The power of meeting in person – Turku Lighthouse leaders met physically for the first time

In late October 2021, the Turku Lighthouse project implementation leaders met physically for the first time since the proposal preparation. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss common challenges, timetables, and next steps regarding the work of the local ecosystem. The meeting included common discussion about the integration of technical solutions in citizen engagement activities and up-coming endeavors taking place in the coming year. Turku Administrative Site Manager Olena Zinchuk is happy about the possibility to meet in person after such a long period of virtual collaboration: “We got to see each other’s’ faces and got reminded that the project’s success is a combined effort of partner organizations and the people behind them. It was an excellent occasion to look into the main points in need of closer attention regarding the project implementation and how to proceed.” Aside from discussions the meeting also included a site visit to the one of the Positive Energy Block (PEB) buildings – “Tyyssija”. It is currently in the finalizing stages of the construction, completion of which is scheduled for 31 December 2021. The participants familiarized themselves with the building milieu and got a concrete understanding of the hard project measures which is important for moving RESPONSE forward.

Turku Lighthouse leaders in the Tyyssija inner yard

Text – Sini Lamoureux, City of Turku
Photo – Heidi Heikkilä, TUAS

SIDO Lyon

SIDO Lyon is the reference event in Europe on the convergence of IoT, Artificial Intelligence, XR & Robotics technologies. For two days, it brings together professionals from all industries, with over 250 exhibitors, 60 conferences and workshops led by 180 speakers. It gives you all the keys to make your digital transformation a reality. RESPONSE was at the heart of a conference followed by a round table around decarbonisation of territory: living green. Jean-Patrick Masson from Dijon Metropolis and RESPONSE partner James GRIVET from Wittym were speakers.
More information: https://bit.ly/3E07vOB

Suzie Besset, Dijon Metropole

Public lecture “Towards the positive energy city”

10/09/2021

The public lecture was held on September 10, 2021 at the Volodymyr Dahl East Ukrainian National University. Prof Halyna Tatarchenko gave a public lecture to the students of the specialty “Construction and Civil Engineering”. Lectures cycle is a way to get knowledge about RESPONSE project ideas, and can help participants to know what Innovative technologies can be used towards positive energy city, what aspects is important in this way? What each of us could do to reduce carbon emission? As well this one can help to obtain feedback from citizens.

Regional Development Agency of Lugansk Region

School-business week and industry week

15/11/2021-27/11/2021

During the School-Business Week, whose theme was “preparing together for the jobs of today and tomorrow” and the Industry Week, whose theme was “inventing a sustainable future”, Dijon installs the RESPONSE model in the FO neighborhood house and invites students, teachers, and local actors to come and discover the RESPONSE project. Professionals of the energy transition (EDF, Enedis, Léon Grosse) join forces to show young people the jobs of tomorrow.
During the School-Business Week it was promoted an educational action, where ENEDIS explain the issues of sustainable development and global warming. A time of exchange then took place on the future evolution of the Fontaine d’Ouche district, and on the functioning of the REPONSE project. Enedis presents its missions and the company’s professions: from network technician to DATA Scientist, opportunities for internships, work-study programmes and future jobs are promoted to young people.

Suzie Besset and Thomas Deweer (Up4North)

Path to the replication started

The assessment of replication potentialities carried out during the first stage of RESPONSE led to the identification of actions to be developed in the city.

The analysis carried out in the first stage of the project highlighted some actions to be taken in line with the overall objective of RESPONSE. One of the most ambitious projects is the revitalization of a 1960’s-built workers neighborhood and its integration within a Positive Energy District framework. Overall, up to 1,350 households in 130 buildings are to be rehabilitated. The rehabilitation consists of installation of highest possible amount of RES generation (photovoltaic) on building level. Also, social measures such as accessibility improvements including up to 107 elevators will be implemented. The measure is supported by the already valuable experiences gained from the revitalization of 17 buildings. The architectural style of the neighborhood is based on blocks with a patio and 3 or 4 portals each one, hence, the implementation is done at a block level. The project will be presented at the end of 2021 and is planned to be executed by 2022.

Text – Breogan Sanchez
Photo (Creative Commons Licence)

Turku PEB building “Tyyssija” welcoming its first tenants in January 2022

An important component of Turku’s Positive Energy Block (PEB) – building “Tyyssija” (Eng. “Haven”) is about to enter a new chapter. Starting from January 2022 it will host its very first tenants. “Tyyssija” is one of the Turku Student Village Foundation’s (TYS) many residential buildings located in Turku’s Positive Energy District (PED). TYS was founded in 1966 by the Student Union of the University of Turku, Since then, the Foundation’s mission has been to build, renovate, rent and maintain apartments for students.


The architecture tendering for “Tyyssija” begun in 2017 and in April 2020 the construction was commenced. Identical to the City of Turku, the Foundation aims to be carbon neutral by 2029. Risto Siilos the CEO of TYS points out that the carbon neutrality objective and the synergies supported by RESPONSE were some of the main incentives for the Foundation to join the project. A significant share of the RESPONSE project solutions in Turku either have or will be implemented in the “Tyyssija” building. One of the solutions visible for tenants is the human thermal sensation control system provided by Egain. It envisions indoor sensors, equal in size to a box of matches, installed in all apartments. The sensors will measure and distribute information about relative temperature and humidity levels, thus supporting optimization of indoor temperatures and predictability of temperature changes. Another example are the bifacial solar panels provided by Solar Finland, planned to be installed in spring 2022 on the roof of “Tyyssija” on a flat roof mounting system. This will enable light reflecting from the roof to reach the backside of the solar panel, allowing an even greater generation of solar powered energy. With gym-, restaurant-, grocery store-and office facilities, “Tyyssija” will serve as the heart of the Student Village. The objective of “Tyyssija” is also to improve the tenants’ everyday life and increase a sense of community and multiculturalism. Concrete measures for supporting these objectives are the saunas and shared spaces in “Tyyssija” available for tenants to book. The “Tyyssija” building containing 186 apartments, has risen from the ground and is soon ready to serve as an energy sustainable home for its new tenants.

