At the heart of the project is the targeted use of heat pumps to develop districts towards net-zero or even positive-energy performance. Rather than focusing on individual buildings, the research examines how the entire neighbourhood energy system interacts by balancing energy demand, making use of waste heat and distributing electricity locally.

A key tool in the project is the digital twin of the energy system, developed and implemented by OST. It has already helped identify optimisation potential and derive concrete improvements. These insights are continuously incorporated into the further development of the energy cluster, creating an ongoing process of learning and improvement for OST, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy and the Papieri development team.

The project demonstrates how sustainable energy supply can work in practice at district scale:

✔️ renewable and free from fossil fuels
✔️ efficient through intelligent and interconnected systems
✔️ scalable and transferable to other developments

As a research platform, Papieri provides valuable insights into the energy systems of tomorrow and actively contributes to climate-friendly development within the building sector.

We would like to thank OST – Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy and Andy Wickart AG for their collaboration and support.