Introduction

The K4RES-H project analysed public policies supporting renewable heating and cooling (RES-H), identified best practice and developed concrete guidelines applicable at local, regional, national and European levels. The project had a cross-sectorial nature, as it analysed a number of key issues, first looking in parallel at the different RES-H technologies: solar thermal, biomass and geothermal, and then integrating the results for policy guidelines applicable to RES-H in general.

The 5 Key Issues for Renewable Heating and Cooling

K4RES-H was built around the analyses of five Key Issues crucial to the success of policies aimed at promoting renewable heating and cooling:

• Verifiable targets for RES-H: Market monitoring, statistics and methods for target setting
• Quantifying the energy delivery of individual RES-H installations: Methods for measurement and calculation
• Regulations: Best practice to promote RES-H, identification of regulations hampering RES-H usage
• Financial incentives: Best practice to promote RES-H
• Innovative RES-H Applications: Issues specific to upcoming RES-H applications, like renewable cooling

These Key Issues were analysed separately for each of the three main RES-H technologies (solar thermal, bioheat and geothermal heat), but based on a common methodology guaranteeing that the results of the analysis were comparable and could be integrated into guidelines for RES-H in general.

Further information: The central K4RES-H website was managed by the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC).