Towards positive energy district assessment: The case study of Bucharest

Achieving energy-positive urban transformation requires integrated methodologies that assess feasibility at of an urban area as a Positive Energy District. This study applies a GIS-UBEM replicable approach to evaluate energy retrofitting, renewable energy potential, and urban morphology constraints of Drumul Taberei in Bucharest District 6, covering 447 buildings, with residential destination use (443) and schools (4). The findings indicate that deep renovations reduce heating demand by 24 %, but electricity demand remains largely unchanged due to roof area limitations (12 % of total conditioned space) keeping the traditional natural gas-based system. Despite a potential PV output of 48.34 GWh, the district remains largely reliant on external electricity sources, highlighting the challenges of achieving energy self-sufficiency in high-density urban areas, even when investigating smaller area to individuate possible sub-PEDs. • Replicable GIS-UBEM approach to assess the potential of a PED. •Energy analysis of Drumul Taberei in Bucharest and Segmentation of 447 buildings •Economic and environmental analysis post-retrofit of a PED •The role of non residential buildings able to create “virtual” sub-cluster of PEDs