Advances in District Heating Systems and Integrating Renewables: Fundamentals, Experiments, and Applications (Green Energy and Technology)

This book offers comprehensive coverage of the modern energy challenge of integrating renewable energy sources into district heating (DH) systems. It presents a high level of scientific and technical detail, grounded in original research and a synthesis of consistent bibliographic material. The aim is to address the growing need for modernization and enhanced energy efficiency to significantly reduce CO₂ emissions.

This book includes physical and mathematical concepts designed to make this publication a self-contained, up-to-date source of information for scientists, researchers, and engineers. It also provides promising directions for future research and innovation in sustainable thermal energy systems.
This book features a wide range of content, including theoretical studies, numerical and optimization models, experimental case studies at both laboratory and in situ scales, and numerous practical applications. Key areas of emphasis include:

• Development, energy analysis, modeling, and optimization of DH systems.
• Valorization of renewable energy sources.
• Integration of heat pump technologies with renewables into DH systems.
• Analysis of thermal energy storage technologies and their potential integration into DH systems.
• Evaluation of the performance of various medium- and low-temperature heat distribution systems in buildings.
• Advanced applications of renewable energy integration into local and DH systems.

Structured across nine pedagogically designed chapters, and enriched with illustrations, tables, and examples, this book serves as a thorough guide for researchers, engineers, lecturers, and graduate and Ph.D. students in the field of district heating engineering with integrated renewables.

Ioan Sarbu is Professor Emeritus and doctoral supervisor in the Department of Civil and Building Services Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Timisoara (UPT), Romania. He earned his civil engineering diploma in 1975 and PhD in 1993. Joining UPT in 1978, he has dedicated over 45 years to teaching and research.

He was designated a European Engineer by FEANI in 2001 and has supervised up to 20 PhD students, 50 MSc theses, and 200 graduate projects. In 2019, he was named Professor Emeritus and received the Romanian Academy’s “Henri Coandă” Award. In 2023, he won the “Best Paper Award” from ScienceFather, India.

His research spans refrigeration, heat pumps, solar energy, thermal comfort, energy efficiency, water and heat distribution, and numerical simulation in building services. He is a member of ASHRAE, IAHR, and the Romanian Association of Building Services Engineers.

Prof. Sarbu serves on editorial boards of Science Bulletin of UPT, Romanian Journal of Civil Engineering, and Energies, and reviews for over 20 high-impact journals. He has authored 400+ papers, 40 books, 10 book chapters, 150+ indexed articles, and 60 conference papers. He holds 6 patents, 15 innovations, and 30 software programs. His H-index is 19 (Clarivate), 21 (Scopus), 25 (ResearchGate), and 29 (Google Scholar) as of July 2025. With over 16,000 citations (2,600+ in Clarivate), his global recognition includes listings in Who’s Who, biographical dictionaries, and numerous awards. He ranks in the top 0.5% of researchers worldwide per the 2024 ScholarGPS rankings.

Alexandru Dorca is Assistant Professor in the same department at UPT. He earned diplomas in civil and building services engineering (2012, 2014), a master’s degree in 2016, and a PhD in 2023 focused on energy-efficient thermal systems using ground-coupled heat pumps. He joined the faculty in 2022, supervising over 10 graduate students and reviewing 5 MSc dissertations. His research focuses on air conditioning, heat pumps, and district heating.