Novel Energy System Design Workflow for Zero-Carbon Energy District Development

Abstract

The growing urban population globally leads to higher greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and stress on the electricity networks for meeting the increasing demand. In the early urban design stages, the optimization of the urban morphology and building physics characteristics can reduce energy demand. Local generation using renewable energy resources is also a viable option to reduce emissions and improve grid reliability. Notwithstanding, energy simulation and environmental impact assessment of urban building design strategies are usually not done until the execution planning stage. To address this research gap, a novel framework for designing energy systems for zero-carbon districts is developed. An urban building energy model is integrated with an urban energy system model in this framework. Dynamic prediction of heating and cooling demand and automatic sizing of different energy system configurations based on the calculated demands are the framework's primary capabilities. The workability of the framework has been tested on a case study for an urban area in Montreal to design and compare two different renewable energy systems comprising photovoltaic panels (PV), air-source, and ground source heat pumps. The case study results show that the urban building energy model could successfully predict the heating and cooling demands in multiple spatiotemporal resolutions, while the urban energy system model provides system solutions for achieving a zero-carbon or positive energy district.

Las ciencias ambientales y su avance sin fronteras durante la pandemia

“…Su generación in situ, minimiza las necesidades de nuevas líneas de transmisión que, actualmente, presentan situación de estrés, producto de la necesidad de satisfacer la creciente demanda, lo cual conduciría al aumento de la seguridad energética, resultando en una oportunidad para el sector de la construcción (Cámara Brasileña de la Industria de la Construcción, 2016; Samadzadegan et al, 2021). Así, la energía renovable resulta una actividad económica que utiliza el recurso, bajo la protección jurídica del medio ambiente natural (Pacheco y Marques, 2021), motivo por el cual, con relación a las fuentes renovables de energía, Páez (2009) puntualiza la necesidad de:…”

Modeling uncertainty in positive energy districts through a non-probabilistic approach

“…Therefore, the European Union has introduced Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) to initiate and support 100 positive energy neighborhood planning, implementation, and replication by 2025 [1]. These districts are essential to create a comprehensive approach to sustainable urbanization and to take into account technological, spatial, regulatory, financial, legal, social, and economic considerations [2].…”

Characterizing Positive Energy District (PED) through a Preliminary Review of 60 Existing Projects in Europe

“…A series of technical solutions, such as the integration of batteries, electric vehicles (EV), and grid-responsive control, were discussed to promote the development of PEDs [5]. Samadzadegan et al [6] developed a framework to design energy systems for PED or zero-carbon districts, by focusing on estimating heating and cooling demand and sizing related renewable energy systems, e.g., solar photovoltaic (PV) and heat pumps. Shnapp et al [7] proposed handling the energy performance targets by transferring to the district level the minimum energy requirements imposed by the energy performance of buildings directives to individual buildings.…”