Review of district-scale energy performance analysis: Outlooks towards holistic urban frameworks

Abstract

Over the past few decades, the world has experienced a major population shift towards urban areas resulting in environmental degradation and increased energy consumption. To combat these challenges, energy efficiency measures are being deployed to improve the performance of different entities within urban built environments. However, effective implementation of such measures often requires a holistic approach to account for existing interrelated and complex relationships between entities at the urban scale. This paper presents a distillation of salient facts and approaches for energy performance evaluation of districts. The studies are reviewed in three sections; (1) concepts defining district energy performance, (2) approaches and methodologies for district energy performance evaluation and (3) system interactions between district entities. The state of the art review reveals that several challenges exist in the initial stages of energy performance assessment of districts. The suggested framework in this paper addresses this issue through pre-processing of data related to entities such as transportation systems and buildings. The framework classifies the available information under three potential categories, namely, 'Subject and Scope', 'Input Data Management' and 'Methods'. This categorisation results in easier integration of multidisciplinary aspects of entities involved in district energy performance assessment.

Integrated distribution system and urban district planning with high renewable penetrations

“…Over time, sustainability aspirations in urban planning such as healthy living, reduced carbon emissions, and general environmental stewardship have culminated in the idea of the net ZED. A variety of ZED definitions have been proposed (Aghamolaei, Shamsi, Tahsildoost, & O'Donnell, ; Carlisle, Van Geet, & Pless, ; Koutra, Becue, Gallas, & Ioakimidis, ; Marique & Reiter, ), generally motivated by a combination of two objectives: a desire for more stringent carbon emission reductions and a developing concern for energy security, including self‐sufficiency and community resiliency. A general definition for a ZED is a district that generates as much energy as it consumes over an annual horizon, but ZEDs focused on carbon emissions may also aspire to be “zero carbon districts,” completely eliminating on‐site fossil fuel consumption or using carbon credits to offset remaining emissions (Carlisle et al, ).…”

Optimization of Municipal Energy Systems with the Use of an Intelligent Analytical System

“…The systems are extremely complicated, frequently territorially dispersed, and also diverse in terms of technology and ownership. As a consequence of this fact, the analysis referring to their technological aspects and optimization of their operation is a considerable challenge [23][24][25]. It should be carried out with the use of advanced analytical systems, supported with computer simulation methods and intelligent analytical systems.…”

Net Zero Energy Buildings and Low Carbon Emission, a Case of Study of Madagascar Island

“…Net Zero-Energy Building has become a popular catch phrase to describe the synergy between energy-efficient building and renewable energy utilization to achieve a balanced energy budget over an annual cycle. Several experts have proposed different methods for designing zero energy and carbon buildings in several types of climate [16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. But no study has yet been done in the specific case of a country in the Indian Ocean (Madagascar, Mayotte, Reunion, Comoros etc.).…”