Enhancing Urban Sustainability Through Energy Efficiency: A Case Study of a District in Zagreb

This paper presents a comprehensive framework for transforming urban neighbourhoods into nearly zero-energy neighbourhoods (nZEN), using Veslačko naselje, a district in Zagreb, Croatia, as a case study. The structured methodology includes baseline assessment, identification of energy efficiency (EE) measures, technical and economic feasibility analysis, and scenario development The results show that the electrification of heating and domestic hot water (DHW) systems offers the highest total energy savings, achieving over 5.36 GWh per year (128.7 kWh/m<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup>), with 112.44 kWh/m<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> of savings from heating and DHW. Although district heating offers efficiency gains, electrification proves to be the more favourable strategy. The integration of Smart Readiness Indicators (SRI) highlights the role of smart technologies in optimizing energy performance and enhancing urban sustainability. These findings support the transition toward nZEN and provide a foundation for future research into scaling these solutions across various urban contexts.