From Problems to Potentials—The Urban Energy Transition of Gruž, Dubrovnik

Abstract

Abstract:In the challenge for a sustainable society, carbon-neutrality is a critical objective for all cities in the coming decades. In the EU City-zen project, academic partners collaborate to develop an urban energy transition methodology, which supports cities in making the energy transition to sustainable lifestyles and carbon neutrality. As part of the project, so-called Roadshows are organised in cities that wish to take the first step toward zero-energy living. Each Roadshow is methodologically composed to allow sustainability experts from across Europe to co-create designs, strategies and timelines with local stakeholders in order to reach this vital goal. Following a precursory investigative student workshop (the SWAT Studio), Dubrovnik was the third city to host the Roadshow in November 2016. During these events the characteristics of Dubrovnik, and the district of Gruž in particular, were systematically analysed, leading to useful insights into the current problems and potentials of the city. In close collaboration with local stakeholders, the team proposed a series of interventions, validated by the calculation of carbon emission, to help make Gruž, and in its wake the whole city of Dubrovnik, net zero energy and zero carbon. The vision presented to the inhabitants and its key city decision makers encompassed a path towards an attainable sustainable future. The strategies and solutions proposed for the Dubrovnik district of Gruž were able to reduce the current carbon sequestration compensation of 1200 hectares of forestland to only 67 hectares, an area achievable by urban reforestation projects. This paper presents the City-zen methodology of urban energy transition and that of the City-zen Roadshow, the analysis of the city of Dubrovnik, proposed interventions and the carbon impact, as calculated by means of the carbon accounting method discussed in the paper.

Planning positive energy districts in urban water fronts: Approach to La Marina de València, Spain

“…The main characteristics are the high energy standards of the buildings, the onsite production with PV and thermal panes and the storage system. Zero Village Bergen [30] and Gruž [31] have adopted zero emission neighbourhood and zero energy perspectives, but their agenda has not yet been implemented.…”

Towards Fossil Free Cities—A Supermarket, Greenhouse & Dwelling Integrated Energy System as an Alternative to District Heating: Amsterdam Case Study

“…In summer, the full capacity of the supermarket excess energy is used to preheat the tap water and the water in the heat pump loop, again narrowing the temperature jump and increasing the COP (point 7). The outflow of the heat pump (point 4) is used to charge the ATES heat source (point 8) and this temperature is assumed to be around 25 • C. The total cooling energy ( 4380 ∑ n = 1 (Q ATES_C (t) × ∆t n )) that should be stored by the ATES is calculated by Equation (11). As mentioned, only the greenhouse is supplied with cooling energy from the cold well.…”

“…Designing a city that produces sufficient renewable thermal and/or electrical energy within its own physical footprint in order to achieve full fossil freedom is a challenging task for urban engineers and designers [10]. A comprehensive pathway towards making the neighborhood of Gruž (Dubrovnik) energetically self-sufficient was described and calculated by Dobbelsteen et al, yet it includes rather drastic urban interventions and theoretical changes that it serves a more inspirational purpose for policy makers than an actionable plan [11]. One energy master planning method that frames this urban challenge is the New Stepped Strategy (NSS) [12], the successor to and an upgrade of the Trias Energetica, introduced by Lysen in 1996 [13], which on its turn builds upon the three staged approach by Duijvestein [14].…”

Recent Advances in the Analysis of Sustainable Energy Systems

“…Van de Dobbelsteen et al [175] presented the results of the EU City-zen project which aims to develop an urban energy transition methodology to be used by the cities in order to achieve the goals of sustainability and carbon neutrality. In order to disseminate the results of the project and to implement the proposed methodology a number of Roadshows are organized in cities aiming to achieve sustainable lifestyle e carbon neutrality.…”