DiPukS

On Monday, March 30, 2026, a hybrid workshop was held as part of the DiPukS research project—Digital Planning Support for Climate-Neutral Urban Development—to explore key topics in digital urban planning in depth.

The focus was on the presentation and discussion of research findings on thermal planning, site planning for renewable energy, and climate adaptation indicators—in conjunction with urban digital twins and smart city approaches. In addition, an outlook was provided on the remaining work packages: public transit accessibility analyses, digital participation processes, and the use of recyclable building materials.

The workshop was attended by representatives from research, public administration, and the planning sector (City of Augsburg, Landsberg am Lech, Stadtwerke Augsburg, Bavarian Chamber of Architects, Government of Swabia, Bavarian State Ministry of Housing, Construction, and Transportation, Urbanistic GmbH, Bifa Umweltinstitut GmbH, Institut für Energietechnik GmbH, Center for Climate Resilience at the University of Augsburg, Technical University of Applied Sciences Augsburg). The morning consisted of a presentation of the results by the DiPukS team and guest presentations by participants on:

• the challenges of heating planning and the integration of digital twins into municipal energy planning (Institut für Energietechnik GmbH, Johannes Lindner)
• the application of urban digital twins in urban planning (Urbanistic GmbH, Marc Hodapp)

In the afternoon, current issues were discussed in focus groups on the topics of “Heating Planning + Digital Twin” and “Climate Adaptation, Urban Development, and Digital Twins.” Emerging research questions and related areas of action were identified. Finally, opportunities for collaboration on publications and securing funding were discussed in a plenary session.

The workshop provided a space for the exchange of knowledge between academia and practice. The discussion served to refine the project goals for the ongoing research phase (through May 2027). The perspectives on transferring findings to planning practice and administrative action are particularly relevant to the project goals.

“The energy transition needs people who care.”
While municipal heat planning is clearly regulated by law, the reality on the ground varies greatly. In this interview, researcher Florian Rack explains why smaller municipalities, in particular, are lagging behind.

Waste Heat Potential for the Energy Transition

The path to climate neutrality—to which Germany has committed itself by 2045 in accordance with international agreements—requires an energy transition based on three pillars: In addition to (1) potential savings in energy consumption (e.g., through building retrofits) and (2) the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy sources (e.g., hydro, wind, and solar), (3) energy-related circular processes must be optimized. The recovery and utilization of waste heat from production processes play an important role here.

The German Waste Heat Registry provides an interactive information platform for this purpose. The data comes from the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA), which, together with the Federal Office for Energy Efficiency, collects information on waste heat potential throughout Germany. These are unfiltered reports from companies that enter their own data into the portal for the Waste Heat Platform. The Federal Office for Energy Efficiency generally does not verify this data prior to publication.

As part of the DiPukS research project—Digital Planning Support for Climate-Neutral Urban Development—this dataset is being transferred to the interactive German Waste Heat Cadastre (link to application; link to website with explanations) with the kind permission of the BAFA.

Legal Basis

In general, companies with a total final energy consumption of more than 2.5 gigawatt-hours per year, averaged over the last three years, are required to report. The report on waste heat generated by the company, in accordance with Section 17 of the Energy Efficiency Act (EnEfG), must be submitted using an electronic form. This electronic form is the ELAN-K2 portal (“Waste Heat Portal”) established by the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA). Further information on data collection and the download source can be found here.

Methodology

The data set from March 14, 2025, which was available in an Excel spreadsheet, was geocoded using ESRI’s ArcGIS World Geocoding Service to determine the locations of the address information. Of the 22,002 available data records, 21,834 (99.2%) were placed on a map and supplemented with additional selected information from the data collection. The data includes, among other things, information on the address, the company, and the type and regulation of waste heat, statistical data on the amount of waste heat over the course of the year, and contact information.

Information on the Data Status

Data for all reports submitted through March 14, 2025, is now available on the Waste Heat Platform. This data now covers over 3,000 companies and their more than 21,000 waste heat potentials, representing a total annual waste heat volume of 171 TWh. The data is available for download in .xlsx format. No registration or similar is required.

