Reasonable regional integrated energy planning is an important prerequisite for the construction of a Near-Zero Carbon Emission Demonstration District (NCEDD). An integrated energy planning scheme that is based on a three-step planning method with th...
Given the enormous impact of buildings on energy consumption, it is important to continue the development of net-zero energy districts. Opportunities exist for energy efficiency and renewable energy on a district level that may not be feasible in ind...
The need for efficient buildings to contribute to sustainable development has led to the proposal of goals and regulations in different countries linked to net zero energy objectives, following approaches specific to their regions. Such regulations a...
Rapidly increasing global energy demand has raised concerns about the exhaustion of energy resources and the consequent heavy environmental impact. Improving energy efficiency in cities comprises an initial measure for addressing these phenomena. Wit...
Net-Zero Energy Districts (NZEDs) are city districts in which the annual amount of CO2 emissions released is balanced by emissions removed from the atmosphere. NZEDs constitute a major component in a new generation of “smart-green cities”...
Since 2020, Europe has introduced strategies and key policies to promote common efforts on a roadmap toward energy efficiency and decarbonization. From ‘low’ to ‘passive’ and from ‘zero’ to ‘positive’,...
Without decarbonizing cities energy and climate objectives cannot be achieved as cities account for approximately two thirds of energy consumption and emissions. This goal of decarbonizing cities has to be facilitated by promoting net-zero/positive e...
With the aim of achieving a Near Zero Energy District, a series of interventions have been designed focusing on improving the sustainability of the FASA neighborhood in Valladolid, increasing its energy efficiency and reducing the CO2 emissions of it...
In this study, the performance of different cooling technologies from energy and economic perspectives were evaluated for six different prototype residential Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs) within a planned future city district in central Sweden...
The present paper deals with an infrastructure digitization policy to optimize maintenance processes and energy efficiency to transform port areas to ZED (Zero Energy District). The Lazio Region started the process for all its ports in 2020. The Anzi...
This study explores modernization strategies for existing district heating (DH) networks to enhance their efficiency and sustainability, focusing on achieving net-zero emissions in urban heating systems. Building upon a literature review and expert i...
This review systematically synthesizes technological synergies within a Community Energy System (CES), emphasizing cold-climate contexts where heating-dominant demand profiles and strong seasonality create distinct operational challenges. Drawing on...
This paper explores the development of positive energy communities using Eordaia, Greece, as a case study. The approach combines building and district-level energy analysis to achieve nearly zero energy performance through retrofitting, district-leve...
The important goal of decarbonization of communities and cities has resulted in the emergence of new concepts and implementations of Net-Zero/Positive-Energy Buildings and Districts (NZPEBD) in recent years [...]
The depletion of fossil fuel sources for our energy system and the influence on overall CO2 emissions drive the need to more sustainable energy systems. The transition towards a renewable energy system cannot be seen as a purely technical issue; it i...
There is an increased interest in the district-scale energy transition within interdisciplinary research community. Agent-based modelling presents a suitable approach to address variety of questions related to policies, technologies, processes, and t...
High-performance districts and communities offer opportunities for reducing energy use, emissions, and costs, and can be instrumental in helping cities achieve their climate goals. The design of such communities requires identification of opportuniti...
The increasing demand for decarbonized urban environments has intensified interest in integrating renewable energy systems within cities. This review investigates the potential of urban wind energy as a promising technology in the development of Posi...
Increasing awareness of climate issues in recent decades has led to new policies on buildings’ energy consumption and energy performance. The European Union (EU) directive 2010/31/EC, i.e., the energy performance of buildings directive (EPBD),...
In Europe, near zero energy buildings (NZEBs) represent the new frontier of energy efficiency in the built environment. Shifting the scale from NZEBs to net zero energy (NZE) settlements represents the opportunity to achieve further energy, environme...
Districts can be considered as a system of complex interconnections, interactions, relationships and flows. Therefore, a comprehensive approach is essential for effective decision-making with regards to energy efficiency improvement. When addressing...
The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the contributions of building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems to the notion of nearly zero-energy cities in the capitals of the European Union member states (EU), Norway, and Switzerland. Moreov...
The Positive Energy District (PED) concept is a localized city and district level response to the challenges of greenhouse gas emission reduction and energy transition. With the Strategic Energy Transition (SET) Plan aiming to establish 100 PEDs by 2...
This paper presents a novel evaluation framework to assess the effectiveness of city transformation projects related to energy efficiency and sustainable mobility actions. The evaluation framework is part of an Urban Regeneration Model designed to ac...
