Symbiosis between industrial systems, utilities and public service facilities for boosting energy and resource efficiency

Industrial symbiosis represents a great opportunity for boosting energy efficiency, shifting the focus from a single industry to cluster of firms. Collaboration and synergistic possibilities offered by geographic proximity lead to great competitive advantages involving waste and resources flows. Energy clustering can provide relevant benefits hardly achievable without cooperation, mutually improving the energy efficiency of industries and of other activities in the neighbourhoods, e.g. hospital, schools. In the present work, several synergies currently applied have been mapped in a district of Brescia, moreover the introduction of foreseeable new synergies have been identified and evaluated aiming at reducing the local energy utilization and environmental impact, considering industrial facilities, utilities and public service facilities as an holistic system. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.