Source: https://www.bfee-online.de/BfEE/DE/Effizienzpolitik/Plattform_fuer_Abwaerme/plattform_fuer_abwaerme_node.html (April 19, 2025)

Legal Notice

The StoryMap was created as part of the research project DiPukS—Digital Planning Support for Climate-Neutral Urban Development, funded by the Bavarian Ministry of Science and the Arts.

The City of Augsburg's Blue City Climate Conference presents topics related to climate protection and climate adaptation to an audience of experts each year. This year, the focus was on municipal heat planning. This topic is also currently being addressed as part of the research project.
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• March 22–25, 2026 REAL CORP 2026 31st International Conference on Urban Planning and Regional Development in the Information Society
  Rethinking Spatial Potential Analysis with New Data: Integrating Supply, Demand, and Implementation Criteria in Municipal Heat Planning (reviewed paper)
  Florian Rack, Stefan Fina
  Accelerating Instead of Waiving Planning: Opportunities and Challenges of Digital Building Land Cadastres in Urban Digital Twins (reviewed paper)
  Stefan Fina, Florian Rack, Antonia Finger, Martina Königbauer
   
• Interview with Prof. Stefan Fina in the Bayerisch-Schwäbische Wirtschaft
   
• November 11, 2025: Presentation “Municipal Heat Planning: Between Ambition and Implementation—Potential and Challenges of Heat Source
  Location Analysis” by Florian Rack at the 13th German Geoforum in Berlin
   
• September 26, 2025: Presentation “City, Country, Jobs—How Will People Get Around in the Future?
  ” Presentation by Prof. Stefan Fina at the DVAG Anniversary Conference “Resilient Cities and Regions” on September 26, 2025, at the University of Augsburg
   
• September 9, 2025: Breakfast Lecture “Urban Digital Twins (UDZ) in Environmental Planning—Opportunities and Challenges, Explained Using the THA Campus as an Example.”
  Presentation by Prof. Stefan Fina as part of the IBA Summer School 2025
   
• July 3, 2025: Lecture “Methods and Fields of Application in Digital Urban
  Planning” by Prof. Stefan Fina as part of the 7th network meeting of the BayWISS Research Group “Infrastructure, Construction, and Urbanization.”
   
• April 11–12, 2025: Lecture on “Municipal Heat Planning” + Booth
  : Florian Rack and Stefan Fina speak at the Augsburg GIS Forum for Environmental Monitoring and Sustainability. Venue: IHK Schwaben
   
• November 4, 2024: “Bringing Sustainable Mobility to Life: Practical Examples and Challenges”
  Opening lecture by Prof. Stefan Fina at the Public Climate School at the University of Augsburg. In the panel discussion, he will discuss the topic “From Cars to Mobility Packages? – Insights into the Future of Local Transportation in Urban and Rural Areas Using the Augsburg Region as an Example” with other participants.
   
• October 25, 2024: Blue City Climate Conference hosted by the City of Augsburg
  . The DiPukS project team will host a project-specific discussion table there focusing on municipal heat planning. The event will take place at the Augsburg Environmental Education Center from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. 
   
• October 23, 2024: Mobility as a Climate Factor: Challenges of the Transportation Transition in Urban Areas
  – Lecture by Prof. Stefan Fina as part of the Climate Protection Days at Technical University of Applied Sciences Augsburg, 1:15–2:00 p.m.: Rotes Tor Campus, Room J2.18, 1st floor.
   
• October 2, 2024: Think Sustainably! (Conference of the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments)
  Lecture by Prof. Dr. Stefan Fina on the topic
  “Urban Site Assessment and Energy Planning from a Socio-Ecological Perspective”
   
• July 11, 2024: Public meeting
  . The Technical University of Applied Sciences Augsburg is a member of the IBA Unit of the International Building Exhibition “New Spaces of Mobility” in the Munich Metropolitan Region. Prof. Dr. Stefan Fina serves as the university’s point of contact and discussed scientific perspectives on the topic during a public session, including with regard to climate-sensitive urban development of existing areas. A recording is available online in the videocast (starting at 14:45).
   
• May 27, 2024: Digital Planning Tools for the Integrated Assessment
  of Potential Sites A presentation of the research topics for the DiPukS project in the videocast (starting at 18:50): Presentation by Prof. Stefan Fina at the Day of the Regions in Pforzheim, at the invitation of the Federal Ministry of Housing, Construction, and Urban Development.