Annex 83

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  Factsheet: Positive Energy Districts (PDF 0.43MB) 
  June 2020

General Publications

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  Leveraging Positive Energy Districts Surplus for the Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals 
  January 2025
  Author(s): Cellura, M.; Fichera, A.; Guarino, F.; Volpe, R.
  Publisher: MDPI Energies
  

  This study explores the role of Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) in promoting sustainable urban development. PEDs, defined as urban areas that achieve net-zero energy import and CO2 emissions while producing a surplus of renewable energy, have gained attention as a promising solution to the challenges of urban sustainability. This research presents a comprehensive methodology for assessing the impact of PEDs on key United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as energy accessibility (SDG 7), sustainable cities (SDG 11), and climate action (SDG 13). By examining a case study of a potential PED in Southern Italy, this study demonstrates that PEDs can not only produce sufficient energy to meet their electrical demands, but also support up to 30 low-income households through surplus redistribution, offering an estimated annual economic savings of EUR 1145 per household. Thus, this surplus energy redistribution highlights the practical potential of PEDs to alleviate energy poverty, enhance social equity, and foster community solidarity, thereby extending their impact beyond energy sustainability. Additionally, the correlation between self-consumption and virtual distribution is equal to 0.83, suggesting that PEDs with high self-consumption are also actively involved in virtual distribution, posing the condition for efficient energy use.

  • Full Report (PDF 6.24MB)
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  Development of integrated energy sharing systems between neighboring zero-energy buildings via micro-grid and local electric vehicles with energy trading business models 
  December 2024
  Author(s): Suijie Liu, Sunliang Cao
  Publisher: Elsevier
  

  Applying high-efficient combinations of renewable energy systems and effective energy management of renewables, grid and storage resources between neighboring grid-tied zero-energy buildings (ZEB) has become growingly significant to improve the techno-economic performance of hybrid building systems. However, majority of the existed research mainly analyzed one single energy-sharing method based on simple technical yearly index. The techno-economic impact evaluated by matching index (WMI) and net present value (NPV) of various hybrid renewable energy systems combined with three different integrated building energy-sharing systems via instantaneous and predictive micro-grid-based, and local electric-vehicle(EV)-based energy-sharing remains uncovered. The research results show that with integration of instantaneous micro-grid-based and local-EV-based energy-sharing system, the techno-economic performance is enhanced (average WMI improved by 7.19 % and 6.86 %, NPV improved by 9.53 % and 5.70 %, respectively), while specific cases show various improvement outcomes largely related to the types of renewable combinations. Under instantaneous micro-grid-based sharing, the divergency of two buildings' renewable combinations brings at most 33.59 % technical improvement and 3,764,380 HKD economic benefits. In contrast, the similarity of both renewable combinations helps achieve a maximum 12.02 % matching enhancement and an extra 866,690HKD NPV improvement under local EV-based energy-sharing. As for the common energy trading business model, the building with more energy shared earns more profits as the trading price increases. However, when the residence is under the “Predictive Micro-grid-based Energy-Sharing Control” mode, a lower trading price below 0.5 HKD of the specific case is more likely to minimize the loss of office stakeholder as well as maintain positive profits of residence owners.

  • Full Report (PDF 27.36MB)
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  Positive Energy Districts: Fundamentals, Assessment Methodologies, Modeling and Research Gaps 
  September 2024
  Author(s): Kozlowska, A.; Guarino, F.; Volpe, R.; Bisello, A.; Gabaldòn, A.; Rezaei, A.; Albert-Seifried, V.; Alpagut, B.; Vandevyvere, H.; Reda, F.; Tumminia G.; Ranjbar S.; Rincione R.; Cellura S.; Eicker U.; Zamini S.; Diaz de Garayo Balsategui S.; Haase M.; Di Pilla L.
  Publisher: MDPI energies
  

  The definition, characterization and implementation of Positive Energy Districts is crucial in the path towards urban decarbonization and energy transition. However, several issues still must be addressed: the need for a clear and comprehensive definition, and the settlement of a consistent design approach for Positive Energy Districts. As emerged throughout the workshop held during the fourth edition of Smart and Sustainable Planning for Cities and Regions Conference (SSPCR 2022) in Bolzano (Italy), further critical points are also linked to the planning, modeling and assessment steps, besides sustainability aspects and stakeholders’ involvement. The “World Café” methodology adopted during the workshop allowed for simple—but also effective and flexible—group discussions focused on the detection of key PED characteristics, such as morphologic, socio-economic, demographic, technological, quality-of-life and feasibility factors. Four main work groups were defined in order to allow them to share, compare and discuss around five main PED-related topics: energy efficiency, energy flexibility, e-mobility, soft mobility, and low-carbon generation. Indeed, to properly deal with PED challenges and crucial aspects, it is necessary to combine and balance these technologies with enabler factors like financing instruments, social innovation and involvement, innovative governance and far-sighted policies. This paper proposes, in a structured form, the main outcomes of the co-creation approach developed during the workshop. The importance of implementing a holistic approach was highlighted: it requires a systematic and consistent integration of economic, environmental and social aspects directly connected to an interdisciplinary cross-sectorial collaboration between researchers, policymakers, industries, municipalities, and citizens. Furthermore, it was reaffirmed that, to make informed and reasoned decisions throughout an effective PED design and planning process, social, ecological, and cultural factors (besides merely technical aspects) play a crucial role. Thanks to the valuable insights and recommendations gathered from the workshop participants, a conscious awareness of key issues in PED design and implementation emerged, and the fundamental role of stakeholders in the PED development path was confirmed.

  • Publication (PDF 1.09MB)
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  Quantifying and Rating the Energy Resilience Performance of Buildings Integrated with Renewables in the Nordics under Typical and Extreme Climatic Conditions 
  September 2024
  Author(s): Rehman, H.u.; Nik, V.M.; Ramesh, R.; Ala-Juusela, M.
  Publisher: MDPI buildings
  

  The future buildings and society need to be resilient. This article aims to propose a novel concept of the energy resilience framework and implement a color-based rating system to quantify and rate the energy resilience performance of buildings in Nordic climates. The objective is to conduct a comparative analysis between old (1970s) and new (2020s) single-family buildings integrated with renewable energy sources and storage, assessing their energy resilience performance for heating during power outages, under extreme and typical climatic conditions. The study utilizes dynamic simulation of the buildings and renewable energy systems, conducting parametric studies to calculate proposed resilience indicators and rate their resilience performance, employing both passive and active methods. The total costs of the design variables are also calculated for economic evaluation. Given the complexities arising from climate change, the article uses a simplified method to synthesize regional climate to consider extreme climate change impacts on energy resilience performance. For the old building lacking PV, the robustness duration increased from 1 h to 3 h, and the degree of disruption (DoD) varied from 0.545 to 0.3 in extreme cold to warm climate scenarios, with the higher DoD number indicating worse performance. The impact of the season within the same climate scenario is also evident, as the habitability and robustness durations increased during spring compared to winter. The resilience improved with PV and battery. The new building showed that the robustness duration increased from 3 to 15 h, habitability durations increased, and the DoD varied from 0.496 to 0.22 from extreme cold to warm climates without renewables and storage. With the integration of PV and battery, the new building was able to achieve a lower DoD and better performance with lower PV and battery capacity, compared to the old building. Furthermore, utilizing the color grading method (red to green), optimal technical solutions and corresponding design variables were identified for each building type and climate scenario that could support decision-making. The total cost of the optimal solutions varied, as new buildings required lower costs to reach optimal performance. However, for optimal resilience performance during extreme cold climate scenarios, higher costs are required for each building type. The proposed resilience framework, indicators, color grading system, and costing could potentially support improvements in building regulations, ensuring the development of optimally resilient buildings, particularly in the face of extreme climatic conditions.

  • Publication (PDF 5.27MB)
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  Exploring Multiple Benefits of Urban and Energy Regeneration Projects: A Stakeholder-Centred Methodological Approach 
  June 2024
  Author(s): Bertolami, I.; Bisello, A.; Volpatti, M.; Bottero, M.C.
  Publisher: MDPI energies
  

  An effective way to promote energy transition while tackling climate change involves redefining cities from being part of the problem to integral parts of the solution. Positive energy districts and climate positive circular communities are excellent examples of how this is feasible. But how do we understand which are the multiple benefits that these projects can bring to the local territory and relative community? This article aims to answer this question by developing a specific engagement and evaluation methodology. Our approach involves consulting with project partners to explore the multiple benefits of each case study. Subsequently, it plans to engage the stakeholders through the submission of a questionnaire to gather information regarding the relative importance of different benefits as perceived by each stakeholder. The questionnaire is based on the best–worst scaling method, which is a survey technique for determining people’s priorities. The preliminary findings of the study conducted on project partners of two European projects, ARV and ProLight, indicate a strong alignment with current European policy priorities. The involvement of other stakeholders in the study will serve to assess whether bottom-up priorities coincide with broader perspectives or whether adaptations to project strategies and dissemination approaches are needed.

