Purpose
The municipality of Amsterdam has ambitious goals to be natural gas-free by 2040. A major challenge is the heat transition of the historical centre, which dates to the early 17th century and is in parts listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a design workflow that can aid in designing future scenarios for the transition of historic city centres. Inspired by the New Stepped Strategy, the workflow is based on Geographic Information System (GIS) data, bottom-up energy modelling and parametric tools and presents the results in a neighborhood of Amsterdam city centre.

Design/methodology/approach
The first step is the identification of conservation-compatible retrofit packages, allowing buildings to be heated at lower temperatures, while preserving historic values, improving indoor thermal comfort and minimising environmental impact. Best-balanced retrofitting scenarios are subsequently integrated within the broader urban context, considering opportunities for reusing energy waste streams and producing energy from local, low-temperature sources. In the end, optimal energy balance along with the strategic integration of thermal storage systems is assessed and used as input for the configuration of local heat and cold grids.

Findings
By combining expertise in architecture and energy planning, the workflow supports the exploration of scenarios that align heritage conservation with sustainable heat transition objectives.

Originality/value
The paper describes how this can provide essential information to local stakeholders and citizens groups, guiding them on the necessary steps to drive the collective transition to sustainable heating and cooling in historic urban areas.