Buildings account for roughly 37% of energy-related CO2 emissions, and space cooling already consumes nearly 10% of global electricity. Cooling demand is rising fastest in tropical cities, where air-conditioning could reach 45% of peak load, especial...
Prior to the commissioning of a new industrial biorefinery it is deemed necessary to evaluate if the new project will be beneficial or detrimental to climate change, one of the main drivers for the sustainable development goals (SDG) of the United Na...
Net-zero climate districts are gaining wide attention at the European and international levels. Urban regeneration competitions have been launched recently to stimulate development; nevertheless, the literature does not yet provide a shared scope def...
Near Zero Energy and Positive Energy communities are expected to play a significant part in EU’s strategy to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Within this context, the work presented in this paper aims to investigate the feasibility of: (a)...
Power-to-Heat and Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage are emerging technologies that facilitate the integration of variable renewable energy sources into building and district energy systems. This review synthesizes recent advancements in technologies, i...
The pursuit of sustainable energy solutions has become a critical focus in addressing the challenges of climate change and urbanization [...]
The building sector plays a critical role in addressing climate change, accounting for a significant share of global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions [...]
In the face of increasingly severe global climate change, achieving zero-carbon development goals has gradually become a consensus across various industries. Enhancing the electrification level of building energy use and increasing the proportion of...
The energy base of urban settlements requires greater integration of renewable energy sources. This study presents a “hydrogen city” model with two cycles at the district and building levels. The main cycle comprises of hydrogen gas produ...
In order to achieve the objectives of the European 20/20/20 strategy, and to obtain a greater energy efficiency, integration of renewable energies and the reduction of carbon emissions, a District Heating (DH) system has been designed by the Universi...
Nowadays, the methodology aiming to achieve carbon neutrality and net zero energy on a large scale is known. Despite this, few specialists are mastering this technology globally. What new scenarios. applied at the neighbourhood scale. generate a sign...
Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) are integral to achieving sustainable urban development by enhancing energy self-sufficiency and reducing carbon emissions. This paper explores energy balance calculations in four diverse case study districts within d...
To achieve the ambitious targets of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, there is a need for change in all parts of society, industry, and mobility, as well as in all energy sectors. For this purpose, sector coupling plays a crucial role, e.g.,...
In the challenge for a sustainable society, carbon-neutrality is a critical objective for all cities in the coming decades. In the EU City-zen project, academic partners collaborate to develop an urban energy transition methodology, which supports ci...
Climate neutrality by 2050 is a priority objective and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, increasing energy efficiency, and improving the circularity processes of resources are the imperatives of regulatory and economic instruments. Starting fr...
This paper addresses the deep renovation and enhancement of energy efficiency in existing urban areas, aiming to transform them into zero energy districts, utilizing renewable sources. This transformative process is essential to align with contempora...
Achieving a zero-emission building heating sector requires numerous strategies and detailed energy planning, in order to identify the optimal decarbonisation pathway. This work aims to assess the impact of district heating expansion and the implement...
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 renew...
In the European Union’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, the energy efficiency goal for buildings is set in terms of primary energy use. In the proposal from the National Board of Housing, Building, and Planning, for nearly zero energy buil...
Nearly-zero energy buildings are now a standard for new constructions. However, the real challenge for a decarbonized society relies in the renovation of the existing building stock, selecting energy efficiency measures considering not only the energ...
Air pollution is a major concern, particularly in developing countries. Road transport and mobile sources are considered the root causes of air pollutants. With the implementation of zero-carbon and zero-energy concepts at the district scale, cities...
In countries with high heating demand, waste heat from industrial processes should be carefully utilized in buildings. Finland already has an extensive district heating grid and large amounts of combined heat and power generation. However, despite th...
Environmental, economic, and social activities involve inherent spatial dimensions. The geospatial information system (GIS), a platform containing principles, methods, and tools to link, create, visualize, analyze, and model artificial activities and...
Positive energy district (PED) is a novel idea aimed to have an annual surplus of renewable energy and net zero greenhouse gas emissions within an area. However, it is still an ambiguous concept, which might be due to the complexity of city district...
Road segmentation is beneficial to build a vision-controllable mission-oriented self-driving bot, e.g., the Self-Driving Sweeping Bot, or SDSB, for working in restricted areas. Using road segmentation, the bot itself and physical facilities may be pr...
Fifth-generation district heating and cooling (5th DHC) systems offer promising approaches to decarbonizing space heating, cooling and domestic hot water supply. By using these systems, clustered buildings combined with industrial waste heat can achi...
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