  • Publication (PDF 1.42MB)
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  Towards Extensive Definition and Planning of Energy Resilience in Buildings in Cold Climate 
  May 2024
  Author(s): Hassam ur Rehman, Mohamed Hamdy, Ala Hasan
  Publisher: MDPI buildings
  

  The transition towards a sustainable future requires the reliable performance of the building’s energy system in order for the building to be energy-resilient. “Energy resilient building in cold climates” is an emerging concept that defines the ability to maintain a minimum level of indoor air temperature and energy performance of the building and minimize the occupant’s health risk during a disruptive event of the grid’s power supply loss in a cold climate. The aim is to introduce an extensive definition of the energy resilience of buildings and apply it in case studies. This article first reviews the progress and provides an overview of the energy-resilient building concept. The review shows that most of the relevant focus is on short-term energy resilience, and the serious gap is related to long-term resilience in the context of cold regions. The article presents a basic definition of energy resilience of buildings, a systematic framework, and indicators for analyzing the energy resilience of buildings. Terms such as active and passive habitability, survivability, and adaptive habitable conditions are defined. The energy resilience indicators are applied on two simulated Finnish case studies, an old building and a new building. By systematic analysis, using the defined indicators and thresholds, the energy resilience performance of the buildings is calculated and compared. Depending on the type of the building, the results show that the robustness period is 11 h and 26 h for the old building and the new building, respectively. The old building failed to provide the habitability conditions. The impact of the event is 8.9 °C, minimum performance (Pmin) is 12.54 °C, and degree of disruption (DoD) is 0.300 for the old building. The speed of collapse (SoC) is 3.75 °C/h, and the speed of recovery (SoR) is 0.64 °C/h. On the other hand, the new building performed better such that the impact of the event is 4 °C, Pmin is 17.5 °C, and DoD is 0.138. The SoC is slow 3.2 °C/h and SoR is fast 0.80 °C/h for the new building. The results provide a pathway for improvements for long-term energy resilience. In conclusion, this work supports society and policy-makers to build a sustainable and resilient society.

  • Publication (PDF 2.67MB)
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  Design and Operational Indicators to Foster the Transition of Existing Renewable Energy Communities towards Positive Energy Districts 
  May 2024
  Author(s): R. Volpe, E. Cutore, A. Fichera
  Publisher: JSDEWES
  

  Renewable energy communities occupy a critical position in catalysing the energy transition within urban areas, while simultaneously making substantial contributions towards the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015. Positive Energy Districts are also gaining momentum, emerging as a concept of growing interest among researchers and urban planners. Renewable energy communities and positive energy districts are both expressions of sustainable urban energy forms, still there is the need to evaluate if a renewable energy community could be considered a positive energy district and under which conditions this transition will occur. To this scope, a holistic framework examining the transition from existing renewable energy communities to positive energy districts is proposed and characterized by focused and indicators, serving as critical instruments to conduct a tailored evaluation and characterization. Results demonstrate that the transition can be achieved by increasing by 20 % the renewable energy installations in the area.

  • Publication (PDF 3.83MB)
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  Toward a certification protocol for Positive Energy Districts (PED). A methodological proposal 
  March 2024
  Author(s): Volpatti M., Mazzola E., Bottero M., & Bisello A.
  Publisher: TeMA
  

  In order to achieve the ambitious CO2 emission reduction targets, set by the Sustainable Development Goals, it is crucial to act on cities. Indeed, cities are responsible for 67% of the world's primary energy consumption and about 70% of energy-related CO2 emissions. To support the urban energy transition, a broad implementation of zero-emission districts or, even better, positive energy districts (PEDs) is expected. PEDs can be defined as energy-efficient and energy-flexible urban areas that aim to provide a surplus of clean energy to the city by using renewable energies. However, in developing the PEDs concept, it is necessary to consider not only the technical issue of energy systems but also the environmental, social, and economic spheres. To be effective, it is important to provide decision-makers with tools such as protocol certification for PEDs, which can effectively assess the complexity of the impacts a PEDs might have on other urban transformations from a multi-stakeholder perspective. LEED for neighborhood development, BREEAM communities, and CASBEE for cities are the most widely used and known protocols in the world for the evaluation of districts. Protocol certifications today do not consider PEDs because they are outdated, but some common characteristics can already be found within them, which allows for the possibility of reformulating scores and inserting new evaluation criteria. The aim of this research, through a review of the literature, is to analyze the current protocol certificates at the district level, identifying criteria and scores within the evaluation methods, with the aim of contributing to the definition of a PED certification protocol with effective criteria and scores to support design and development of PEDs.

  • Publication (PDF 1.74MB)
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  Incorporating Citizen Science to Enhance Public Awareness in Smart Cities: The Case Study of Balaguer 
  March 2024
  Author(s): Luisa F. Cabeza, Mercè Teixidó, Francesco Guarino, Roberta Rincione, Manel Díaz, Rosa M. Gil, Maurizio Cellura, Carles Mateu
  Publisher: MDPI applied sciences
  

  The concept of a smart city is becoming increasingly popular to improve citizens’ quality of life. Institutions are also committed to enhancing the sustainability of cities by implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This paper presents a Balaguer case study investigating energy demand monitoring, decreasing energy demand, and citizen acceptance in a municipality district. The study collected data from three sources: (1) quantitative data coming from on-site sensors; (2) quantitative data from a simulation of the area; and (3) qualitative data from questionnaires developed with a totem located in the city center. This study shows the importance of citizen science in contributing towards the increased awareness of energy demand, renewable energy, and climate change. But it also shows how citizen science can improve research quality involving the municipality authorities. This study also was instrumental in contributing to the increase in awareness among municipality authorities and capacity building on the topic. This activity may also contribute towards the implementation of actions to reduce the energy demand in public buildings and helping them in deploying policies to decrease energy demand in buildings, increase the use of renewable energy, and increase awareness among citizens. The government will use the information gathered to develop policies for citizen improvement.

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  Ten questions on tools and methods for positive energy districts 
  March 2024
  Author(s): Jonathan Natanian, Francesco Guarino, Naga Manapragada, Abel Magyari, Emanuele Naboni, Francesco De Luca, Salvatore Cellura, Alberto Brunetti, Andras Reith
  Publisher: Elsevier
  

  Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) are emerging as a new symbol for sustainable urbanism and energy transition in the built environment. The pursuit of PED development is increasingly rooted in several EU policies and initiatives, sparking discourse on the interplay between governance, technological and non-technological solutions, multiple stakeholders, and the dynamics of urban and climatic contexts. As their name suggests, PEDs are characterized by surplus renewable energy generation; however, recent developments in urban environmental science emphasize the critical need for an integrated approach to achieve the key performance indicators of the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Consequently, PED designs must dynamically integrate several stakeholders. These complexities intersect with urban challenges such as urban heat islands, microclimates, nature-based solutions integration, future climatic conditions, resource availability, social vibrancy, connectivity, walkability, economic activity, and more. Current tools are fragmented, severely limiting their ability to support such a multifaceted design process. This paper describes a holistic framework for tools and methods for PED design through a set of relevant questions. Drawing upon the expertise of nine researchers with complementary practical and scientific experience in various aspects of district-scale environmental performance analysis, we offer a comprehensive overview of the scopes, methods, metrics, and toolchains for PEDs, along with available tools to integrate them into different phases of the design process. This paper highlights both the challenges and opportunities ahead, emphasizing the cutting-edge methods and tools necessary to achieve robust, resilient, and data-driven processes for PED designs in a dynamic, multi-scale, and multi-disciplinary urban environment.

  • Publication (PDF 3.29MB)
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  Operational Insights and Future Potential of the Database for Positive Energy Districts 
  February 2024
  Author(s): Paolo Civiero, Giulia Turci, Beril Alpagut, Michal Kuzmic, Silvia Soutullo, María Nuria Sánchez, Oscar Seco, Silvia Bossi, Matthias Haase, Gilda Massa, Christoph Gollner
  This paper presents the Positive Energy District Database (PED DB), a pivotal web tool developed collaboratively by the COST Action ‘PED-EU-NET’, in alignment with international initiatives such as JPI Urban Europe and IEA EBC Annex 83. The PED DB represents a crucial step towards sharing knowledge, promoting collaboration, reinforcing decision-making, and advancing the understanding of Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) in the pursuit of sustainable urban environments. The PED DB aims to comprehensively map and disseminate information on PEDs across Europe, serving as a dynamic resource for sustainable urban development according to the objective of making the EU climate-neutral by 2050. Indeed, PEDs imply an integrated approach for designing urban areas—the districts—where a cluster of interconnected buildings and energy communities produce net zero greenhouse gas emissions, managing an annual local/regional overflow production of renewable energy. The paper describes the collaborative step-by-step process leading to the PED DB implementation, the current results and potentials of the online platform, and introduces its future developments towards a more user-friendly and stakeholders-tailored tool. The interactive web map offers a customizable visualizations and filters on multiple information related to PED case studies, PED-relevant cases, and PED Labs. Users can access detailed information through a table view, facilitating comparisons across different PED projects and their implementation phase. The paper offers insights and detailed analysis from the initial dataset that includes 23 PED cases and 7 PED-related projects from 13 European countries, highlighting the key characteristics of surveyed PEDs.

