Strasbourg – Deux Rives – heat network and the end of everything to the car

Strasbourg – Deux Rives – heat network and the end of everything to the car

We have just returned from a study trip with EcoBuild, the Brussels cluster of players in sustainable construction and renovation. IOT Factory is one of them, being a player in energy efficiency and the reduction of greenhouse gases. In the group, architects, engineers, urban planners, specialists in bio-sourced materials…

We had the chance to visit a new urban project, the Deux-Rives/Zwei-Ufer district, to the east of Strasbourg. A project which aims, within 15 years, to rehabilitate an industrial port zone (250 hectares), between the banks of the Ill in France and the Rhein in Germany. A mix of new construction and renovation of industrial buildings, in order to offer 4,000 affordable housing units, shops, crafts, socio-cultural places, etc.

2 concepts in the project caught my attention, which fit with our common objectives in terms of energy efficiency, reduction of greenhouse gases and soft mobility: heat networks (district heating), and the end of “everything by car”

District Heating networks

The Strasbourg Eurometropolis is developing a strategy for setting up district heating networks. 3 heat networks are active today in the city, which today cover 64 km and already deliver more than 500 GWh/year, or the needs of 50,000 homes.

Currently, heat is produced from 60% gas, wood: 32% and 8% from waste incineration. By 2030, Strasbourg’s ambition is to increase renewable energy used to 83%.

Illustration: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_heating

The principle of a heat network is to centralize heat production, in centralized factories, and to distribute it to buildings where a heat exchanger (substation) then delivers domestic hot water and heating.
The advantages of a heating network are numerous. The possibility of exploiting new energy sources (renewable, waste incineration, geothermal energy, etc.) without changing equipment in commercial buildings and housing. Reduce and simplify installations in buildings (no more boilers, simplification of maintenance, etc.). Optimize production, etc.
The main challenge is the implementation of the network, which requires significant investments in an urban environment where the underground is already very congested.

The concept of a heat network is not new. The Romans had already had this idea. But it was in the Lock Port district of New York in 1877 that the first network was deployed. In Europe, it is mainly in the countries of northern Europe (Denmark, Sweden and Finland) that heating networks have appeared. Soviet Russia largely developed the concept from 1912, to make it the main urban energy distribution network, which explains why today, the greatest proportion of heat networks are present in the Northern countries. and Eastern Europe. 65% of heat distributed in Denmark, 56% in Lithuania, 53% in Slovakia…

In Strasbourg, in the Deux Rives district, the heat transfer fluid is transported at 85°C. Local heat production (currently gas) provides another 30% of the necessary energy, which also makes it possible to maintain the delivery of heat, locally, in the event of a problem on the city’s heat network.

The end of car priority

In the “Deux Rives” district of Strasbourg, new buildings are built without underground garages. The idea is that buildings must be able to evolve over time. Basements, on several floors, dedicated to cars, are very difficult to convert to other uses. It was therefore decided to build silo parking lots (6 for the 2,500 hectares) based on a distribution key of 0.6. So 0.6 cars per dwelling. Gone are the days when each household had 1 or 2 cars. Parking on the road is also prohibited. In addition, the occupants no longer own their parking space. This is a 30-year concession (€18,000 per accommodation), and a monthly rent is requested (€50). The spaces are not nominative, because these same parking spaces can be occupied by visitors and workers present on the site during the day.

The objective is clear. Promote alternative forms of mobility. The tram allows you to reach the city in 10 minutes. By bike, 15 minutes. On flat ground, on a clean site. For extra-urban journeys, “on-demand” car rental is developing.
An interesting figure for the Brussels region. 30% of households no longer have cars. A figure that should perhaps be communicated…

The “Deux Rives” project in Strasbourg is ambitious and inspiring. A major challenge remains. The first inhabitants must agree to live in a permanent construction site, which will continue for more than 15 years…