Energy Potential Mapping: Visualising Energy Characteristics for the Exergetic Optimisation of the Built Environment

It is difficult to fully satisfy the energy demand of today’s society with renewables. Nevertheless, most of the energy we use is lost as non-functional waste energy, whereas a large part of the built environment’s energy demand is only for low-quality energy, so the initial demand for primary, high-quality energy can be reduced by more effective usage, such as by low-exergy means. Gaining insight into the parameters of energy demands and local renewable and residual energy potentials enables matching energy demand with a fitting potential, not only concerning quantity but taking into account location, temporality and quality as well. The method of Energy Potential Mapping (EPM) aims to visualise the energy potentials and demands by making information of quantity, quality and location of demand and supply accessible. The aspect of quality specifically applies to heat and cold. The methodology of EPM will be described and explained with case studies. The focus specifically lies on mapping heat (and cold), one of the main reasons for energy demand in the built environment. The visualisation of exergy, to be simplified as the quality of energy, becomes an extra parameter in the case of Dutch Heat Maps. These maps can help finding opportunities of practical implementations of exchanging or cascading heat or cold. This way EPM and Heat Mapping (HM) enables application of exergy principles in the built environment. EPM and HM can be seen as a local energy catalogue and can be useful in spatial planning for energy-based urban and rural plans.