  • Full Report (PDF 6.46MB)
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  A novel methodology and a tool for supporting the transition of districts and communities in Positive Energy Districts 
  2024
  Author(s): Marrasso, E., Martone, C., Pallotta, G., Roselli, C., & Sasso, M.
  Publisher: Elsevier
  

  Positive Energy Districts are expected to play a major role in the energy transition of cities. Hence, this paper aims at introducing a novel methodology useful for district energy and environmental analysis and intended to support the accomplishment of the targets of Positive Energy Districts at the district or community level. The proposed approach relies on the basic concepts underpinning the “Baseline Emission Inventory” but encompasses the ambitious and challenging objectives characterizing Positive Energy Districts. For making the proposed evaluation framework accessible to as many user categories as possible (researchers, local institutions, urban planners, etc.), the calculation steps have been transposed in a user-friendly, ready-to-use tool called “En-to-EnD. Energy and Environmental analysis of Districts”. The applicability and replicability of the outputs of this work have been proven through the energy and environmental assessment of a reference case study. In particular, the district being analysed is in the South of Italy and is equipped with photovoltaic plants and a wind turbine. The results obtained show that the proposed approach may serve not only to prove the achievement of the Positive Energy District status, but also to guide the design of more sustainable district-based energy systems, thus supporting the decarbonization of cities.

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  Perspectives of Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing on Characterizing Positive Energy Districts 
  January 2024
  Author(s): Han, M.; Canli, I.; Shah, J.; Zhang, X.; Dino, I.G.; Kalkan, S.
  Publisher: MDPI buildings
  

  The concept of a Positive Energy District (PED) has become a vital component of the efforts to accelerate the transition to zero carbon emissions and climate-neutral living environments. Research is shifting its focus from energy-efficient single buildings to districts, where the aim is to achieve a positive energy balance across a given time period. Various innovation projects, programs, and activities have produced abundant insights into how to implement and operate PEDs. However, there is still no agreed way of determining what constitutes a PED for the purpose of identifying and evaluating its various elements. This paper thus sets out to create a process for characterizing PEDs. First, nineteen different elements of a PED were identified. Then, two AI techniques, machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP), were introduced and examined to determine their potential for modeling, extracting, and mapping the elements of a PED. Lastly, state-of-the-art research papers were reviewed to identify any contribution they can make to the determination of the effectiveness of the ML and NLP models. The results suggest that both ML and NLP possess significant potential for modeling most of the identified elements in various areas, such as optimization, control, design, and stakeholder mapping. This potential is realized through the utilization of vast amounts of data, enabling these models to generate accurate and useful insights for PED planning and implementation. Several practical strategies have been identified to enhance the characterization of PEDs. These include a clear definition and quantification of the elements, the utilization of urban-scale energy modeling techniques, and the development of user-friendly interfaces capable of presenting model insights in an accessible manner. Thus, developing a holistic approach that integrates existing and novel techniques for PED characterization is essential to achieve sustainable and resilient urban environments.

  • Publication (PDF 3.84MB)
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  The Role of Positive Energy Districts through the Lens of Urban Sustainability Protocols in the Case Studies of Salzburg and Tampere 
  December 2023
  Author(s): Volpatti, M.; Mazzola, E.; Bottero, M.C.; Bisello, A.
  Publisher: MDPI buildings
  

  To achieve the ambitious CO2 emission reduction targets set by the Sustainable Development Goals, it is crucial to act on cities. Indeed, cities are responsible for 67% of the world’s primary energy consumption and about 70% of energy-related CO2 emissions. To support the urban energy transition, a broad implementation of zero-emission districts or, even better, positive energy districts (PEDs) is expected. PEDs can be defined as energy-efficient and energy-flexible urban areas that aim to provide a surplus of clean energy to the city by using renewable energies. However, in developing the PEDs concept, it is necessary to consider not only the technical issue of energy systems but also the environmental, social, and economic spheres. To be effective, it is important to provide decision-makers with tools such as Urban Sustainability protocols for PEDs, which can effectively assess the complexity of the impacts a PED might have on other urban transformations from a multi-stakeholder perspective. LEED for Neighborhood Development, BREEAM Communities, and CASBEE for Cities are the most widely used and known protocols in the world for the evaluation of districts. These certification protocols were established before the concept of PEDs and, therefore, are not considered. However, they exhibit some shared characteristics which permit the evaluation of PEDs’ sustainability. In fact, through this research, an attempt is made to analyze how the implementation of sustainability protocols in existing PED projects can improve sustainability, but also how PED projects can improve evaluation systems through interventions that have not been considered so far. To test a methodology that could be extended in future case studies, an analysis of three of the world’s best-known certification systems, LEED-ND, BREEAM-CM, and CASBEE-UD, was conducted on two completed PEDs case studies, Tampere and Salzburg.

  • Publication (PDF 1.51MB)
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  Renovation assessment of building districts: Case studies and implications to the positive energy districts definition 
  August 2023
  Author(s): Francesco Guarino, Roberta Rincione, Carles Mateu, Mercè Teixidó, Luisa F. Cabeza, Maurizio Cellura
  Publisher: Elsevier
  As the built environment is among the main contributing sectors to climate change, it is needed to investigate new paradigms to push decarbonization efforts towards the ambitious objectives defined internationally. It is a shared understanding that shifting the perspective from the single building to the district perspective is required to fully take into consideration the complexity of all interactions undergoing within the built environment, thus the concept of Positive Energy District emerged as a district with annual net zero energy import and net zero CO2 emission working towards an annual local surplus production of renewable energy. In this framework, this paper explores the investigation of the potential for achieving the level of Positive Energy District in a group of non-residential buildings in Balaguer, Catalonia, Spain. These buildings, occupying 8,825 m2 in the city centre, require significant refurbishment for improved energy performance. The analysis includes building energy modelling and simulation, renovation studies, several alternative balance calculations, and carbon emissions assessment. The paper also considers mobility and embodied energy and their impact on energy/carbon balances. The results show that Positive Energy Districts carbon and primary energy balances are not met with rooftop PV installations when retrofitting an existing district towards the Positive energy target but further significant PV areas (roughly + 50%) are required to meet merely the use stage balances: negative results are traced when mobility and embodied energy are computed. A formulation alternative to the simple mathematical balance to facilitate the diffusion of Positive Energy District as catalyst of urban decarbonisation could be needed, including context factors and alternative systems (e.g., rating systems).

  • Publication (PDF 15.81MB)
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  Assessing the performance of a renewable District Heating System to achieve nearly zero-energy status in renovated university campuses: A case study for Spain 
  July 2023
  Author(s): Javier M. Rey-Hernandez, Francisco J. Rey-Martínez, Charles Yousif, Dorota Krawczyk
  Publisher: Elsevier
  This paper presents the implementation of a biomass-fuelled District Heating System (DHS), as a part of a deep energy renovation exercise to achieve a climate-resilient campus with minimum carbon dioxide emissions. The case study is carried out for the University of Valladolid, an average-sized university in Spain, with a continental weather climate.
  
  Prior to renovation, the different building blocks had a wide-ranging level of fossil fuel consumption for space heating and domestic hot water ranging between 60 and 430 kWh/m2·year. The application of this centralised heating system allows to achieve the minimum threshold for near zero-energy buildings (nZEB) of 100–120 kWh/m2, in accordance with the Spanish Standards. These values correspond to the maximum European indicators for offices in continental weather conditions. Results of this comprehensive study show that 15 out of the 19 buildings reached the nZEB target, due to the proposed strategy. The overall carbon dioxide emissions have dropped by 92.69% as compared to the original fossil-fuel powered boiler, thus bringing carbon dioxide emissions down to 1.57 kgCO2/m2·y.
  
  Therefore, it is shown that deep energy renovation strategies through renewable energy DHS have the potential of achieving nZEB for universities in continental weather conditions.

  • Publication (PDF 6.01MB)
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  Energy Flexibility and towards Resilience in New and Old Residential Houses in Cold Climates: A Techno-Economic Analysis 
  July 2023
  Author(s): Hassam ur Rehman, Ala Hasan
  Publisher: MDPI energies
  

  One of the main sectors that contribute to climate change is the buildings sector. While nearly zero-energy buildings are becoming a new norm in many countries in the world, research is advancing towards energy flexibility and resilience to reach energy efficiency and sustainability goals. Combining the energy flexibility and energy resilience concept is rare. In this article, we aim to investigate the effect of energy efficiency in a new single-family building on the energy flexibility potential and resilience characteristics and compare these with those for an old building in the cold climate of Finland. These two objectives are dependent on the buildings’ respective thermal mass. The heat demands of the two buildings are compared. Their technical and economic performance are calculated to compare their flexibility and resilience characteristics. Dynamic simulation software is used to model the buildings. The results show that the old building has better flexibility and higher energy cost savings when including the energy conservation activation strategy. In the old building, savings can be around EUR 400 and flexibility factor can be around 24–52% depending on the activation duration and strategy. The new building, due to higher efficiency, may not provide higher energy cost savings, and the energy conservation activation strategy is better. In the new building, savings can be around EUR 70 and the flexibility factor reaches around 7–14% depending on the activation duration and strategy. The shifting efficiency of the new house is better compared to that of the old house due to its higher storage capacity. For energy resilience, the new building is shown to be better during power outages. The new building can be habitable for 17 h, while the old building can provide the same conditions for 3 h only. Therefore, it is essential to consider both energy flexibility and resilience as this can impact performance during the energy crisis.

