Heat with a Vision for the Future
Barth Municipal Utilities is making its district heating system visible, understandable, and accessible to residents. The Big Picture explains the expansion of the district heating network, highlights current and future energy sources, and provides a clear framework for dialogue, education, and trust.
topic
District Heating & Energy Infrastructure
industry
Energy supply
format
• Big Picture (for digital and print)
area of application
• Information Session
• Employee Communication
• Public Communication
target group
• Executives
• Employees
• Citizens
• Project participants
special features
An overview of heat generation, the district heating network, building connections, services, and future energy sources
Initial Situation & Challenge: Explaining District Heating in an Easy-to-Understand Way
Stadtwerke Barth reliably supplies the region with energy, water, and heat. As a modern municipal utility, it is committed to providing sustainable and forward-looking services to the local community—with a particular focus on expanding the district heating network.
The challenge was to explain a technically complex project in an accessible way while building trust in the expansion of district heating. Residents needed to be able to understand how district heating works, where the energy comes from, and how the project benefits the city and its households.
The Solution: A Comprehensive Approach to Modern Heat Supply
The Big Picture provides an at-a-glance overview of the district heating infrastructure in Barth—from heat generation through the pipeline network to the building connection. Key elements such as CHP units, the heating plant, power-to-heat systems, air-source heat pumps, PV systems, and wind power have been clearly integrated into a regional visual framework. Specific application scenarios in households—such as hot water storage tanks, radiant floor heating, and building connection stations—are also presented in an easy-to-understand manner. In addition, the “Wärme-Direkt” service and the 24/7 on-call service highlight the municipal utility’s commitment to customer service.
Individual scenes
District heating becomes tangible where it plays a role in everyday life: in your own home. This scene shows how heat enters the building through the building service unit and is used for heating and hot water. This illustrates how modern utility systems are integrated into the home in a convenient, space-saving, and reliable way.
The heating plant is a central component of Barth’s district heating system. Heat is generated here and distributed throughout the network. The scene also illustrates how existing technology can be further developed in the future using more sustainable energy sources such as biomethane, power-to-heat, or heat pumps.
District heating connects central heat generation facilities with specific consumers throughout the city. The example of the Karl Liebknecht School illustrates how public buildings are reliably supplied with heat via the pipeline network. The red lines show how the infrastructure runs through Barth.
This is how the big picture came about
Based on the technical content and communication goals, an overall visual concept was developed that presents specialized information in a clearly structured and accessible way.
1. Workshop & Analysis
To begin with, we identified the key components of the district heating system, the planned expansions, and the relevant services. This provided a clear conceptual foundation for the image: What needs to be explained, which relationships are crucial, and what message should be conveyed?
2. Prototyping & Iteration
The content was translated into an easy-to-understand urban and energy landscape. Technical components, the pipeline network, households, future energy sources, and service scenarios were arranged in such a way that the functioning of district heating becomes logically comprehensible. The concept was refined step by step in close collaboration with the municipal utility company.
3. Feedback & Finalization
Following the final review, the “Big Picture” was developed for use in print and digital media. The visualization was already used at an informational event for residents, where it helped ensure transparent communication about the district heating project.
Effect & Results
"The Big Picture" helps Barth Municipal Utilities communicate its district heating project in a way that is easy to understand, modern, and builds trust. It combines technical explanations with a regional context and shows how sustainable heat supply actually benefits local residents.
"Technicalcontent communicated in an understandable way"
“Withthe Big Picture, we were able to convey our corporate philosophy at a glance: a modern, sustainable, and forward-looking heat supply for our city. The visualization helps us tremendously in making technical content understandable and communicating our district heating project transparently—both internally and externally.”
Tina Gehring, Stadwerke Barth GmbH
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