Zero energy concept at neighborhood level: A case study analysis

The concept of zero energy has emerged as the flagship for the achievement of energy conservation and CO2 emissions reduction in the built environment. The implementation of the concept beyond single buildings offers the potential of expanding the scale of zero energy performance while overcoming the limitations of single buildings related to building use, size, on-site renewable energy availability and cost. Literature to date has discussed the zero energy concept at neighborhood scale mostly by looking at theoretical and simulated cases, including both existing and new developments. All types of energy use can be considered for achieving a zero energy balance at neighborhood scale or only the building related component. Often research focuses on Renewable Energy sizing and management for achieving the balance. The present paper analyses the real data obtained from the first year of monitoring of a pilot Zero Energy Neighborhood. A comprehensive monitoring schema, with a Web-GIS monitoring platform at its core, has been developed for the measurement and verification campaign. Performance analysis has shown that the pilot neighborhood has achieved the targets set for the net regulated consumption, renewable energy production, and cost. When considering the total consumption and PV production of the neighborhood, the first five months of monitoring starting from the beginning of summer, it has achieved a positive balance. Overall, the neighborhood has achieved a positive energy balance on a yearly basis for its regulated energy needs.