The ASCEND project aims to deploy a Positive Clean Energy District (PCED) in two Lighthouse cities:
- Lyon's Confluence district;
- Munich's Harthof district.
The Multiplier Cities will be inspired by the two Lighthouse cities and will start deploying their first solutions during the duration of the ASCEND project, for greater impact and to be able to deploy a PCED shortly after the end of the ASCEND project.
The cities are working on the full range of issues encountered in cities to reduce energy consumption and carbon footprint:
- Emissions from road transport. The aim is to make the PCED a car-free district by redesigning public spaces to encourage soft modes of transport, pedestrianising, developing green spaces and offering alternative, low-carbon mobility solutions. Mobility issues of both goods and people are taken into account;
- Emissions from energy consumption. To reduce these emissions, ASCEND:
- acts on buildings: deploy new ultra-efficient buildings and retrofit existing buildings;
- generate electricity and heat locally;
- consume locally generated electricity through the creation of energy communities.
These solutions are developed through a co-creation process, supported in particular by local energy councils bringing together city stakeholders with complementary profiles. The ASCEND consortium is also advised by its Advisory Board of experts. Last, as governance is playing a critical part in the deployment of a PCED, each City will create an "urban orchestrator", capable of overseeing and facilitating the deployment of the PCED.
The solutions deployment is supported and facilitated by the creation of digital decision-support solutions, and in particular the deployment of district digital twins, Multi Decision Criteria Analysis tool, sandbox, KPI engine.
To boost and foster replication and to make it as quick as possible to achieve climate neutrality, ASCEND will develop six Solution Packages on Digitalisation, Energy Community, Buildings' Energy Performance, Mobility and Public Spaces, Co-creation, Governance. The solution packages gather several individual and complementary solutions, validated by experts of the consortium on the financial, technical and legal aspects.