Text: Sini Lamoureux, City of Turku

Photos: City of Turku and TUAS

Implementation of the ” Sustainable Energy Action Plan of Severodonetsk until 2020″ for 2020

In 2013, the city of Severodonetsk joined the Covenant of Mayors. To achieve the goals identified by the Covenant of Mayors, in 2015 the city has developed the Severodonetsk Sustainable Energy Action Plan through 2020 (SEAP). The Severodonetsk SEAP through 2020 have been outlined the main ways to achieve the goals stipulated by the obligations of the Covenant of Mayors. Follow Severodonetsk SEAP, energy-efficient measures have been introduced with the attraction of international assistance funds and the city budget. The city is actively involved in national programs and projects aimed at increasing energy efficiency. Monitoring results has shown reducing of CO2 emissions in 2020 in comparison with 2012 thanks to implementation of energy efficiency measures. Severodonetsk SEAP implementation through 2020 as of 01.01.2021, help to reduce CO2 emissions help to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 27.5% in comparison with 2012. This reducing is exceeding the planned reducing provided by Severodonetsk SEAP (according SEAP planed reducing of CO2 emissions was 21.4%).

Regional Development Agency of Lugansk Region

Consortium Plenary Board Meeting

The first Consortium Plenary Board meeting of the RESPONSE Project was held on 19th October 2021. During this fruitful one-day virtual event, more than 90 attendees discovered the achievements made during the first year of the project and got informed about the ongoing issues.
During the morning session, an overview of the ongoing activities within the two Lighthouse cities Turku and Dijon were presented. Then the Fellow cities Ptolomedia, Gabrovo, Botosani, Severodonesk and Brussels presented the ambitions of their replication activities. During the afternoon session, each Work Package leader gave an update on the tasks and deliverables of each Work Package Finally, the project coordinators introduced some ongoing issues and gave an administrative follow-up of the project.
This event was a good occasion for the board members to supervise the project progress and decide upon all relevant technical and administrative issues.

Partners of Dijon Metropole at the Consortium Plenary Board Meeting

Text – David Goujon
Photo
Suzie Besset

Partnership agreement “cuisine mode d’emploi(s)” and Enedis

Veronique Carrion (Executive Director – Cuisine Mode d’Emploi(s)” and Nadia Murat-Faustin (Côte-d’Or Territorial Delegate and RESPONSE Project Leader – Enedis) signed a five years partnership on 28th October 2021. This signing took place in Dijon’s priority neighbourhood called “Fontaine d’Ouche”. Children will visit Cuisine Mode d’Emploi(s) during school trips where they’ll have the chance to discover Cuisine Mode d’Emploi(s)’s offers. Nadia Murat-Faustin, Côte-d’Or Territorial Delegate and RESPONSE Project Leader – Enedis, said “As the pilot of the RESPONSE project for Enedis, I confirm that by signing this agreement with the association “Cuisine mode d’emploi(s)”, which is located in the Fontaine d’Ouche district, we are concretely enhancing our involvement in the Empowerment (citizen involvement) aspect of the RESPONSE project. Beyond the ecological and energetic aspect of the RESPONSE project, it is important to make RESPONSE an opportunity for each inhabitant of the district in terms of education, training and employment, and this is the very meaning of our action today. We are part of a long-term partnership with Cuisine mode d’emploi throughout the five years of the project and beyond.”

Thomas Deweer (Up4North)

Towards a District Heating Cold Network in the Brussels North District

On Tuesday 9th November the City of Brussels and Up4North invited decision makers and various relevant stakeholders to exchange on the set-up of a district heating and cooling network in the Brussels North District. Such a network is identified as an important solution to pave the way to turn the district in a Positive Energy District. Looking into the feasibility, the seminar participants explored the solutions proposed by the lighthouse cities of Turku and Dijon. In a second part, two smaller groups worked on a detailed map of the district and mapped the specific opportunities linked to the district. To further develop concrete solutions, it is clear that a multilevel and multi complex approach is needed. Therefore the third part of the seminar was dedicated to this topic. Thanks to this fruitful exchange, it became clear there are many opportunities to establish a district heating and cooling network. The district is in full transition with many investments and construction works planned in the coming years. All participants agree that these future works need to be mutualised, the time to act is now. After this first exchange vital relationships have been built. The next step is to set up a pilot group to drive a district heating and cooling network, one of the keys to transform the Brussels North District into a Positive Energy District.

In Brussels Response strives to turn the North District into a sustainable neighbourhood with a rich biodiversity and producing more energy than it consumes. To achieve this the project partners aim to set up a district heating and cold (DHC) network in the North District that would allow participants to mutualize the consumption and the production of energy. The seminar organized on the 9th November had the ambition to be the first step in the process to set up a DHC in the North District. It brought together the various stakeholders to:

  • Get inspired by the best practices in the city of Turku and Dijon
  • Exchange on the opportunities in the North District today
  • Dialogue on the need for a common multilevel and multicompetence approach to tackle the complexity of such an endeavour.

Thanks to this fruitful exchange, it is clear there are many opportunities to establish a district heating cold network. The district is in full transition with many investments and works planned in the coming years. All participants agree that future works need to be mutualised, the time to act is now. After this first exchange vital relationships have been build. The next step is to set up a pilot group to drive a district heating-cold network. One thing is clear, if the Brussels North District wants to be transformed into a Positive Energy District, then a district heat and cold network is key.

Thomas Deweer (Up4North)