  • Publication (PDF 6.16MB)
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  Toward Positive Energy Districts by Urban–Industrial Energy Exchange 
  May 2023
  Author(s): Erfan Shafiee Roudbari, Ramanunni Parakkal Menon, Ivan Kantor, and Ursula Eicker
  Editor(s): Tony Castillo-Calzadilla and Carlos Quesada Granja
  The concept of Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) has emerged as a promising approach to achieving sustainable urban development. PEDs aim to balance the energy demand and supply within a district while reducing the carbon footprint and promoting renewable energy sources. Urban–Industrial Symbiosis (UIS) is another approach that involves the exchange of energy and resources between industrial processes and nearby urban areas to increase efficiency and reduce waste. Combining the concepts of PED and UIS can create self-sufficient, sustainable, and resilient districts. As the analysis and implementation of such systems are barely studied in North America, this research study was structured to fill the gap by evaluating the financial and environmental advantages of this combination. This study proposes a methodology to design a heat transmission system; then, it is applied to the case of a paper-making factory and a multifunctional heritage building in Montreal, Canada. The results show that the building’s new heating system can generate sufficient heat while emitting near-zero direct emissions. Overall, this paper argues that combining the concepts of PED and UIS can lead to a more sustainable and resilient urban area, and provides a roadmap for achieving this goal.

  • Publication (PDF 0.64MB)
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  Supporting Cities towards Carbon Neutral Transition through Territorial Acupuncture 
  February 2023
  Author(s): Leone, F.; Hasan, A.; Reda, F.; Rehman, H.u.; Nigrelli, F.C.; Nocera, F.; Costanzo, V.
  Publisher: MDPI Sustainability
  

  Since a solution towards carbon neutrality in already highly populated territories that does not profoundly alter the territories has not yet been found, territorial acupuncture, a new methodology presented in this paper, proposes a solution to this challenge and simultaneously helps to counter the dysfunctional dichotomy between large urban centres and small towns. The aim of this study is therefore to present this new concept and its operation. Hence, a phased study was carried out. Territorial acupuncture is the result of merging different theories and practices, such as Biourbanism, urban acupuncture, and energy community design. For Territorial Acupuncture, the territory is conceived as a single organism and, just like acupuncture in traditional Chinese medicine, punctual interventions (in this case, interconnected energy communities) would benefit the entire territory organism. To make the theory work properly, it will be necessary to carry out multi-scalar and multi-disciplinary analyses over the entire territory to identify the intervention points and then proceed to the design and interconnection of the individual district. Thus, Territorial Acupuncture provides a new approach to the resilience of densely populated territories, which, through punctual interventions on a district scale, benefits the entire territory by modifying energy, socio-economic, and environmental dynamics.

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  Modeling uncertainty in positive energy districts through a non-probabilistic approach 
  2023
  Author(s): Mohammad Haris Shamsi, Amin Kouti, Yixiao Ma, Lukas Engelen and Mohsen Sharifi
  Publisher: IOP Publishing Ltd
  

  Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) transcribe an emerging energy transition paradigm for rapid upscaling of building energy efficiency programs to match the urgency of climate mitigation and adaptation. PEDs facilitate pro-active sharing of information and experiences, responsive learning and dissemination, and cooperation across sectors and disciplines. The rapid evolution of technologies for energy efficiency and integration of renewable energy in buildings requires a research-to-design approach. Therefore, it is imperative that a designer makes informed decisions at an early stage of design from an energy-efficiency perspective. However, since PED design involves a significant number of stakeholders, the design parameters could be highly uncertain, which eventually affect the quality of the design solution space. This study uses a bilateral process workflow to quantify risks using a nonprobabilistic technique and a PED roadmap structure. The workflow evaluates different PED scenarios and quantifies the PED potential for the city of Sint-Niklaas in Belgium. The results indicate that risk quantification significantly improves PED decision-making when evaluating collective solutions (district heating) for a district.

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  Optimizing positive energy districts 
  2023
  Author(s): M Haase
  Publisher: IOP Publishing Ltd
  

  A planning tool was developed which is able to integrate renovation strategies on district level as a combination of energy efficiency upgrades for buildings and the use of renewable energy deliver positive energy districts. It combines elements of energy master planning, district development and optimization in a Modelica environment by combining energy demand, circularity and stakeholder engagement on the demand side and life cycle costs in multi-objective optimisation on the supply side. Thus, the tool consists of six dedicated modules for optimizing positive energy districts (PED).

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  Economic and environmental benefits of decentralized multi-energy systems for energy communities 
  2023
  Author(s): Xavier Jobard, Massimiliano Capezzali, Neha Dimri, Alexis Duret, Marten Fesefeldt, Mija Frossard, Vincent Jacquot and Sebastien Lasvaux
  Publisher: IOP Publishing Ltd
  

  In the context of growing interest in decentralised multi energy systems, this work aims at quantifying the benefit of optimized energy concepts for energy communities at the neighbourhood scale compared to individually optimized solution. To tackle this question a multi-objective optimization framework was developed and applied to a case study of 6 buildings consisting of 85% of residential dwellings and 15% to retail shop and food stores. Grouped buildings have decreased costs and greenhouse gases emissions (GHGE) respectively by 18% and 12% in the cost optimum compared to individual buildings. In the environmental optimum, costs have decreased by 11%, while GHGE remains in the same range. This decrease is at both optimum driven by electricity prices favourable to large consumers since exchanges on the electrical microgrid for this neighbourhood is very small. Optimal decrease of GHGE is obtained with greater use of HPs and smaller natural gas consumption. This work illustrates the interest of multi-objective approaches to identify optimal energy solutions for groups of buildings.

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  The more the better? Archetype segmentation in urban building energy modelling 
  2023
  Author(s): Z Le Hong, Z Berzolla and C Reinhart
  Publisher: IOP Publishing Ltd
  

  Urban building energy modelling is gaining traction as a planning tool to support widespread decarbonization of the built environment. Building-scale models allow for the evaluation of specific emission reduction policies at an urban scale. Given the limited availability of building-by-building data on construction standard and program, aggregating building information through archetypes is key, but a poorly understood step in the urban energy modelling process. In this study, different levels of archetype segmentation are explored for the city of Oshkosh, WI (∼13,000 buildings). A comparison of actual, city-level energy with UBEM simulations suggests higher levels of archetype segmentation do not necessarily lead to higher accuracy, leading to models that are both accurate and nimble enough to explore a variety of upgrade scenarios. Informing archetypal segmentation with policy-informed metrics is beneficial, but pursuing increased detail could dangerously reduce accuracy without ground-truth data.

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  Towards the implementation of Positive Energy Districts in industrial districts: an Italian case study 
  2023
  Author(s): E Marrasso, C Martone, G Pallotta, C Roselli and M Sasso
  Publisher: IOP Publishing Ltd
  

  Owing to the opportunity to provide an annual positive energy balance and net-zero carbon emissions, Positive Energy Districts aim at fostering the energy transition of urban city centres. To fully support the decarbonization of cities, it may be interesting to extend their implementation to other energy intensive districts, such as cities' industrial areas. In this regard, this paper addresses the opportunity to apply the Positive Energy District concept within the industrial area of a city in the South of Italy. A mixed-use building, the industrial wastewater treatment plant and an office building have been involved as users and equipped with a 250 kW wind turbine and multiple photovoltaic plants installed on the roof of the buildings, in parking areas and in an unused land, for a total peak power equal to 466 kW. The renewable-based plants' generation has been simulated in HOMER Pro® software, on a quarter-hour basis, and an energy and environmental analysis have been performed using users' real electric load profiles. The proposed configuration allows to save 55% of primary energy and carbon dioxide emissions compared to the baseline case where users' electric energy demand is fully met by the power grid. In particular, the primary energy saving is equal to 1 GWh/y and the carbon dioxide emissions reduction is equal to 150 tCO2/y.

  • Publication (PDF 1.05MB)
• Towards positive energy islands – a Danish case study 
  2023
  Author(s): M Jradi
  Publisher: IOP Publishing Ltd
  

  The Danish island of "Ærø" has the ambition of becoming the first Danish island to be self-sufficient in renewable energy and CO2 neutral by 2025, as well as fossil fuel free by 2030. This work investigates the feasibility of re-designing part of the island's energy system to become the first Danish positive energy island (PEI), evaluating various design scenarios and opportunities for improving and modifying the current energy supply and distribution scheme. The district is modelled considering all building specifications and characteristics and the energy supply systems using the urban scale modelling tool City Energy Analyst (CEA). A simulation of the base-case scenario is performed to calibrate the performance. Different energy improvement strategies targeting building envelopes and energy generation and supply systems are created and implemented in CEA. Six improvement packages are created and simulated. It is demonstrated that a PEI could be built in the district under consideration through a comprehensive energy improvement package of envelope-targeting techniques, energy system upgrades, and the expansion of renewable energy systems. The package includes LED lighting, heat pump installation, and photovoltaic-thermal units. This will enable meeting the annual net need for electricity while producing 20% excess heat.

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  A database for positive energy districts (PED) 
  2023
  Author(s): B Alpagut, S Bossi, P Civiero, S Diaz, C Gollner, M Haase, M Kuzmic, N Sanchez, O C Seco, S Soutullo Castro
  Publisher: IOP Publishing Ltd
  

  The development of Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) is a complex process that involves the integration of various technologies, stakeholders, and policies. To facilitate this process, a database for PEDs has been developed as a joint effort of COST Action 'PED-EU-NET', IEA EBC Annex 83, and JPI Urban Europe. This paper reports on the realization of the PED-Database framework and its online implementation as a modular web interoperable platform, giving details on the development life cycle since the scoping phase up to the testing phase. The PED-Database offers a variety of implementation strategies and conceptualizations for the PED concept, making it a valuable resource for urban planners, policymakers, and researchers. The testing phase has shown that there is no one-fits-all solution for PED implementation, and the overall PED framework definitions require further detailing in the local context. However, the database allows users to visualize and compare different PED scenarios by customizing their selection, accessing to the information provided by real PED cases that best meets their expectations and goals. Overall, the PED-Database provides a valuable tool for the development of sustainable and energy-efficient urban areas.

