Ecological and economic analysis of low-temperature district heating in typical residential areas

Potential waste heat integration in low-temperature district heating (LTDH) systems is a main task for future sustainable heat supply. For evaluation of efficient LTDH integration in residential areas, investigations of the typical building stock are useful. In this study, we present an economic and ecologic investigation of two LTDH supply temperatures in multiple typical residential areas. We show which design have the strongest impact on efficient heat supply in terms of electricity usage and low specific heating costs. Therefore, we design nine representative residential areas derived from dwelling types of the German building stock. Within these areas, we investigate LTDH supply performance in combination with decentralized boosting heat pumps. In addition, we compare the results to an individual heat supply by air-water-heat pumps. The results show that the fraction of domestic hot water on total heat demand and the design of decentralized heat pump systems capacities impact LTDH operation efficiency. LTDH network installation with operation temperatures around 60 degrees C are most advantageous in residential areas with a high share of space heating demand.