District heating and energy indicators: a method to assess the link between urban planning characteristics and energy efficiency of district heating networks

District heating networks are very common energy systems all over the world but only few studies have been carried out to assess their performances through quality indicators. Moreover, the only energy indicator generally used is the primary energy factor (PEF), which quantifies the primary energy use of a device. However it does not give a complete insight of the whole energy use of district heating networks. In this paper, three other energy indicators are defined to enhance their energy analysis. The use of these energy indicators is highlighted by an application on a specific heating district network and by a sensitivity analysis. Finally, a methodology to assess the link between urban characteristics and energy district heating performance is proposed, based on the developed energy indicators.