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  Development of an early design tool for the sustainability assessment of positive energy districts: methodology, implementation and case-studies 
  2023
  Author(s): Alberto Brunetti, Salvatore Cellura, Francesco Guarino, Sonia Longo, Marina Mistretta, Francesco Reda, Roberta Rincione
  Publisher: IOP Publishing Ltd
  

  The concept of Positive Energy District is one of the research ideas that embody the ambitions of decarbonization, renovation (both literal and in a wider perspective) and inclusivity for the urban environment portrayed in the EU activities. In this framework, the paper presents a modeling and simulation tool which allows for an early-design depth to be applied in the field of Positive Energy Districts renovation design and integrated performance assessment. The work aims at creating a tool for stakeholders and designers that would allow them to: a) Calculate carbon impacts along the life cycle for different technical systems and materials used for retrofitting; b) Compute use stage carbon emissions, including import-export of electricity; c) Computations of PED carbon emission balances, along the expected useful life of the district computing both embodied and the use stage carbon emissions. The tool has been created as a spreadsheet including typical profiles of energy use per building archetype, with the inclusion of available and free Life Cycle Assessment data within the life cycle carbon assessment and aims at jointly developing use stage and life cycle considerations. It was tested on a district case studies in the EU.

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  Review of natural language processing techniques for characterizing positive energy districts 
  2023
  Author(s): Mengjie Han, Juveria Shah, Xingxing Zhang
  Publisher: IOP Publishing Ltd
  

  The concept of Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) has emerged as a crucial aspect of endeavours aimed at accelerating the transition to zero carbon emissions and climate-neutral living spaces. The focus of research has shifted from energy-efficient individual buildings to entire districts, where the objective is to achieve a positive energy balance over a specific timeframe. The consensus on the conceptualization of a PED has been evolving and a standardized checklist for identifying and evaluating its constituent elements needs to be addressed. This study aims to develop a methodology for characterizing PEDs by leveraging natural language processing (NLP) techniques to model, extract, and map these elements. Furthermore, a review of state-of-the-art research papers is conducted to ascertain their contribution to assessing the effectiveness of NLP models. The findings indicate that NLP holds significant potential in modelling the majority of the identified elements across various domains. To establish a systematic framework for AI modelling, it is crucial to adopt approaches that integrate established and innovative techniques for PED characterization. Such an approach would enable a comprehensive and effective implementation of NLP within the context of PEDs, facilitating the creation of sustainable and resilient urban environments.

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  "oPEN Lab" project as an underpin innovation for Positive Energy District solutions in Pamplona 
  2023
  Author(s): Alicia Kalms, Iñaki Cornago Santos, Mikel EzquerMayo, Sergio Diaz de Garayo Balsategui, Alba Juncal Arias Royo, Luis Torres Cardona, Daniel San Emeterio Carciandia, M. Olatz Irulegui Garmendia, Faisal Bouchotrouch, Maarten De Groote
  Publisher: IOP Publishing Ltd
  

  With the EU's goal of climate neutrality by 2050, urban areas should move towards Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) as powerful ecosystems of balanced energy. The aim of this research is to present the methodology that facilitates the implementation of technical and social innovations, designed and implemented through co-creation, specifically for the neighbourhoods of Pamplona (Spain) in the framework of the project "oPEN Lab" on the way to PEN and based on a local Living Lab (LL). This project is a positive consequence of the evolution and achievements in urban, energy and mobility city planning made possible by the methodology, solutions and actions presented in the context of research and innovation projects such as STARDUST and Efidistrict Fwd.

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  A Comprehensive Technical Analysis of Retrofitting a Danish Residential Area into a Positive Energy District 
  2023
  Author(s): Muhyiddine Jradi, Emil Wang Nielsen, Mads Lund
  Publisher: Future cities and environment
  

  Aligned with Denmark’s growing smart energy networks encompassing district heating and electricity grids and in harmony with the country’s ambitious energy and environmental objectives, this study aims to elevate the investigation from individual buildings to consider districts and cities. In pursuit of this objective, a case study of an Odense district in Denmark was considered for modeling, simulation, and energy performance improvement. The selected residential area was modeled using City Energy Analyst, an open-source urban scale modeling tool, accounting for different building attributes as well as the particulars of energy networks and supply systems. The validation of a baseline scenario is predicated upon real-world data collected on-site to serve as the benchmark for exploring and evaluating various scenarios and measures for enhancing energy efficiency. Consequentially, eight distinct energy enhancement packages were designed, modeled, and simulated individually. The results were analyzed, and it was shown that an energy improvement package consisting of retrofitting buildings’ constructions, indoor thermal comfort setpoint management, heating system upgrade, photovoltaic-thermal unit installation, and heat pump integration, along with a seasonal energy storage system, is capable of enhancing the overall energy efficiency quotient of the area, establishing a positive energy district with an excess in heat and electricity production.

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  Territorial acupuncture: benefits and limits of energy communitynetworks 
  2023
  Author(s): Leone F., Nigrelli F., Nocera F., & Costanzo V
  Territorial Acupuncture is an approach that proposes a micro-invasive solution for the adaptation of densely populated areas through punctual interventions on a district scale. The aim of this study is to analyse the potential and limitations of this new application in order to understand whether and how to implement Territorial Acupuncture to make it as efficient and effective as possible. By first introducing the basic idea and a brief explanation of how this new approach works, it will then proceed to ananalysis and research phase to identify the benefits and limitations of this new approach. Finally, solutions for its improvement will be proposed. While the application of Territorial Acupuncture might be difficult due to the large number of actors to beinvolved, with small variations and theoretical additions (mostly social and environmental), it would allow energy, socio-economic and environmental dynamics to be changed quickly and optimally. In conclusion, Territorial Acupuncture, with the modifications proposed in this study, would be able to respond to the problems of contemporary urban poles without returning completely different territories even more efficiently and effectively.

  • Full Report (PDF 1.24MB)
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  Lessons Learned from Positive Energy District (PED) Projects: Cataloguing and Analysing Technology Solutions in Different Geographical Areas in Europe 
  December 2022
  Author(s): Leone, F.; Reda, F.; Hasan, A.; Rehman, H.u.; Nigrelli, F.C.; Nocera, F.; Costanzo, V.
  Publisher: MDPI energies
  

  A Positive Energy District (PED) is a portion of urban area with defined boundaries that can produce energy in excess of its own consumption. The aim of this study is to analyse design variations among the six projects (12 case studies) of PED belonging to the European Smart Cities and Communities programme. Thus, it will be possible to identify the reasons behind the energy choices related to generation, storage and distribution that appear in the different geographical areas. To achieve this, different data were collected by consulting official documents and creating questionnaires that were communicated with the project representatives. Thus, the result of this study is a catalogue of the energy system solutions adopted in the studied PEDs with a critical analysis of the different motivations behind them in order to outline general trends in the geographical areas with similar characteristics. In conclusion, this study defined which technological choices are the most common in territories with similar profiles and how divergent those with different profiles are. Furthermore, applied to a large catalogue of PED, the methodology identified would make it possible to create different operating models for different territorial types and urban settlements.

  • Full Report (PDF 5.56MB)
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  Optimal design and operation of distributed electrical generation for Italian positive energy districts with biomass district heating 
  June 2022
  Author(s): R. Volpe, M. Gonzalez Alriols, N. Martelo Schmalbach, A. Fichera
  Publisher: Energy Conversion and Management, vol 267
  The active participation of prosumers within the energy generation and distribution stages has revolutionized the energy market favoring the rise of decentralized energy supply configurations and representing a key path for targeting the transition towards sustainable and energy-efficient urban areas. The new Renewable Energy Directive 2018/2001 regulates the constitution of renewable energy communities and promotes the exploitation of solid biomass, biofuels, and biogas for district heating. In addition, energy communities can be considered Positive Energy Districts in case of an annual net-zero energy import and local surplus of renewable production. In alignment with these regulatory frameworks, this research proposes a model for the design of prosumer- centered thermal and electrical grids pointing to a positive balance between production and consumption. In detail, this research contributes to the (i) design of the electrical and thermal distribution grids, (ii) configuration of the optimal exchange scheme for electrical distribution among prosumers, and (iii) valorization of the eventual positive surplus. The model is discussed for a candidate Positive Energy District in a real urban neighborhood in Sicily. Results demonstrate a good rate of interconnections among buildings in the area, especially in a spatial range of 200 m with almost 44 % of distributed electricity production. From the environmental viewpoint, 73 % of CO2 emissions are avoided in comparison with the centralized electrical supply, whilst 55 % of emissions reduction has been estimated from biomass district heating, thus posing favorable conditions for a possible transition of the existing area towards the Positive Energy District model.
  ISBN: 01968904

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  Challenges in reaching positive energy building level in apartment buildings in the Nordic climate: A techno-economic analysis. 
  May 2022
  Author(s): Hassam ur Rehman; Ala Hasan; Francesco Reda
  Publisher: Energy and Buildings
  

