Socio-technical ecology: Energy systems in urban areas with high sustainability profile

Research Project, 2020 – 2025

The project belongs to the National Research School Energy Systems and is carried out in collaboration with Linköping University and Lunds University. The project aims to increase knowledge about how energy systems are shaped and how they are used at different levels; at the district level in the planning and follow-up of energy and sustainability goals; at the building level in the planning and follow-up of design processes that affect buildings' energy performance and; at the household level, how the buildings and infrastructures are used and understood by the residents and how the objectives of the sustainability areas are communicated to the residents.
The sub-project at Chalmers will focus on the building level and the professional actors involved in the building design process. Central questions concern the interplay between the objectives for sustainable energy systems and other objectives for a sustainable built environment, and the scope for action among the professional actors to reach sustainable results.
The project examines districts with high ambitions for sustainability in three Swedish cities: Gothenburg, Linköping and Lund. The project adopts both case study methodology and critical analysis in comparisons of the areas.