Through the combustion of fossil fuels and the resulting emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the heating sector contributes significantly to the depletion of resources and global climate change. As a result, government regulations such as municipal heating planning aim to reduce CO2 emissions in the heating sector. To meet these requirements, discussions are underway regarding the transition from conventional to renewable heating systems in existing buildings, as well as the expansion and development of local and district heating networks. This desired change poses new challenges not only for players in the energy industry, but also for the housing industry.
The various renewable heating technologies – such as heat pumps, district heating, biomass, and solar thermal energy – require appropriate infrastructure. However, the necessary networks, generation capacities, and storage facilities are still insufficiently developed in many places. The development of this heating infrastructure involves high investments, while future demand is difficult to predict due to uncertain renovation rates, energy prices, and technology acceptance. Municipalities, public utilities, network operators, and the housing industry must therefore decide when, where, and to what extent which heating supply systems should be expanded, converted, or dismantled. A structured methodology is therefore needed to support the players in the transformation process and to steer investments in a targeted manner.
For this purpose, a structured literature analysis of models for configuring the heat supply of buildings is to be carried out within the framework of a bachelor's thesis or a student research project. In particular, the characteristics of existing buildings should be taken into account. The aim of the thesis is to identify and classify published articles. In particular, requirements for a planning approach should be derived from real-world planning problems and compared with the planning approaches available in the literature. In this context, research gaps relating to planning approaches for the use of heat pumps of different sizes and other heat sources should be identified.
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