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

Abstract

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.

Plus Energy Buildings: A Numerical Case Study

“…Although the PEB concept is evolving and expected to become the target for new and renovated buildings, its definitions are still inconsistent. For instance, PEB is defined as, a Net Zero source energy building [32], a building that produces more energy than is needed, and exporting it to other buildings or systems [33]; a building that it produces more energy on site than it uses on annual basis [34]; the annual electrical energy surplus fed-in to the grid is greater than the annual electrical energy imported from the grid [35]; an energy efficient building that produces more energy than it uses via renewable energy sources, with high self-consumption rate and high energy flexibility over a time span of one year [36].…”

Supporting Cities towards Carbon Neutral Transition through Territorial Acupuncture

“…With the aim of counteracting the climate crisis without altering the urban fabric of highly populated areas, various types of energy efficiency solutions have been implemented in recent decades, especially in Europe, first at the building scale and then shifting to the district scale [6,81,83,165]. The main solutions developed at the building scale are net Zero Energy Building (nZEB), Zero Energy Building (ZEB), Near Zero Energy Building (NZEB), Retrofit Energy Building (REB), and Positive Energy Building (PEB), while at the district scale, they are Net Zero Energy District (NZED), Zero Energy District (ZED), Smart Energy District (SED), Retrofit Energy District (RED) and Positive Energy District (PED) [166][167][168][169][170]. The district energy solutions were developed from the nZEB concept, and among those, PED is the most up-to-date and innovative in energy efficiency at the district level [168][169][170][171].…”

Application of passive and active scenarios to a residential building in a dry and hot climate to achieve a positive energy building (PEB)

“…Therefore, another article explored technology trends and replication strategies for positive energy buildings or districts based on experiences from a lighthouse city in a project. It emphasizes the need for comprehensive replication modeling to understand upscaling processes, with three models offering multidimensional representations for replication [ [14] , [15] , [16] ].…”