  Buildings consume significant amount of final energy and they emit large amount of CO2 emissions. To address this issue, nearly zero energy buildings is becoming a common in many countries, while research is advancing towards the positive energy building (PEB) target by utilizing renewable energy that can support reducing the emissions from the building stock. The aim of this study, is to design and model a renewable-based energy system for a real demo apartment building in Nordics (Finland) in order to be a PEB, by exceeding the building’s heating, cooling and plug load demands. The novelty of this study is to assesses the fulfillment of the PEB level in cold climate, by simulating various technologies (such as photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) system, heat pump (HP), wind turbines, seasonal thermal energy storage etc.) their integration with the building, its controls strategies, types of load included in the energy balance and definition of building boundaries across which the balance is calculated. TRNSYS simulation software is mainly used for dynamic simulation of the energy system. The electricity import and export, the life cycle cost (LCC), and the onsite energy matching factors are calculated to estimate the performance of the proposed system. In addition, the challenges related to the building’s limited physical boundary are discussed. The results of this study shows that, if all the demands are included, i.e. heating, cooling and plug loads, then it is difficult to reach the PEB level. In this case, the investment cost in the energy system is around 47–62% of the LCC and the rest is the operational cost. On the other hand, the PEB level is relatively easier to achieve if the plug loads are excluded, then the investment cost is around 88–100% of the LCC and there can be positive cash ?ow due to larger energy export than import. The PEB level is possible to be achieved when all the demands are included if the building boundary is extended to a virtual boundary outside its physical boundary that allows the addition of more renewable generations or by changing the building’s shape that allows the more installations of renewables on the roof. In this scenario, the investment cost on the energy system is around 62–91% of the LCC. Compared to the building cost, the energy system cost is generally low, i.e. around 1.2–4.3% of the building cost.. It can be concluded that in the Nordic conditions, it is difficult to reach the PEB level for the buildings in urban areas if the all the building’s energy demands are included. Renewable energy generations, such as additional PVT and wind turbines, are needed to be installed in an extended (virtual) boundary of the building if the PEB criterion has to be met when considering all the energy demands. Investment cost of the renewable energy system is low compared to the building’s cost, therefore, such renewable-based solutions can be provided with small additional cost, along with the new building’s cost, so that PEB and carbon neutrality targets can be achieved.

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  Ten questions concerning positive energy districts 
  March 2022
  Author(s): Siddharth Sareen, Vicky Albert-Seifried, Laura Aelenei, Francesco Reda, Ghazal Etminan, Maria-Beatrice Andreucci, Michal Kuzmic, Nienke Maas, Oscar Seco, Paolo Civiero, Savis Gohari, Mari Hukkalainen, Hans-Martin Neumann
  Publisher: Elsevier
  

  Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) constitute an emerging energy transition paradigm, with an ambitious timeline for rapid upscaling to match the urgency of climate mitigation and adaptation. Increasingly networked and coordinated actors aim to realise 100 PEDs across Europe by 2025. This resonates with the mission orientation turn of the European Green New Deal, to inspire and enable target-driven innovation. Yet it raises questions that have long perplexed scholars and practitioners in energy transitions: how can rapid diffusion be achieved in a sustained and replicable manner in diverse socio-technical contexts? Identifying the key questions to address and implement fit-to-purpose solutions within short-term project timescales is essential in order to mainstream PEDs. Such solutionism must be accompanied by a healthy dose of scepticism, in order to avoid undesirable outcomes such as exacerbated inequalities, societal backlash, and spatial displacement of invisible burdens. But it also requires proactive sharing of experiences, responsive learning and dissemination, and cooperation across sectors and disciplines. In this timely contribution, thirteen researchers from nine European countries flag ten questions concerning PEDs, and offer preliminary responses in line with cutting-edge insights informed by science and practice. This contribution draws on multidisciplinary competence in steering the Positive Energy Districts Eu­ ropean Network, and aims to make emerging knowledge widely available, while also inviting constructive critique and engagement within the PED arena which features a broad range of diverse stakeholders. Authors highlight key pathways forward for a rapid, far-reaching translation of the ambitious PEDs agenda into multisited, district-scale beacons of sustainable energy transition.

  • Publication (PDF 0.49MB)
• Reviewing Challenges and Limitations of Energy Modelling Software in the Assessment of PEDs Using Case Studies 
  2022
  Author(s): Alberto Belda, Emanuela Giancola, Karen Williams, Sanam Dabirian, Muhyiddine Jradi, Rosaria Volpe, Soroush Samareh Abolhassani, Alberto Fichera, Ursula Eicker
  Publisher: Springer
  

  Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) have the potential of accelerating the decarbonization of urban areas and promoting scalability between cities. The development and real-world implementation of such innovative concepts can be enhanced through urban energy modelling. However, assessing PEDs can be challenging, and information on this topic is scarce and fragmented. The main contribution of this paper is collecting and analyzing challenges and limitations of energy modelling software for assessing PEDs through five case studies in Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, Denmark and Canada. Case studies are assessed first from a modelling approach, then the main identified challenges and limitations of modelling tools for PEDs are discussed, and finally, various ongoing trends and research needs in this field are suggested.
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  Design, Modelling and Performance Evaluation of a Positive Energy District in a Danish Island 
  2022
  Author(s): Barbara Kristin Holmsund Jepsen Tom Walther Haut Muhyiddine Jradi
  Publisher: Future cities and environment
  

  Nowadays, cities and districts are becoming more and more interconnected in terms of energy supply systems, and the transition towards smart connected thermal and electrical grids is inevitable. While single building-level modelling has demonstrated numerous technical and economic benefits, it is vital to scale up the approach and consider the larger picture of cluster of buildings, districts, and cities. The island of Ærø in Denmark has an ambitious goal to become the first CO2 neutral and renewable energy self-sufficient Danish Island by 2025, as well as becoming a fossil-fuel free island by 2030. With the ambitious energy and environmental aims of Ærø island, this work aims to investigate the capability of establishing part of the island as the first Danish positive energy district (PED) and assess various design scenarios and possibilities of upgrading/modifying the current scheme and composition of energy supply and distribution. An open-source urban scale modelling tool is used, City Energy Analyst (CEA), where the district is modelled considering all specifications and characteristics of buildings and the corresponding energy supply systems. The base case scenario is simulated, and the performance is calibrated using actual data. Then, multiple energy improvement measures targeting the buildings envelope as well as the energy generation and supply systems are developed and simulated to assess the impact on the overall energy consumption for heating and electricity. The results show that a PED can be established employing an improvement package of envelope-targeting measures, energy systems upgrades and renewable energy systems expansion.

  • Full Report (PDF 2.73MB)
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  Energy and Emission Implications of Electric Vehicles Integration with Nearly and Net Zero Energy Buildings 
  October 2021
  Author(s): Rehman, H.u.; Diriken, J.; Hasan, A.; Verbeke, S.; Reda, F
  Publisher: MDPI
  Buildings and the mobility sectors are the two sectors that currently utilize large amount of fossil-based energy. The aim of the paper is to, critically analyse the integration of electric vehicles (EV) energy load with the building’s energy load. The qualitative and quantitative methods are used to analyse the nearly/net zero energy buildings and the mobility plans of the Europe along with the challenges of the plans. It is proposed to either include or exclude the EV load within the building’s energy load and follow the emissions calculation path, rather than energy calculation path for buildings to identify the benefits. Two real case studies in a central European climate are used to analysis the energy performance of the building with and without EV load integration and the emissions produced due to their interaction. It is shown that by replacing fossil-fuel cars with EVs within the building boundary, overall emissions can be reduced by 11–35% depending on the case study. However, the energy demand increased by 27–95% when the EV load was added with the building load. Hence, the goal to reach the nearly/net zero energy building target becomes more challenging. Therefore, the emission path can present the benefits of EV and building load integration.

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  Integrating Plus Energy Buildings and Districts with the EU Energy Community Framework: Regulatory Opportunities, Barriers and Technological Solutions 
  October 2021
  Author(s): Tuerk, A.; Frieden, D.; Neumann, C.; Latanis, K.; Tsitsanis, A.; Kousouris, S.; Llorente, J.; Heimonen, I.; Reda, F.; Ala-Juusela, M.; Allaerts, K.; Caerts, C.; Schwarzl, T.; Ulbrich, M.; Stosch, A.; Ramschak, T.
  Publisher: MDPI
  The aim of this paper is to assess opportunities the Clean Energy Package provides for Plus Energy Buildings (PEBs) and Plus Energy Districts (PEDs) regarding their economic optimization and market integration, possibly leading to new use cases and revenue streams. At the same time, insights into regulatory limitations at the national level in transposing the set of EU Clean Energy Package provisions are shown. The paper illustrates that the concepts of PEBs and PEDs are in principle compatible with the EU energy community concepts, as they relate to technical characteristics while energy communities provide a legal and regulatory framework for the organization and governance of a community, at the same time providing new regulatory space for specific activities and market integration. To realize new use cases, innovative ICT approaches are needed for a range of actors actively involved in creating and operating energy communities as presented in the paper. The paper discusses a range of different options to realize PEBs and PEDs as energy communities based on the H2020 EXCESS project. It concludes, however, that currently the transposition of the Clean Energy Package by the EU Member States is incomplete and limiting and as a consequence, in the short term, the full potential of PEBs and PEDs cannot be exploited.

