Positive Energy Building Definition with the Framework, Elements and Challenges of the Concept

Buildings account for 36% of the final energy demand and 39% of CO2 emissions worldwide. Targets for increasing the energy efficiency of buildings and reducing building related emissions is an important part of the energy policy to reach the Paris agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. While nearly zero energy buildings are the new norm in the EU, the research is advancing towards positive energy buildings, which contribute to the surrounding community by providing emission-free energy. This paper suggests a definition for positive energy building and presents the framework, elements, and challenges of the concept. In a positive energy building, the annual renewable energy production in the building site exceeds the energy demand of the building. This increases two-way interactions with energy grids, requiring a broader approach compared to zero energy buildings. The role of energy flexibility grows when the share of fluctuating renewable energy increases. The presented framework is designed with balancing two important perspectives: technical and user-centric approaches. It can be accommodated to different operational conditions, regulations, and climates. Potential challenges and opportunities are also discussed, such as the present issues in the building’s balancing boundary, electric vehicle integration, and smart readiness indicators

Community description

petersanders2015aThis document constitutes the 3rd revision of Ready4SmartCities’ Community Description onthe plan on how to build a community for the Ready4SmartCities roadmap, vision andoutcome, also in the light of the targeted data interoperability proposals work packages 2, 3and 4 dealt with. It intends to depict the project’s community of communities at the end ofthe project’s lifetime, the different means the project used to get in touch with it and the viewof building a “data community” via semantic web technologies. It recapitulates and criticallyassesses the problems encountered during the execution of the project concerninginteractions and a channel used, and discusses issues arising in the work to fully reach thetargeted audience(s)

Benchmarking Nature-Based Solution and Smart City Assessment Schemes Against the Sustainable Development Goal Indicator Framework

Increasing global urbanization yields substantial potential for enhanced sustainability through careful management of urban development and optimized resource use efficiency. Nature-based solutions (NBS) can provide a means for cities to successfully navigate the water-energy-climate relationship, thus enhancing urban resilience. Implementation of NBS can improve local or regional economic resilience underpinned by the sustainable use of natural resources. The innovative governance, institutional, business, and finance models and frameworks inherent to NBS implementation also provide a wealth of opportunity for social transformation and increased social inclusiveness in cities. The ultimate benefit of NBS implementation in cities is increased livability, which is typically measured as a function of multiple social, economic and environmental variables. Given the range of different interventions classified as NBS and the cross-sectoral character of their co-benefits, different assessment schemes can be used to evaluate NBS performance and impact. Herein, performance and impact indicators within three robust NBS- and Smart City-related assessment schemes—Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES), Knowledge and Learning Mechanism on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (EKLIPSE), and Smart City Performance Measurement Framework (CITYkeys)—were critically analyzed with respect to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11, “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.” Each selected assessment scheme was benchmarked with respect to the Inter-Agency Expert Group on SDG Indicators' global indicator framework for the sub-objectives of SDG 11. The alignment between each of the selected NBS assessment schemes and the SDG indicator framework was mapped with particular emphasis on consistency with city-level framework indicators for each SDG 11 sub-objective. The results were illustrated as composite scores describing the alignment of the analyzed NBS and Smart city assessment schemes with the SDG 11 sub-objectives. These results facilitate NBS assessment scheme selection based on alignment between each analyzed assessment scheme and specific SDG 11 sub-objectives. Cities face multiple challenges amidst a complex hierarchy of legislative, regulatory and other stakeholder obligations. The present study showed that strategic selection of an NBS assessment scheme which closely aligns with one or more sub-objectives within SDG 11 can maximize operational efficiency by exploiting synergies between evaluation schemes

Innovation and research roadmap

hukkalainen2015aThe READY4SmartCities (R4SC) project examines the adaption of Information and CommunicationTechnologies (ICT) in energy systems, in order to improve their sustainability and energy efficiency insmart cities. This deliverable presents an innovation and research roadmap, suggesting thedevelopment needs of ICTs in short, medium and long term for the holistic design, planning andoperation of energy systems. The focus is on large energy systems at the city level: centralized anddistributed energy systems with connections to both national level energy systems and to theneighbourhood and building level energy systems.The roadmap is divided into five roadmap sections: citizens, the building sector, the energy sector,municipality and energy data. Each roadmap sector introduces drivers, needs and requirements,visions, barriers, expected impacts and key stakeholders. In the following, the goals of the differentroadmap sections are specified from the viewpoints of key stakeholders. The role of ICTs and energydata in enabling these goals is also identified.The involvement of citizens in decision making related to energy aspects should be increased. Citizensshould take an active role in the operation and use of energy to improve their energy behaviour. ICTscould help citizens to improve their energy behaviour by making them aware of the impacts of theiractions.Buildings should become connected objects operating actively with energy networks and are optimizedto balance the energy behaviour and thereby maximize the comfort of the inhabitants. Efficient energyuse and on-site renewable energy production in the buildings is expected to be of high importance.Buildings could also be able to act as energy providers. This requires the smart use of data from thebuilt environment, energy grids, the weather etc., implying that interoperability is ensured at differentlevels.The energy supply in cities should rely both on distributed and centralised energy production with usingmany renewable and local energy sources. Cities would become large power plants and virtual storage,reacting flexibly on the availability of renewables. ICT standards are needed for the communicationbetween all the energy systems.Municipalities should foster the integration of different city systems to maximize their synergy impacts.Efficient energy use and supply could be realized through appropriate decision making, energyplanning, development projects and daily operation within cities. Energy supply and use are integratedto other city operations with various ICT solutions.Access to open energy data would enable the sharing of cross-domain data between differentstakeholders, leading to the consolidation of energy-related knowledge in cities. The use of energy datawould also give the stakeholders a holistic view of the energy systems.The repeating theme throughout the roadmap is a strong need for broad collaboration, communicationand interoperability within all the stakeholder networks. This requires the standardisation of bothinterfaces and systems themselves, to enable cross-organisational operation

