Smart urban planning makes money

The NSDC started as a research project but has now moved into real-world testing. The goal is to figure out how different types of buildings can be more flexible with their energy use. These systems can help buildings participate in energy markets and manage their energy use more efficiently.

Design drivers

A big part of the NSDC approach is collaborative urban planning. This means getting everyone—city officials, private companies, and other stakeholders—to work together from the very beginning. The idea is to look at the entire life cycle of a building, from construction to eventual demolition, and make sure climate impacts are considered at every step.

Market drivers

When it comes to energy management, there are a few main drivers:

1. Stricter rules about building emissions
2. Rising housing costs
3. Fluctuating energy prices
4. Shared risks for businesses buying energy
5. A growing need for backup energy in the national grid.

NSDC is designed to address all these issues when assessing the potential of any new construction initiative.

From theory to practice

To test their ideas, the NSDC ran two demonstration projects. One of the first was in Lempäälä, a town in southern Finland. Here, five public buildings (like schools and a library) were studied. These buildings use district heating and don’t have much energy storage. The main motivations were to cut CO2 emissions and adapt to a new, more flexible energy contract.

The second demo was Superblock design concept inspired by Hiedanranta, a district in the city of Tampere. This time, the focus was on a design where a city block including 80,000 square metres of living space shares a geothermal heating system, with electric boilers as backup. This setup isn’t connected to the district heating network.

Heating rises as top differentiator

When comparing the two, the superblock with its own heating system had a much higher potential for participating in energy markets and earning money from energy flexibility. In Lempäälä, you would need a huge number of buildings and devices to make it financially worthwhile. In the Superblock concept, far fewer are needed, making management simpler and more cost-effective.

The main takeaway from the demonstrators is that a collection of buildings with their own heating systems are much better suited for energy management and market participation. The study concluded that in district heating-based areas 1–2% of the energy cost can be saved with consumption timing. In contrast, areas with geothermal heating can save as much as 5–10% of their energy cost. Those relying on district heating face more challenges and need to scale up massively to see similar benefits.

What next?

In future, NSDC is looking to expand the assessment model to include things like peak shaving (reducing energy use during high-demand times) and managing power tariffs. They also see potential for applying this approach to industrial sites and electric vehicle charging stations, though more testing is needed. When designing buildings, it is important to consider the necessary technology from the very beginning if there is an intention to participate in energy markets in the future.

If you’re interested in hearing more about smart urban planning and energy management, do get in touch!