Towards the energy optimization and decarbonization of urban settings: proposal of a strategy at Neighbourhood Level to Foster Nearly Zero and Positive Energy Districts

Optimizing energy management in urban contexts has been one of the biggest challenges of the last decades for both the scientific community and international governments to pursue carbon neutrality, enhance energy security and promote energy equity and accessibility. In this regard, particular emphasis has been given by the EU and its member States on improving the energy performance of built environments by reducing building energy consumption (implementing adequate retrofit interventions) and fostering the integration of renewable energy sources (RES) to achieve the conditions of Nearly Zero and Positive Energy Districts. To this aim, the most recent energy-environmental initiatives promote as an effective solution the joining of energy users into groups/units (e.g., Energy Communities, consortia, etc.) which usually include buildings located in portions of territory, i.e. districts that share and collaborate in the management of energy supply and consumption. The case study presented in this paper intends to provide a contribution to this matter by using a modeling/simulation-based approach involving the evaluation of different scenarios of energy efficiency measures, i.e. building envelope retrofit interventions, RES integration and their combination, in a historic existing neighborhood. The analysis aims at identifying which are the most effective strategies to implement at district level in a typical Southern Italy building context.