Sustainable urban heat strategies: Perspectives from integrated district energy choices and energy conservation in buildings. Case studies in Torino and Stockholm

A systems approach is essential to avoid unnecessary investments or early retirement of assets: building renovations should be planned carefully as lower DH base loads could lead to increased running costs, and DH investments need to be adapted to long-term building improvements. Reduced peak loads can allow increased use of low-grade heat, higher merit-order power generation and in some instances cost-effective expansion of DH.