Advances in District Heating and Cooling
A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "J: Thermal Management".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 27 February 2026 | Viewed by 82
Special Issue Editors
Interests: energy efficiency; numerical modelling; programming; data analysis
Interests: energy efficiency; numerical modelling; data analysis; renewable energy systems
Interests: energy conversion systems for traditional and renewables sources; CHP/CCHP and district heating; energy efficiency in civil and industrial sectors; energy audits and monitoring; environmental impacts and containment technologies; energy efficiency and mini grid at high altitude; life cycle assessment (LCA) and carbon footprint of products and processes; carbon credits
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Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
District heating and cooling (DHC) plays a key role in the energy transition by contributing to the decarbonization of thermal networks through the integration of renewable sources and waste heat. To meet new requirements for flexibility and sustainability, existing systems must improve efficiency; incorporate thermal energy storage; retrofit substations to operate as bidirectional systems; and adopt digital solutions to enable advanced monitoring, control, and optimization of network operations. Following the path of smart electricity grids, district heating and cooling are also expected to evolve into more dynamic and intelligent systems, capable of interacting with distributed generation and optimizing the use of available resources.
In this context, this Special Issue aims to gather scientific contributions focused on district heating and cooling systems, with particular emphasis on modelling and optimization as essential tools for supporting informed decision-making while minimizing the need for physical interventions on infrastructure. Studies may include scenario-based analysis, real-world case studies, demonstration projects, and best practices.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Design and retrofit optimization, from the component level (e.g., pipe sizing, layout, substation upgrades) to the entire system scale (e.g., pump schedules, temperature profiles).
- Integration of renewable energy (e.g., solar thermal, geothermal, biomass) and waste heat.
- Bidirectional substations and smart network configurations.
- Thermal prosumers in district networks.
- Seasonal and short-term thermal energy storage solutions for network flexibility.
- Digitalization and advanced control strategies.
- IoT, SCADA, and sensor networks for real-time monitoring and control.
- AI, machine learning, and data analytics for fault detection, predictive maintenance and control.
- Smart grids, sector coupling, and flexibility services provided by DHC.
- Mechanisms for sharing locally produced energy through energy communities.
- Multi-objective optimization considering cost, emissions, and efficiency.
- Decision-support tools for integrating DHC into urban development.
- Regulatory and policy mechanisms supporting DHC decarbonization and digitalization.
- Socio-economic analysis of DHC retrofits and expansions.
- Lessons learned from decarbonization initiatives in different climatic and regulatory contexts.
Dr. Mattia Ricci
Dr. Federico Gianaroli
Dr. Paolo Sdringola
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- district heating
- district cooling
- prosumer
- bidirectional substation
- thermal grids
- numerical modelling
- experimental tests
- waste heat
- excess heat
- self-consumption improvement
- thermal energy community
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