Development of a user-friendly mobile app for the national level promotion of the 4th generation district heating

The consumers are considered to play one of the most significant roles in the district heating transition process towards the 4th generation. Unfortunately, the lack of information and widespread consumer ignorance of interconnections and dependencies in the district heating system can lead to a situation where consumers are not interested in the development of the district heating system, or might even choose other heat sources. One of the possible solutions to provide information and educate consumers is a user-friendly, simplified mobile app that can show actual heat consumption structure, provide the possibility to compare the district heating supply with other heat supply solutions and provide information on how consumer behaviour affects the district heating system and how the district heating system transition towards the 4th generation will change the primary energy consumption and CO2 emissions. In this article, the authors present the concept and algorithm of a DHS promo mobile app that will be used at the national level in Estonia, that will allow consumers even with an insufficient amount of data available to each apartment/building owner to receive comprehensive information about the existing DHS and analyse how DHS improvements will affect the fuel mix and consumption amount required for heat supply per consume.

消费者在区域供热向第四代转型的进程中被认为扮演着至关重要的角色之一。遗憾的是，信息匮乏以及消费者对区域供热系统（district heating system）内部关联与依赖关系的普遍认知不足，可能导致消费者对区域供热系统的发展缺乏兴趣，甚至转而选择其他热源。为消费者提供信息并开展科普教育的可行方案之一，是开发一款用户友好、界面简化的移动应用程序。该应用可展示实际热消费结构，支持区域供热与其他供热方案的对比分析，并向用户呈现消费行为对区域供热系统的影响，以及区域供热向第四代转型过程中一次能源消耗与CO₂排放的变化情况。本文中，作者提出了一款将在爱沙尼亚全国范围内应用的区域供热系统（district heating system，简称DHS）推广移动应用程序的概念与算法。即使公寓/楼宇业主可获取的数据有限，该应用也能让消费者获取现有DHS的全面信息，并分析DHS的改进对燃料结构及每位消费者供热能耗需求的影响。