The Invisible Constant
Where heat, place and possibility intersect
Heat is everywhere.
From the warmth of a morning coffee to the cooling systems powering AI data centres, heat shapes our lives, buildings, infrastructure, industry and communities.
Yet heat decarbonisation is often framed as a choice between technologies rather than a question of what is possible in a particular place.
Open Heat Grid begins with a simple question:
What becomes possible when heat sources, buildings, storage and infrastructure are understood as part of a connected local energy system?
Why Open Heat Grid?
The publication grew from years of project experience, research, literature reviews, international case studies and conversations with colleagues across the sector.
Along the way, several recurring observations emerged.
Heat works better when it is connected.
Different technologies often become more valuable when they work together rather than separately.
The most effective solutions are rarely determined by engineering alone.
And every place appears to contain more than one viable future.
What’s Coming Next
Open Heat Grid will explore these ideas through:
Core concepts
Case studies
Reading notes
Milestone insights
Explorations
Emerging frameworks and questions
The first articles will address three fundamental questions:
Why Heat Needs a Grid
Why heat decarbonisation is often treated as a collection of projects when places experience it as a system.
What Is an Open Heat Grid?
A practical introduction to the idea of connecting heat sources, buildings, storage and infrastructure into a shared and evolving local system.
There Is Rarely a Single Right Answer
A milestone insight drawn from community heat projects, exploring why informed choice often matters more than optimisation.
The aim is not to advocate a particular technology or prescribe a single pathway.
Instead, it is to examine connections between projects, technologies and communities, and to explore how places can make informed choices about their energy futures.
If you know of relevant projects, papers, examples or perspectives that you think should be explored, please feel free to share them in the comments.
If you’re new here, the best place to start is the About page.