Transitioning to low-temperature district heating: A large-scale feasibility mapping of multi-family apartment buildings in Greater Copenhagen

Transitioning to low-temperature district heating (LTDH) is vital for urban sustainability. Existing studies focus on LTDH readiness of single-family homes using theoretical assumptions, leaving gaps for existing multi-family buildings. This paper introduces a scalable tool using energy certificates, heat meter data, and historical sources on heating design calculations to estimate DH supply temperatures.

Applied to thousands of multi-family buildings in Greater Copenhagen, results show radiators operated at part load, enabling temperature reductions. Thermal comfort could be maintained at -6 °C outdoor temperature with an average supply temperature of 65 °C, far below the current 86 °C, thus supporting low-temperature heating.