Pragmatic design solution to decarbonize building industry through a low temperature district network

• Comprehensive description of a low temperature district network is presented. • Standalone operation of substation is compared with networked operation. • Thermal load sharing between borefields in different real estate is shown. • Presented design reduces active energy use by 14 %. • Emissions from the presented system are only 7 % compared to emissions from existing energy sources in the study region. The European Union’s aim to decarbonize the building stock by 2050 requires significant reductions in the energy use for space heating and cooling. One such solution to decarbonization could be energy sharing between buildings. This paper presents the potential for energy saving and subsequent reduction in carbon emission with a low temperature district network in an energy community based in Malmö, Sweden. In this study, environmental impact of energy consumption has been performed, together with a Modelica based simulation which incorporates the detailed dynamic modelling of the digital twin of energy system stationed at this community. The modelled network is of a novel design that features geothermal boreholes as the primary energy source for the community’s thermal demands and allows sharing of excess energy between the buildings connected to the network. The study shows that sharing energy between the buildings improves the overall seasonal performance of the substation from 5.2 to 6.2 and reduces the net purchase of energy by approximately 14.1 % in comparison to the standalone systems. Furthermore, benefits were identified in the form of load sharing between borefields accounting to approximately 50 MWh of thermal energy exchange between the substation’s borefield leading to a longer operational lifespan of borefields. The result also showed that emissions from the studied network are only 7 % of the emissions associated with the existing district heating network available in the region, thereby emphasizing the substantial environmental benefits and great potential to reduce emissions related to urban heating and cooling in general.