Challenges and Barriers for Net‐Zero/Positive Energy Buildings and Districts—Empirical Evidence from the Smart City Project SPARCS

Abstract

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 energy buildings and districts and replicating them, driving cities towards sustainability goals. Many projects in smart cities demonstrate novel and groundbreaking low-carbon solutions in demonstration and lighthouse projects. However, as the historical, geographic, political, social and economic context of urban areas vary greatly, it is not always easy to repeat the solution in another city or even district. It is therefore important to look for the opportunities to scale up or repeat successful pilots. The purpose of this paper is to explore common trends in technologies and replication strategies for positive energy buildings or districts in smart city projects, based on the practical experience from a case study in Leipzig—one of the lighthouse cities in the project SPARCS. One of the key findings the paper has proven is the necessity of a profound replication modelling to deepen the understanding of upscaling processes. Three models analyzed in this article are able to provide a multidimensional representation of the solution to be replicated.

Zero Energy Districts

“…As Brozovsky et al ( 2021) and Koutra et al (2021), Uspenskaia et al (2021) note methodologies of ZED projects have been developed via case studies and many times have tailor-made approaches according to specifically defined objectives of the project. However, the most significant effort to give a generic framework for the ZED project was given by Koutra et al (2021) in RESIZED project where a multidisciplinary approach was applied and 4 strategic phases were implemented: the strategic decision of the NZEDs' installation diagnosis and analysis, assessment of scenarios (action planning) and implementation.…”

Intelligent System Application to Monitor the Smart City Building Lighting

“…Since in this situation no other light source can be turned on (no other off light source is available) no special operation is performed and the algorithm continues to run. It should be noted, however, that this does not usually happen, because the light intensity must at least usually be determined to the extent that it can be met by the number of light sources available [32].…”

Positive Energy Districts: Identifying Challenges and Interdependencies

“…Organizations may be able to convert their supply chains and customer interfaces toward a sustainability focus, but they may not consider links to other business model elements, such as value propositions and financial models in exploring business model transitions [51]. A single company can never meet the needs of a city, nor can a city implement innovative solutions without cooperation with business partners from different sectors [52]. Business models are a tool to define different stakeholders' roles and coordinate their activities and interactions.…”