Transforming social housing neighbourhoods into sustainable carbon neutral districts

This paper gives an overview of the results of the European demonstration Project ECO-Life (2010-2016) in Belgium. The goal of the project was to transform a number of social housing neighbourhoods in Kortrijk, Belgium into a sustainable carbon neutral community. A neighbourhood of single family social houses built in the 1950's was partly replaced by new multi-family buildings and new housing blocks, and partly refurbished to current standards and comfort. Based on the ECO-Life targets and guided by energy performance calculations, different energy concepts have been defined for the demonstration buildings and systems within the community. In order to evaluate the actual operation of the buildings and building systems during the first years of occupation of the neighbourhood, energy monitoring and commissioning activities have been performed. They include monitoring of energy use and temperatures, surveys of the occupants and quality assurance tests. In this paper the approach and findings of monitoring activities are discussed. Monitoring results are used to assess primary energy balance and CO2-balance. The monitoring has highlighted the importance of proper commissioning and operation of heating systems to achieve the design targets.