Renewable Energy Generation Technologies for Decarbonizing Urban Vertical Buildings: A Path towards Net Zero

Abstract

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, especially CO2, represent a global concern. Among those responsible for CO2 emissions, buildings stand out due to the consumption of energy from fossil fuels. In this sense, initiatives for the decarbonization of buildings and construction tends to contribute to the achievement of the target defined in the Paris Agreement of limiting the increase in global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as well as in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL). This article aimed to identify renewable energy generation technologies that can be applied in urban vertical constructions, contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions in the atmosphere. To this end, the following methodology was adopted: a survey of the Conferences of the Parties on climate change; identification of European Union Legislative Directives for the decarbonization of buildings; and a literature review to identify research that deals with renewable energy generation technologies that can be adopted in buildings. The results indicated that there seems to be a correlation between the growth in the number of articles that deal with the topic of decarbonizing buildings and the increase in world concerns about global warming. A hybrid microgrid proposal, combining different sources of renewable energy such as solar photovoltaic, wind, biomass, micro-hydroelectric, and others for vertical buildings with more than five floors, is presented as viable to achieve zero emissions in these buildings, contributing to future research, that can carry out quantitative analyses and feasibility studies, as well as for experiments and applications in existing buildings and the projects of new vertical constructions.