Leuven

C. Meunierstraat is a local energy community, located in the Leuven city centre. The objective for the C. Meunierstraat is to leverage the local momentum of planned roadworks to install a clean collective heating system, using the public domain for geothermal energy (BTES). The system will provide sustainable heating for households (individual dwellings and small apartments) and a local school. The network can also be connected to the cooling system of a local hospital, which will make it more energy efficient while also reducing heat in the summer and regenerating the BTES. 

In its use of the public domain for geothermal drilling and by connecting existing single-family buildings and small apartments, the heating network is set out to be a first of its kind in Belgium. This makes the project a true pilot, both technically and on the organisational, policy, financing, and community building levels.

‘Het Nieuw Kwartier’ is a neighbourhood in the centre of Leuven that mainly consists of houses and small apartment buildings. It includes the residential buildings and the local school.

The neighbourhood counts approximately 400 inhabitants, one quarter of whom are students. 

The objective of the project is to set up a heat network for the neighbourhood, using heat pumps. The boreholes will be drilled under the street.