In the context of the European oPEN Lab project, two neighbourhoods in Genk are being collectively renovated using the very latest energy technologies. VITO/EnergyVille and Wonen in Limburg are looking into how 'positive energy neighbourhoods' can take shape in practice. Both partners will continue to work together on the further roll-out of sustainable residential neighbourhoods across Limburg after the project.
Since the end of 2021, around 30 family homes in the Nieuw Texas social housing district and the former Waterschei miners' district, both in Genk, have been the test bed for a collective renovation concept, using the very latest heating, ventilation and energy storage technologies. The renovations are intended to create so-called positive energy neighbourhoods (PENs): urban neighbourhoods that emit net zero greenhouse gas emissions and are net suppliers of energy every year - in other words, neighbourhoods capable of producing more energy than they consume. Testing positive energy neighbourhoods is currently a major focus of both companies and governments, who are looking to find the optimal balance between renovations at the building level or neighbourhood level.
Pilot projects
PENs can be seen as the (residential) neighbourhoods of the future. Indeed, to meet the climate targets, no less than 95% of Flemish homes will have to be upgraded by 2050. To meet this challenge, pilot projects, in which innovations can be tested in practice, are essential. And therefore also in Genk, where housing company Wonen in Limburg and VITO/EnergyVille have been working together for almost three years in the European oPEN Lab project. The aim? To look into how positive energy neighbourhoods can take shape. Apart from Genk, the oPEN Lab project also has a test case in Pamplona (Spain) and Tartu (Estonia).
The project is based on real-time monitoring of homes before and after renovations - from energy consumption and indoor and outdoor climate, to human behaviour. This makes it possible to examine the interaction between technologies, assess it and, if necessary, adapt it. Moreover, to speed up the design and construction process, a 'digital twin' of the neighbourhood will also be built. This virtual representation makes it possible to first examine the effect of interventions in a digital simulation before they are actually implemented in homes. The same digital simulation can then subsequently be checked against the real life effects, to optimise the representativeness. This will lead to useful tools being developed, such as the Flemish digital neighbourhood renovation tool, which will make it possible to digitally map the renovation needs of entire neighbourhoods in one go.
What makes the oPEN Lab project unique is its emphasis on social cohesion: local residents are actively involved in shaping their neighbourhood, for instance through information sessions, meetings and social activities. The design of the renovation was therefore finalised via a co-creative approach, and the companies involved are challenged to improve their solutions. An essential aspect of a living lab is therefore deliberately incorporated: the success of a technology is more than the technology alone, it also requires a support base and therefore social innovation.
Further collaboration
"If we want the energy transition to be a success in the future, we need the public on board," explains Dorien Aerts, project coordinator of the oPEN Lab project in Genk. "For us, it is therefore crucial that they contribute to this story, and in fact they have been very enthusiastic in this regard. But we are already looking beyond just this neighbourhood: with the insights we are gleaning here, we can also support other housing companies and local authorities. What is more, we are working with companies - from local start-ups to multinationals - to develop and test innovative products and services in the living lab, which can be marketed locally and around the world."
Given the promising results and insights already generated by the project, Wonen in Limburg and VITO/EnergyVille have decided to extend their collaboration beyond the oPEN Lab project (which ends in 2026). To this end, they have signed a structural cooperation agreement. As such, they will continue their efforts to roll out sustainable (residential) neighbourhoods.
The cooperation agreement makes oPEN Lab a structural part of the Open Thor Living Lab, the innovation hotspot encompassing Thor Park, Nieuw Texas, the Waterschei garden suburb and KRC Genk. The heat grid, direct current grid and data platform currently being rolled out in the context of Open Thor could therefore eventually be extended to the residential areas of Nieuw Texas and Waterschei. "To bring about the energy transition, just coming up with innovative technologies is not enough. These also need to be successfully marketed as a product. EnergyVille is therefore committed to developing a living lab, where companies can develop and test their products and services in a real setting. The local residents of New Texas and Waterschei are now also structurally part of this living lab and help shape energy innovations as veritable pioneers. Indeed, they are crucial in making the pieces of the puzzle surrounding energy transition fit together," enthuses Gerrit Jan Schaeffer, managing director of EnergyVille.
