On October 24th, the Danish District Energy Alliance hosted a district energy workshop for universities in Greater Boston. The workshop was followed by a panel discussion with key stakeholders from the cities of Boston, Cambridge and Somerville.
The Danish District Energy Alliance has for several years worked closely with universities in the Greater Boston Area who are interested in establishing or updating district energy systems at their campuses. This has resulted in the creation of a group called Campus Energy Accelerator, which includes University of New Hampshire, Dartmouth, Smith College, Princeton and Tufts University. Tufts University kindly hosted the workshop on October 24th with participation of the Danish Minister for Energy, Utilities and Climate Lars Christian Lilleholt.
At the Campus Energy Accelerator workshop, four leading Danish companies shared their insights on various aspects of district energy. Ramboll gave insights into strategic energy planning, while ABB presented their system integration and control optimization technologies for district energy systems. Furthermore, Danfoss disclosed their knowledge within system efficiency and building connections, concluding the workshop with Grundfos presenting valuable expertise regarding the use of efficient pumping systems to campus energy.
Cooperation across the Atlantic
After the workshop, the Danish Embassy alongside with the Danish Energy Agency and the Danish companies attended a roundtable with the Mayor’s offices of Boston, Cambridge and Somerville. The Energy Commissioner of Massachusetts Ms. Judith Judson brought her perspective on how to cooperate between city and state to meet sustainability goals. This was a unique opportunity to exchange knowledge on energy planning and how to integrate district energy solutions regionally. “I see this roundtable as a great opportunity to discuss the possibilities of district heating, which is a topic close to my heart, and which has been a key element in the Danish energy policy since the seventies – and still is today,” Mr. Lilleholt stated at the roundtable.
Read more on the District Energy Alliance here.