Vähäpäästöiset energiajärjestelmät energiatehokkailla alueilla ̶ Kokonaisvaltainen energiasuunnittelu - analyysi ja liiketoimintamahdollisuudet

Many climate and energy policy frameworks are leading to stricter energy efficiency and emission regulations and growing share of renewable energy. These will cause changes to the planning and management of energy systems at the local level. Achieving of energy efficient and sustainable districts requires holistic energy planning and optimal energy management. City planners and municipality authorities make many design choices and decisions that significantly impact the energy efficiency and emissions of districts. Energy efficient urban planning can be supported by analysing the energy performance of districts and comparing the environmental impacts of energy system alternatives. Holistic design and management of district energy systems were studied as a part of sustainable urban planning. The main research themes were 1) district energy analysis, and 2) business concepts for district energy systems and services. The research builds on 14 energy scenario analyses for real life urban planning cases in Finland and abroad. Then, a practical framework and tool was developed for evaluating holistic district energy systems and their environmental impacts in Finland. The tool shows the impacts of urban planning choices on the annual energy demand of a district and compares the carbon emissions of energy supply alternatives. The results can foster and support discussion and raise new ideas for alternative district energy systems. The near future changes in the foreseen energy transition in cities can make the designing and the management of the district energy systems more complex. Holistic coordination of energy system planning and control are crucial for sustainable district energy systems. New business opportunities are foreseen in the planning and management of local energy systems. District energy services can be arranged in many different ways depending on the needs of the participating actors and the local operation environment. In this research, a set of business concept elements were developed in a form of a cook book. The business concept elements can be modified and combined to create case-specific business models by accounting for local operation environment, conditions and needs.Monet energia- ja ympäristötavoitteet ohjaavat parantamaan energiatehokkuutta, vähentämään päästöjä ja lisäämään uusiutuvan energian osuutta. Näistä aiheutuu muutoksia aluetason energiajärjestelmien suunnitteluun, hallintaan ja ohjaukseen. Energiatehokkaiden ja kestävän kehityksen mukaisten alueiden toteuttaminen vaatii kokonaisvaltaista energiasuunnittelua ja optimaalista energiajärjestelmän hallintaa. Aluesuunnittelijat ja kunnalliset päätöksentekijät tekevät monia suunnitteluvalintoja ja päätöksiä, jotka vaikuttavat alueiden energiatehokkuuteen ja päästöihin merkittävästi. Energiatehokasta aluesuunnittelua voidaan tukea tarkastelemalla alueen energian käyttöä ja vertailemalla energiajärjestelmävaihtoehtojen ympäristövaikutuksia. Tässä väitöskirjassa tutkittiin alueiden energiajärjestelmien kokonaisvaltaista suunnittelua ja hallintaa osana kestävää aluesuunnittelua. Tutkimuksen pääteemoina olivat 1) alueiden energiatarkastelu, ja 2) liiketoimintakonseptit alue-energiajärjestelmille ja -palveluille. Tutkimus pohjautuu 14 todellisen aluesuunnitelman energiatarkastelulle. Tutkimuksessa kehitettiin käytännönläheinen lähestymistapa ja työkalu, jolla voidaan arvioida kokonaisvaltaisesti alue-energiajärjestelmiä ja niiden ympäristövaikutuksia Suomessa. Kehitetyllä Kurke-työkalulla voidaan näyttää, miten aluesuunnittelun valinnat vaikuttavat alueen vuotuiseen energiantarpeeseen, ja vertailla eri energiantuotantovaihtoehtojen kasvihuonekaasupäästöjä. Tarkastelun tulokset voivat tukea keskustelua ja tuoda uusia vaihtoehtoja alueiden energiajärjestelmiin ja niihin liittyviin suunnitteluvalintoihin. Lähitulevaisuudessa energiajärjestelmissä tapahtuu muutoksia, jotka voivat tehdä alue-energiajärjestelmien suunnittelusta ja ohjauksesta monimutkaisempaa. Optimaalinen energiahallinta ja kokonaisvaltainen energiajärjestelmän suunnittelun ja käytön koordinointi ovat avainasemassa, kun tavoitellaan kestäviä alue-energiajärjestelmiä. Paikallisten energiajärjestelmien suunnittelusta ja hallinnasta voi syntyä myös uusia liiketoimintamahdollisuuksia. Aluetason energiapalveluja voidaan järjestää monilla eri tavoilla, riippuen osapuolien tarpeista ja paikallisista lähtökohdista. Tässä tutkimuksessa kehitettiin kokoelma liiketoimintakonsepteja ja osakonsepteja, jotka on esitetty alue-energiapalveluiden "keittokirjana". Näitä konsepteja ja elementtejä yhdistelemällä voidaan kehittää paikalliseen toimintaympäristöön, olosuhteisiin ja tarpeisiin sovitettuja liiketoimintamalleja alue-energiapalveluille