Alliance for Green Heating and Cooling – Innovation Lab for the Transition of the Heating and Cooling Sector

The Alliance for Green Heating and Cooling is a national innovation lab dedicated to the sustainable transformation of Austria’s heating and cooling sector. It is jointly led by Green Energy Lab and AEE INTEC with the scientific lead assigned to AEE INTEC. It is an initiative of the Climate and Energy Fund, funded by the Federal Ministry for Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure (BMIMI) and supported by the Province of Styria.

The need for action is clear: Austria’s heating and cooling sector still has a fossil supply share of over 60%, making it a key lever for energy resilience, affordable energy and climate action. Through targeted innovation in energy efficiency and the integration of regional renewable energy sources, the Alliance aims to reduce energy imports, strengthen domestic value creation, address energy poverty and significantly cut CO₂ emissions.

Designed as an eight-year innovation lab with a total budget of EUR 10 million, the Alliance for Green Heating and Cooling addresses the sector across multiple levels: buildings, districts, networks, municipalities and cities, as well as regions—with a focus on technological, systemic, economic and social innovations.

To accelerate this transformation effectively, the Alliance combines technology development with implementation in real-world applications—considering not only technical solutions, but also economic viability, social acceptance and enabling framework conditions. The scientific lead by AEE INTEC reinforces the research-based and systemic character of the innovation lab. To this end, it follows a clear innovation-field logic that structures the key levers across the heating and cooling system:

1. Building & Construction Services Engineering – efficient new-build and retrofit concepts, low-temperature systems, modular construction methods, building control & automation systems
2. Integrated Building Clusters – energy communities, anergy networks, storage systems, and cross-sectoral energy solutions.
3. District Heating and Cooling – integration of renewable sources, waste heat utilisation, and 4th and 5th generation networks.
4. Circular Economy & Urban Symbioses – industrial waste heat recovery, reuse of residual materials, and circular supply systems.
5. Social, Economic and Legal Innovations – participation formats, new financing mechanisms, and ownership or operator models.
6. Urban, Regional and Spatial Planning – data-based heat and cold mapping, integrated energy infrastructure, and climate adaptation.

Die Allianz WärmeZukunft orientiert sich entlang eines integrierten Innovationspfads: von der Identifikation von Bedarfen und Herausforderungen über Forschung und Entwicklung bis hin zu Demonstration und marktnaher Umsetzung. Ein interdisziplinäres Team unterstützt Projektideen in unterschiedlichen Reifegraden, stellt den Transfer zwischen Forschung und Praxis sicher und schafft die Schnittstelle zu passenden Förder- und Umsetzungsformaten – damit aus Ideen rasch umsetzbare Projekte und skalierbare Lösungen werden.

Als nationale Dachstruktur vernetzt die Allianz WärmeZukunft Schlüsselakteur:innen, entwickelt Projekte und bringt Innovationen schneller in die Umsetzung – für eine erneuerbare, leistbare und resiliente Wärme- und Kälteversorgung in Österreich.

Scientific management: