Service engineering for urban climate protection

Or how cities can benefit from services to improve energy efficiency

As part of a competition sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) to reward the most energy-efficient urban regions in Germany, the cities of Delitzsch, Essen, Stuttgart, Magdeburg and Wolfhagen are developing innovative service concepts that enable energy resources to be used more efficiently.

Urban authorities require service concepts that will enable them to implement new technologies to improve climate protection. This is why the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) launched a competition to designate the most energy-efficient cities in Germany, based on solutions that combine a visionary approach to services and climate protection. These solutions range from complex financial services to street parties to promote energy saving.

The main emphasis lies on the methodical development of services, a design approach that goes by the name of “service engineering”. The cities in question have called on the support of experts from Fraunhofer IAO and the Institute for Future Studies and Technological Assessment in Berlin (IZT). They provide assistance to the municipal authorities during the implementation of their projects and coach users in the use of simplified methods and tools throughout all stages of the service engineering process.

As well as helping the municipalities to develop concrete services to combat climate change, the R&D partners also evaluate the potential benefits that might be obtained by developing and testing new concepts to improve energy efficiency above and beyond those related to a specific community. The results achieved in tried-and-tested reference projects can then be transferred to other projects in other urban regions at a later stage.

The researchers will present the initial findings of these joint projects in Berlin on May 21, 2014 as part of the Berliner Energietage, and again during a similar event organized by the BMBF on May 27 and 28, 2014 in Berlin.

More Information
http://www.iao.fraunhofer.de/lang-en/business-areas/service-and-human-resources-management/1095-service-engineering-for-urban-climate-protection.html

Fraunhofer IAO

The basis for all work undertaken at the Fraunhofer IAO is a deep conviction that business success in a globalised arena is contingent on an ability to profitably leverage new high-tech potentials. In order to optimally exploit these opportunities, companies must be capable of developing and implementing customer and employee-oriented technologies faster than their competitors. Work organisation concepts must be simultaneously innovative and anthropocentric. A systematic design, in other words, is the outcome of pooled management and technical expertise. This holistic perspective when it comes to project processing ensures that equal consideration is given to commercial success, employees' interests and social consequences.

Through its close cooperation with the Institute for Human Factors and Technology Management (IAT) of the University of Stuttgart, Fraunhofer IAO unites basic university research with applied science and business practice.

Contact
Thomas Burger
New Service Development
Fraunhofer IAO
Nobelstraße 12
70569 Stuttgart, Germany
Phone +49 711 970-2185
Email thomas.burger@iao.fraunhofer.de

This release was published on openPR.