Beyond Scepticism: Tools for Integrated Energy Communities

We develop a practice-oriented “Energy Community Starter Service” that helps neighbourhoods initiate integrated electricity–heat energy communities. The project focuses on the social challenges arising from shared heating infrastructure, such as scepticism, fairness and coordination in local nano-networks. By combining social design methods with technical planning, we develop practical tools and processes that enable socially inclusive and scalable cross-sector energy communities in Switzerland.