EnerTransRuhr

The Project EnerTransRuhr analyses and develops strategies for the German energy transition with a focus on increasing energy efficiency in buildings in the Ruhr area cities Bottrop, Dortmund and Oberhausen.

Over the course of the project the four phases of the transition cycle are covered: (1) an integrative system analysis, which includes energetic and resource implications of building refurbishment as well as a cultural mapping, in order to evaluate the cultural dimension of the energy transition, (2) vision development, (3) concrete real-world experiments, and (4) developing strategies for the diffusion of successful approaches.

Integrating the various individual projects is achieved via an agent-based model (ABM). This model provides a common language for grasping the variety of influencing factors of energetic refurbishment strategies. Real-world experiments, in this case "living labs", where users test concrete strategies, and "governance experiments", where management and incentive strategies are being tested, are used to inform the process of further developing and optimising the ABM.

The project is embedded in a range of projects on the energy transition in the Ruhr area and North Rhine-Westphalia in which the Wuppertal Institute is involved. The project EnerTransRuhr provides a conceptual and methodical framework by which the “Energiewende” can be analysed and scientifically accompanied in an integrative way.

Practice partners of are the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia, the InnovationCity Management GmbH of Bottrop, the City of Dortmund and the City of Oberhausen. Subcontractors of the project are the Folkwang University of the Arts, the sociodimensions - Institute for Socio-cultural Research and the Delft University of Technology.