SPARCS team visits Kladno demo sites
Fellow City of Kladno and CVUT hosted SPARCS partners from across Europe to present the progress done in the city since the launch of the project.
The two-day meeting included visit to key demo sites in the city including the PED demo site – the sports area “Sletiště” around the Winter stadium – and CVUT UCEEB laboratories.
Kladno also presented a vision for the local ice hockey rink to be used as a core excess heat source for Positive Energy District design. The preparation of the Kladno PED continues as there are still several options with regard to the utilization of the heat that can be sent either to new residential housing or other sports facilities.
Partners took part in a workshop on energy communities by discussing the implementation processes together with an external expert panel comprising some of the leading figures in the field, Jaroslav Klusák, Martin Bursík, and Michal Svoboda.
Among the main conclusions was that the key to future energy communities is flexibility, not only from a technical point of view but also in terms of operational models and consumption. Municipal buildings could be one of key for the creation of energy communities, enabling the cities to lead by example in the energy transition.
Citizen engagement plays a significant role in fostering the energy transition as the key to success remains to promote and communicate with individual actors, which illustrates how people experience the changes implemented with smart.