Enabling industrial symbiosis by a facilities management optimization approach

The role of enabling industrial symbiosis can be played by a Facilities Management (FM) provider, when it embraces a district-oriented FM approach. This consists on moving from traditional solutions for single enterprises to technical solutions specifically designed for clusters of firms. As an economic actor, a FM provider naturally pursuits profitability of its services/products, and this has been highlighted by literature as a necessary condition for successful evolution towards industrial symbiosis. An optimization model has been developed as a decision support tool for a FM provider when configuring energy-based kernels of industrial symbiosis. It is applied to a case study in North-Eastern Italy to analyze feasibility of a combined heat and power system with district heating serving a cluster of firms, where different services (heating and cooling) and renewable technologies are considered in system design, and additional concentrating solar unit explicitly introduced as an option.