Exploring district cooling/heating networks
6th September 2024
UK: District One is a new AI-optimised platform designed to generate intelligent citywide heating and cooling networks at speed using local data.
Developed by engineering, architecture and consultancy company Ramboll, District One is designed to support landowners, energy companies, developers, and national and local government authorities in the exploration of potential heat network routes.
Using a bespoke spatial machine learning algorithm that rapidly generates intelligent designs, District One will assist with the installation of citywide heating and cooling network routes, speeding up their design by identifying the best-suited areas for network installations.
Its recent use to create a combined multi-nodal district energy network, consisting of 12 independently operating but connected systems, is said to have demonstrated that District One can increase the accuracy of a business case when deployed onto a citywide zonal programme by enabling existing infrastructure plans to be more quickly incorporated into modelling.
Crucially, District One avoids reliance on the usual ‘rules of thumb’ and enables a far more accurate design and cost estimation of district heating network assets.
“We expect to see a significant expansion of heat networks over the coming years, and are pleased to be able to support this through our development of the District One platform, which provides city-scale mapping, allows for more collaborative discussions between stakeholders and more informed decisions early on in the network planning process,” said Ramboll’s district energy head of department Guy Milligan.
Ramboll has been involved in a number of major recent district heating/cooling schemes including E.ON’s Citigen network in the City of London and the Queen’s Quay energy centre in Glasgow.
