Case Studies and Guidelines for Energy Efficient Communities.

IEA ECB Annex 51 Energy Efficient Communities: Case Studies and Strategic Guidance for Urban Decision Makers was carried out from the perspective of communities, towns or cities: Considering the large energy conservation and Greenhouse Gas reduction potentials in our cities and the disappointing results of municipal energy policies in almost all cities, what are the barriers that prevent us from achieving our long-term energy goals in cities or, more generally, in our built environment? What can be learned from successful Case Studies in neighborhoods, districts or cities? Given the great advancements in building physics and energy technologies made during the last 20 years, is there any economically viable way to apply these advancements to whole cities? If we seriously want to achieve the goal of reducing the consumption of fossil primary energy carriers by a factor of four and more, as stipulated by most of the governments of industrialized countries, we must find answers to these questions that are of immediate use for decision makers in our cities. This Annex 51 wants to provide such answers, based on the evaluation of over 20 Case Studies carried out within the 11 participating countries and elaborated in the form of this guidebook on successful local energy planning. In eight chapters and several detailed attachments a manual to derive municipal energy master plans for towns or cities on one hand, and local neighborhood energy plans on the other is presented, which serves as a guideline for municipal decision makers, real estate developers and urban planners as well. The guidebook also describes the methods to derive energy and emissions inventories, energy scenarios and suited implementation strategies for energy master plans. One additional focus are proved methods how to involve local stakeholders into the decision making process. The aim is to provide the user with the capability to understand how to design and implement a realistic energy plan for their city or neighborhood, based on existing experiences and lessons learned from pioneering communities all over the participating countries.