  • Publication (PDF 0.53MB)
• State of the Art on Sustainability Assessment of Positive Energy Districts: Methodologies, Indicators and Future Perspectives 
  September 2021
  Author(s): Francesco Guarino, Adriano Bisello, Dorian Frieden, Joana Bastos, Alberto Brunetti, Maurizio Cellura, Marco Ferraro, Alberto Fichera, Emanuela Giancola, Matthias Haase, Julia Kantorovitch, Camilla Neumann, Rose Mankaa, Ivan Luque Segura, Marzia Traverso, Giovanni Tumminia, Rosaria Volpe & Xiaojin Zhang
  Publisher: Springer
  

  The concept of Positive Energy District is one of the main areas of research and extensive applications of the principles of the clean energy transition within the building sector. In the past years, the most widely accepted definitions have focused specifically on carbon neutrality, while several other aspects regarding all sustainability approaches (including environmental, social and economic perspective) were included qualitatively or to a lesser degree. This paper proposes a discussion on the state of the art of the sustainability assessment of Positive Energy Districts, by investigating environmental, social and economic sustainability applications. The three sustainability dimensions are investigated individually first, while discussing methodological insights, key performance indicators used and quantitative results, as well as in an integrated perspective. Finally, the paper describes research gaps and areas for further development on the topic.
• Sustainable Development Goals and Performance Measurement of Positive Energy District: A Methodological Approach 
  September 2021
  Publisher: Springer
  

  The “Positive Energy Districts and Neighbourhoods for Sustainable Urban Development” program launched by the European Union can be considered a milestone towards the clean energy transition and carbon neutrality of urban areas. The achievement of this ambitious transition requires properly defined methodologies and action plans grounded on the main environmental, economic, and social pillars of sustainability. This paper is focused on the definition of a methodology for the characterization of PEDs sustainability assessment in terms of Sustainable Development Goals. In particular, the main research question to be answered regards the allocation of the surplus energy of PEDs to target the sustainable development and growth of living areas. The main implications of SDG7, referring to the modern and reliable energy access for all, are here discussed and shaped around the features of PEDs. Interlinkages with other SDGs are proposed and measured with ad hoc defined indicators. In this sense, this paper can represent an attempt to orient urban planning decisions not only for the definition of PEDs but also for their practical environmental, economic, and social implications in the long term.

  
  ISBN: 978-981-16-6268-3
• Qualitative Assessment Methodology for Positive Energy District Planning Guidelines 
  September 2021
  Author(s): Hans-Martin Neumann; Sergio Díaz Garayo; Niki Gaitani; Daniele Vettorato; Laura Aelenei; Judith Borsboom; Ghazal Etminan; Anna Kozlowska; Francesco Reda; Jørgen Rose; Pekka Tuominen
  Publisher: Springer, Singapore
  Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) have recently become an important concept for urban development. However, the number of publications on the transfer of the PED concept to practice is still very limited. This conference paper presents an analysis of the current state of the art in guidelines regarding the planning and implementation of PEDs based on the analysis of 25 PED guidelines reported by anonymous contributors, collaborating in the development of the IEA EBC Annex 83 activities. From this analysis, it becomes clear that nearly all documents including were produced in the period 2018–2020. Most guidelines address local and/or regional governments, focusing predominantly on urban development and planning processes or technological solutions, mostly at the scale level of the district or city, and less often at building block or individual building level. Although some of the documents are journal papers with a very narrow view on specific technological design or implementation aspects, seven guidelines can provide city administrations, urban stakeholders, solution providers and research with overall information on and suggestions for the process of planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluation of PEDs, and a description of the potential impact of PEDs. They result of the analysis will serve as baseline for the future work within IEA Annex 83, in particular for drafting IEA Annex 83 guidelines for the planning and implementation of PEDs.
  ISBN: 978-981-16-6269-0
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  Local Production and Storage in Positive Energy Districts: The Energy Sharing Perspective 
  July 2021
  Author(s): Alberto Fichera, Alessandro Pluchino, Rosaria Volpe
  Publisher: Front. Sustain. Cities
  

  In response to the Positive Energy District transition, this paper proposes an energy tool for the modeling of energy sharing configurations among buildings equipped with energy production systems and distributive storages. The model is targeted for urban planners and energy policymakers and gives insights into the role of buildings in fostering the achievement of net-zero energy balances in districts when virtual or physical peerto- peer configurations are established in the area. A real urban district is considered as a case study and the energy performances are measured against properly defined Key Performance Indicators. Results confirm the strategic role played by energy sharing among buildings in achieving self-sufficient and carbon-neutral areas. In particular, the insertion of storages allows not only for higher self-sufficiency of the area (by facilitating the coupling of production and demand) but also for higher distribution rates among buildings. However, photovoltaic insertion and storages should be appropriately balanced since it has been observed that at increasing the number of production and storage systems, the distribution is reduced in favor of autonomy, thus limiting the usefulness of an interconnected local distribution grid.

  • Publication (PDF 1.42MB)
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  Characterizing Positive Energy District (PED) through a Preliminary Review of 60 Existing Projects in Europe 
  July 2021
  Author(s): Xingxing Zhang, Santhan R. Penaka, Samhita Giriraj, Maria N. Sánchez, Paolo Civiero, Han Vandevyvere
  Editor(s): Francesco Nocera
  Publisher: MDPI
  Positive Energy District (PED) is recently proposed to be an integral part of a district/urban energy system with a corresponding positive influence. Thus, the PED concept could become the key solution to energy system transition towards carbon neutrality. This paper intends to report and visualize the initial analytical results of 60 existing PED projects in Europe about their main characteristics, including geographical information, spatial-temporal scale, energy concepts, building archetypes, finance source, keywords, finance model and challenges/barriers. As a result, a dedicated date base is developed and it could be further expanded/interoperated through an interactive dashboard. It is found that Norway and Italy have the most PED projects so far. Many PED projects state a ‘yearly’ time scale while nearly 1/3 projects have less than 0.2 km2 area in terms of spatial scale. The private investment together with regional/national grants is commonly observed. A mixture of residential, commercial and office/social buildings are found. The most common renewable energy systems include solar energy, district heating/cooling, wind and geothermal energy. Challenges and barriers for PED related projects vary from the planning stage to the implementation stage. Furthermore, the text mining approach is applied to examine the keywords or concentrations of PED-related projects at different stages. These preliminary results are expected to give useful guidance for future PED definitions and proposals of ‘reference PED'.

  • Publication (PDF 5.67MB)
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  A techno-economic analysis of an optimal self-sufficient district 
  April 2021
  Author(s): Ari Laitinen, Oscar Lindholm, Ala Hasan, Francesco Reda, Åsa Hedman
  Many cities and districts have announced that their ultimate goal is to be energy self-sufficient, but there are many technical and economic challenges that are required to be studied. The aim of this study is to find cost- optimal technical solutions for districts with high energy self-sufficiency rates that can cover their electricity demand. Two methods are applied, a rule-based method and an optimization method, to find the renewable energy system capacities for local centralized wind power, solar photovoltaic, battery, heat storage and heat pump in a district with a minimum life cycle cost. The Kalasatama district in Helsinki-Finland, is taken as a case study. The results show that the full energy self-sufficiency target requires very high investments in the renewable energy systems. For the studied case, reducing the self-sufficiency rate to 76% can bring down the life cycle cost by 66% and achieve a net-zero annual energy balance. It is economically and technically more feasible to aim achieving Positive Energy District or Net-Zero Energy District instead of full energy self-sufficiency. Based on the obtained results, the main investment should be made in wind power, due to its higher utilization rate around the year compared to solar photovoltaic. Investments in the expensive centralized battery storage sharply drops when the self-sufficiency rate is reduced from 100%. It is revealed that due to the high population density and limited availability of renewables, the physical boundary of a district may not fit the required renewable energy installations if high self-sufficiency is targeted. This will frequently lead to expanding the district boundary towards a virtual balancing boundary.

  • Publication (PDF 2.95MB)
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  IEA EBC Annex83 Positive Energy Districts (PDF 1.58MB) 
  March 2021
  Author(s): Åsa Hedman, Hassam Ur Rehman, et al.
  Publisher: MDPI
  At a global level, the need for energy efficiency and an increased share of renewable energy sources is evident, as is the crucial role of cities due to the rapid urbanization rate. As a consequence of this, the research work related to Positive Energy Districts (PED) has accelerated in recent years. A common shared definition, as well as technological approaches or methodological issues related to PEDs are still unclear in this development and a global scientific discussion is needed. The International Energy Agency’s Energy in Buildings and Communities Programme (IEA EBC) Annex 83 is the main platform for this international scientific debate and research. This paper describes the challenges of PEDs and the issues that are open for discussions and how the Annex 83 is planned and organized to facilitate this and to actively steer the development of PEDs major leaps forward. The main topics of discussion in the PED context are the role and importance of definitions of PEDs, virtual and geographical boundaries in PEDs, the role of different stakeholders, evaluation approaches, and the learnings of realized PED projects.
• 

  Exploring tools and indicators to support collaborative planning, design, implementation, operation, and evaluation of Positive Energy Districts 
  Author(s): M B Andreucci, M Delli Paoli and M Haase
  Publisher: IOP Publishing Ltd
  

  The study defines an integrated parametric workflow to support PED collaborative design and implementation. Through a preliminary detailed analysis, existing tools for urban building performance simulation and microclimatic analysis were identified, tested, and selected, aiming at maximising their interoperability potential and overall support to collaborative PED planning practices. Subsequently, it is illustrated how to conduct an ex-post simulation analysis of medium and long-term interventions, with specific projections of different scenarios considering climate change impacts on energy demand. The evaluation of the proposed climate-adaptive interventions takes place using tools for the optimization of systems and technical solutions at the basis of the energy surplus and decarbonization of districts and neighbourhoods. The aim of this research is twofold: i) shading light on the absence of data management, especially at the initial stages of the PED project, resulting in uncertainty and slow-down of the whole implementation process, as well as associated difficulties to trigger virtuous replicability processes towards inclusive urban energy transitions; and ii) promoting the adoption of tools and integrated climate adaptation and mitigation frameworks to support collaborative planning and evaluation of Positive Energy Districts.

