Abstract
The objective of this research is to study the cost of Net Zero Energy (NZE) communities of different urban scales and densities, while taking into consideration the local climate and the type of buildings in the community. A comprehensive model was developed for this purpose, with which the cost-optimal configuration of renewable energy-related technologies for an NZE community can be identified. To validate the model, data from two case studies that differed in their climate and building types were used. The results of this study contribute to a better understanding of the implications of NZE requirements for urban planning. An increase in the scale of a community was found to reduce energy costs, up to a certain point. Urban density, on the other hand, was found to have a more complex impact on costs, which depends on the local climate of the community and the subsequent energy demand. This underlines the importance of addressing the technological design of energy systems at the initial stage of the urban planning of energy-efficient communities, before the urban density, the unbuilt areas and the building types are set.
Highlights
Introduction and Literature ReviewPrevious authors have explored the possibility of expanding the Net Zero Energy (NZE) concept from a building scale to a neighborhood or district scale [1]
While the high density reduces the availability of areas for PV systems, their reduced importance means that density becomes an advantage at a scale at which a district heating system becomes efficient. These results indicate that the impact of urban density on the cost of NZE communities depends on the local climate and the consequent energy types required to meet the energy demand
It was widely agreed that the enlargement of the NZE concept to a community scale brings multiple advantages, which could result in a reduction of costs
Summary
Previous authors have explored the possibility of expanding the Net Zero Energy (NZE) concept from a building scale to a neighborhood or district scale [1]. Such a strategy could be beneficial since it allows the sharing of needs, costs and resources among multiple buildings It underlines the importance of addressing energy aspects in urban planning at an early stage, by integrating the spatial and energy planning processes [2]. Spatial and energy system planning should be closely linked together early in the urban planning process, since both the energy demand in buildings and transport, as well as the exploitation of potential local energy resources, are determined by the urban form [3] This is of great importance since nowadays there is an increase in the amount of distributed energy generation [4]. The objective of this study is to analyze how the costs of NZE communities are affected by changes in their density and scale
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