Enviromental Implications of Växjö Municipality's Energy Requirement for New Residential Buildings

The Växjö Municipality in Sweden sets specific energy requirements above the national building code while selling land for new residential buildings. A main energy requirement for Östra Lugnet residential area in Växjö was that all buildings must be connected to the district heating network. In this paper we analysed final energy use of the buildings, and compared the primary energy use and CO2 emission from operation of the buildings connected to district heating system with hypothetical scenarios where only air-source heat pumps were installed. The result showed that district heating is the better option from the perspective of lower carbon emission. Therefore, it seems appropriate for Växjö Municipality to set conditions for new residential buildings in Östra Lugnet to connect to the local district heating network as it contributes to its goal of low carbon society.