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Switching to a renewable and CO₂-free heat supply is a key objective for many of our clients - whether local authorities, housing associations or private investors. However, we repeatedly come up against a dilemma during planning: the desire for optimum energy efficiency is often in conflict with the level of costs that this entails. 
How can a workable compromise be found here?

Our goodmen energy Managing Director Dr Bernd Vogl is also co-founder of Vision Green Solutions, a company specialising in water and hygiene. In this role, he embarked on a special journey at the beginning of November - one that challenged him as a person and as an entrepreneur.

Decarbonizing the heat supply of existing multi-family homes has played a major role in the success of the energy transition. However, the renovation rate is still lagging drastically behind the requirements and would have to be doubled in order to have a climate-neutral building stock by 2050. New approaches are needed to accelerate and improve the carbon footprint. One effective solution is prefabricated energy centers. These can replace fossil fuels with renewable energies while minimizing the impact on residents.

Local heating networks offer sustainable energy supply solutions, but their implementation is complex. This article sheds light on the challenges and solutions involved in building such networks - from different temperature requirements in the network to innovative technologies for narrow, historic city centre areas. Read how local heating networks contribute to CO₂ reduction and why careful planning is crucial for success.

Public swimming pools are not only popular and important leisure and sports facilities, but unfortunately also significant cost factors for local authorities. The energy costs for the operation and maintenance of such facilities are high, particularly due to the constant demand for heat and electricity. Many municipalities have even had to close their pools because they were no longer financially viable. We show ways to achieve an environmentally and operating cost-friendly changeover.

Cold local heating networks, which are fed from renewable sources, are a sustainable way of supplying energy. One promising source is groundwater, which can be utilised by geothermal well systems.
This article analyses the basics, advantages and challenges of using groundwater for cold local heating networks.

Contracting is a service that deals with the process of supplying energy to buildings, neighbourhoods or production facilities. Billing is also part of a contractor's tasks. Responsibilities relating to the energy supply and/or increasing the efficiency of buildings are then the responsibility of the contractor. The contractor has the technical expertise and experience to plan, build and operate energy generation systems - such as local heating networks - economically and ecologically. The contractor thus often takes on the role of the traditional municipal utility. 

Local heating networks supply urban neighbourhoods and communities with heating and cooling. They can be fed from different sources and have different temperatures. In this article, we present the different network architectures of local heating networks and highlight their advantages and disadvantages.

We have already reported on ice storage systems in this blog. Back then, we looked at large underground anergy storage systems that supply building complexes such as schools or entire neighbourhoods on a seasonal basis. Now there are new developments on the market that are of interest to owners of detached houses and apartment blocks and make ice storage heating in conjunction with a heat pump attractive even where space is limited. 

The construction industry in Germany is currently struggling with a shortage of skilled workers, difficulties in procuring materials and the interest rate situation - this is slowing down the speed of renovation and construction processes. In addition, the long planning and approval phases play a crucial role in why construction takes so long in Germany. The multitude of regulations and non-standard requirements in Germany's federal system further slows down the process. A simplification and reduction of bureaucracy in the processing of building applications would certainly be desirable.