Task 4: Climate Neutral Districts

Background

The need for decarbonisation at every level of society is evident, as is the crucial role of the built environment in municipalities, due to existing instruments and the different sectors involved. Recent developments such as Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) have taken up this trend and researched definitions and deployment methods for these innovative developments. The roots of this development can be tracked to net zero energy buildings, but even though the goal of net zero GHG emissions is commonly stated – much like with a positive energy balance – it remains unclear, how this should be defined and interpreted in practice to quantifiably contribute to municipal and national climate neutrality goals. It has become apparent that there is a distinct need for allocation and accounting methods that enable context-specific, yet verifiably sufficient goals for the energy balances and GHG balances of buildings, districts and municipalities to plan and quantify contributions to national decarbonisation efforts. It is of utmost importance that the developed and negotiated goals at neighborhood and building level must be shared by owners, users and urban developers in a way that measures can be taken. Districts in particular are a pivotal point of this development because they allow a holistic perspective including mobility and other services that cannot be addressed at the building level. It is also a suitable level for municipal intervention and planning, although previous research on PEDs has shown distinct gaps in suitable instruments and processes.