, for instance a mobility portal that keeps citizens up-to-date in real time about various forms of transportation on road and rail, including public transport routes and timetables, the degree of congestion on the road network, the availability of parking, traffic warnings, and building sites.
• Comprehensive service portfolios, for instance service packages such as energy-saving renovation measures as well as the planning, financing and installation of energy efficient energy-efficient heating systems.
• Contracting services for private households, enterprises and public authorities, pooling resources to tap the full potential of their energy-saving potential.
• A digital market place for energy-efficient services with a main focus on products and services from small and local firms.
• Services to identify roof areas for solar panels and alert house owners respectively.
• Services to increase the saving and utilization of formerly lost heat.
• Financing funds, stocked up by citizens to speed up urban energy-efficiency measures and the use of renewable energies.
• Creating the position of a local energy-efficiency manager who addresses consumers according to their needs and lifestyles and raises awareness for issues of energy saving and climate protection. The local energy-efficiency manager is supposed to link strategic, operational and explorative levels (planning, networking, coordinating, moderating, informing, and communicating).

Within this framework, the goal is also to prove that joint efforts of services research und energy research offer a high potential for innovation, and to face global challenges at the local level. Within the BMBF Competition „Energy-Efficient City“, services research and energy research will work together closely. IZT’s project team will co-operate with a second research project led by Professor Dr.-Ing. H.-H. Wagner, chair of Energy Systems and Energy Economics at Bochum University, and Prof. Marco Koch, Bochum University.

For further information please visit the Website here.