The EU Cityfied project aims to develop a strategy that will adapt European cities into smart cities by improving energy efficiency. Under the auspices of the project, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, together with the City of Lund in Sweden and Veolia in Spain has developed a virtual model that will help spread the energy efficiency methods emerging from the project that will be applied in the 11 cities that make up the Cityfied City Cluster.

An increasing number of European cities are interested in participating in the project. Our model examines the potential of these cities to exploit the methods we have tested, we hope to provide inspiration and give more cities a foundation for a new raft of energy efficiency measures, says Jeanette Green, Cityfied project manager at IVL.

Through the use of innovative technology and new methods to renovate buildings, create smart electricity grids and district heating networks Cityfied reduces energy demand and GHG emissions and at the same time ramps up the use of renewable energy sources. In Sweden, the project focuses on upgrading the Linero district in Lund, built in the 1970s, and the creation of more ecofriendly homes.

Local partners are the Municipality of Lund, Lund Municipal Housing Authority, LKF and Kraftringen. The Spanish Research Centre CARTIF is responsible for coordinating the project and besides Lund two other cities, one in Spain and one in Turkey, and 21 players from six European countries also contribute to the project. 

The virtual model for minimizing energy consumption that IVL has played a part in developing was discussed at a meeting in Soma, Turkey in March, where 15 different cities belonging to the City Cluster were invited in order to participate in a workshop. Värmdö and Botkyrka attended from the Stockholm region. The identification and overcoming of on-technical barriers to energy efficiency was a special focus of the workshop and this will be followed by the energy simulation of concrete measures and an estimation of the costs involved.

Anh Tuan