5.31 City of Hamburg plans to reduce heat energy consumption in public buildings with vilisto

Authorities a new project in the city of Hamburg announced in October 2022 a new for its district heating system that could save up to 30 percent of the usual energy consumption of its public buildings implementing smart and self-learning thermostats from EIT InnoEnergy portfolio company vilisto – around 15 gigawatt hours of heating energy. Its solution - smart and adaptive thermostats. Hamburg’s officials are hoping this innovation can become a role model for energy efficiency for other cities.

The project will be implemented in a large proportion of the city’s building stock. To achieve this, the Berlin-based company, myWarm, will carry out hydraulic balancing of around 10,000 radiators in 50 large public buildings. At the same time, Hamburg will be the first major German city to install smart thermostats on a large scale, with the units coming from EIT InnoEnergy-supported company, vilisto. Hamburg’s city government is working together with the public and commercial real estate agent, Sprinkenhof GmbH, to make these changes.

While some public buildings need to maintain high temperatures, they remain unoccupied during 80 percent of the week - on weekends, after work hours or on home office days. With the introduction of smart thermostats, the interior temperature can be maintained without the input of a building’s residents. Buildings that have already received the new tools include the Hamburg City Hall, the Altona and the Hamburg planetarium.

In addition to long-term projects in line with our urban climate plan, the upcoming cold season now also calls for immediate measures with a short-term impact. The project now underway is enormously promising and can make an important contribution to saving energy. vilisto.de

5.32 Woon Duurzaam receives €2.2 million in financing to support homeowners’ energy transition

EIT InnoEnergy-supported Woon Duurzaam, which advises homeowners on how to transition from gas to green energy sources, received €2.2 million in July 2022 in a second investment round. The funding came from new investors, Oneplanetcrowd, and ROM InWest, as well as from existing shareholders, EIT InnoEnergy and DOEN Participaties.

Following this investment, Amsterdam-based Woon Duurzaam will be able to further develop and automate its one-stop shop platform for home improvement. As a result, the company will be able to scale-up its operations to help many more homeowners realise the energy transition of their home - from sustainable alternatives such as heat pumps and solar panels, to optimal insulation and ventilation systems with heat recovery. All this is well coordinated by Woon Duurzaam’s fully integrated approach – taking advantage of the contribution of knowledge and skills from a range of supporting experts.

With the financing raised - and processes automated to meet the growing demand - the number of gas-free and energy-neutral homes will quickly grow to thousands of homes per year.

With high energy prices in the Netherlands and the urgency to become more sustainable to achieve the country’s climate objectives, the demand for sustainable housing has increased dramatically. Woon Duurzaam offers private homeowners tailor-made sustainability measures for their homes to support them during the entire transition.

With the investment raised, Woon Duurzaam can prepare its platform and organization for the future by improving and automating processes. As a result, we are creating an organization that is ready for upscaling, so that we can help even more homeowners make their homes more sustainable.

woonduurzaam.nl