  • Publication (PDF 0.75MB)
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  Assessing pathways to carbon neutrality in a neighbourhood study in Germany 
  Author(s): Miaomiao He, Isabell Nemeth, Astrid von Blumenthal, Thomas Haupt, Jochen Stopper and Johannes Jungwirth
  Publisher: IOP Publishing Ltd
  

  Neighbourhoods are becoming more and more important for the success of the energy transition and achieving the climate protection goals. This paper describes results from a case study of a typical residential neighbourhood in Germany, in which investigation of pathways to climate neutrality has been carried out. Both technical potential and challenge under the current legal framework are presented. The aims are to answer questions such as to what extent and in what sequence the energy-related emissions of an existing neighbourhood can be reduced in the long term through further integration of photovoltaics, low-carbon technology, thermal storage and, if necessary, building refurbishment. Two pathways are exanimated: in the gas pathway by using CHP units with biogas and in the electricity pathway by electrifying the heat demand through the use of heat pumps. Three scenarios are defined for both pathways, which differ in particular by the level of building refurbishment, PV generation, supply temperatures in the heating network and uptake of electric vehicles.

  • Publication (PDF 1.14MB)

Articles

Conference Papers

• 

  Lessons learned from analysing PED case studies 
  March 2024
  Author(s): Matthias Haase, Ursula Eicker, Caroline Hachem-Vermette; Genku Kayo, Hassam ur Rehman
  The development of Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) is a complex process that involves the integration of various technologies, stakeholders, and policies. To facilitate this process, a database for PEDs has been developed as a joint effort of COST Action 'PED-EU-NET', IEA EBC Annex 83, and JPI Urban Europe. This paper reports analyzes international strategies for PED planning and its implementation. To learn from best practice examples, there is an increasing demand for PED cases descriptions that offer a variety of implementation strategies and conceptualizations for the PED concept. The collection of case studies from various settings so far has shown that there is no onefits-all solution for PED implementation, and the overall PED framework definitions require further detailing in the local context. In this paper the challenges and key success factors for planning and implementation of PEDs is described with a focused analysis of three PED cases. One PED case each from Europe, from Canada and from Japan highlights the challenges of PEDs. Similarities and differences of the PED cases are compared and key success factors distilled. Thus, the DNA of PEDs can be further revealed. These are technological solutions, depending on the local circumstances (natural and imposed constraints), planning and implementation processes, and overall local settings (municipality or private sector as a driver) that define the successful implementation of a PED. Overall, the PED-Database provides a valuable tool for the development of sustainable and energyefficient urban areas.

  • Publication (PDF 0.33MB)
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  Evaluating Positive Energy Districts: A Literature Review 
  August 2022
  Author(s): Binda, T., Bottero, M., & Bisello, A.
  Publisher: Springer, Part of the Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems book series (LNNS,volume 482)
  To achieve the climate goals in the Paris Agreement and clean energy transition, positive energy districts must be promoted. A positive energy district is focused on increasing the efficiency of the buildings within it, using the renewable energy it produces, favouring electric and hybrid cars, and storing all the energy produced, in order to make clean energy for the whole city. Positive energy is a concept that takes into account not only the energy aspect, but also the environmental, social, and economic sphere. In order to be effective, this transformation requires the intervention of the community and the local decision-makers. The aim of the paper is to investigate the scientific literature, through the scientific dataset SCOPUS, in order to develop an evaluation framework for energy transition to support the decision-makers. Since the positive energy district is a recent paradigm, the investigation is extended to consider energy fields and takes into account different levels of urban scale. Specific keywords are used in order to find different economic methods in the literature, which can be used to support positive energy transition.
  
  https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06825-6_170
  ISBN: 978-3-031-06825-6

  • Paper (PDF 1.83MB)
• A holistic energy planning tool for Danish cities and districts 
  2022
  Author(s): Muhyiddine Jradi
  Publisher: WSSET
  

  Buildings and building blocks are considered to be a key component in most national and international legislation and initiatives aiming to reduce energy consumption and the corresponding emissions, and to achieve the energy and environmental goals. However, most of the efforts and investigations reported in recent years have concentrated on energy efficient design and performance improvement of single buildings or limited clusters of buildings. Considering the transition towards interconnected cities and communities and the widespread evolution of smart and flexible thermal and electrical grids and microgrids, there is an urgent need to scale up the effort from energy efficient single buildings and clusters to interconnected energy efficient and flexible cities and neighbourhoods. This work presents the first initiative towards developing a holistic energy planner tool for energy efficient and interconnected Danish cities and neighbourhoods. The tool methodology relies on two major pillars: dynamic building energy performance simulations in Energy Plus and data from the Danish building standard BR18. In addition, the tool considers the buildings type, age and use in predicting and reporting the corresponding heating and electricity demands. The paper presents the development and demonstration of the tool in two case study streets in Denmark, each comprising more than 85 buildings. The overall heating and electricity demand of the streets along with peak energy capacities needed and performance gap evaluations are reported and assessed along with highlighting the impacts of a selection of energy efficient design scenarios on the energy demand. Overall, the proposed tool serves not only as a comprehensive city energy planner but also as a simple to use, flexible and user-friendly tool that can be utilised by a wide range of engineers, planners, and decision makers

  
  ISBN: 978-0-85358-351-6
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  Sustainability in Energy and Buildings 2021 
  January 2022
  Editor(s): John R. Littlewood, Robert J. Howlett, Lakhmi C. Jain
  Publisher: Springer Singapore
  Presents research works in the field of sustainability and energy in buildings
  Provides original works presented at SEB 2021 held in Split, Croatia
  Serves as a reference for researchers and practitioners in academia and industry
  ISBN: 9789811662683 9789811662690

  • SEB21 Proceedings (PDF 6.34MB)
• Economic and emission reduction potential of renewable based energy systems in an apartment building in cold climatic conditions 
  September 2021
  Author(s): Hassam ur Rehman, Ala Hasan, Francesco Reda
  Publisher: BS 2021
  Buildings are one of the largest contributors towards emissions. The EU countries plan to cut 80% of the emissions by 2050. The aim of this article is to model two different photovoltaic (PV) based energy systems integrated either with new or old building in a district and to conduct emissions comparison against a reference city level energy system in the Nordic region. The main novelty lies in the analysis of the CO2 reduction potential from the grid and buildings. The relative emissions reduction is found to be 85% when the new building is integrated with PV+heat pump and seasonal storage system compared to the reference energy system. The emission reduction cost of such a system is 8.59 €/kg CO2/yr. Such systems can support in reaching the EU’s emissions target.

  • Paper (PDF 3.81MB)
• A Systematic Approach Towards Mapping Stakeholders in Different Phases of PED Development—Extending the PED Toolbox 
  September 2021
  Author(s): Caroline Cheng, Vicky Albert-Seifried, Laura Aelenei, Han Vandevyvere, Oscar Seco, M. Nuria Sánchez & Mari Hukkalainen
  Publisher: Springer, Singapore
  The development of Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) is arguably the development of an innovation embedded in a community of organisations and individuals (occupants, inhabitants, citizens) who can affect or are affected by the innovation. However, current methods of stakeholder engagement in PED developments do not systematically identify the type of stakeholders by phases of PED development. In this paper, we draw from selected theories on stakeholders in the strategic management literature from a practical viewpoint to outline a systematic approach towards mapping stakeholders in PED developments. The research question addressed is: How can stakeholders be systematically mapped in the different phases of PED development? From a case study involving 7 PED projects, we applied a preliminary tool delineating eight categories of actors relevant for the different phases of PED development. Based on our analysis, we suggest that it is important to reimagine PED stakeholders as interactive actors since stakeholder roles shift during the PED process and to map them on the building, district and the city scale. The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, in terms of managerial implications, we have outlined a preliminary actor-oriented stakeholder mapping framework that is attuned to the phases of the PED process and the different scale of stakeholders (building level, district level and the city level). Second, in terms of research implications, we have extended the notion of the PED toolbox to not only consider technical tools and non-technical tools but also include a category of managerial tools that merits research attention.
  ISBN: 978-981-16-6268-3

  • SEB21 Proceedings (PDF 6.34MB)
• Towards energy efficient planning of Danish cities and neighbourhoods 
  2021
  Author(s): Barbara Kristin Holmsund Jepsen, Tom Walther Haut and Muhyiddine Jradi
  Publisher: ECOS 2021 Program Organizers

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