Holistic assessment of optimal (collective) renovation scenarios in existing neighbourhoods

The renovation rate of the building stock must increase to reach the 2050 climate goals. One of the methods to reach this goal, is to shift the focus to district renovations. Therefore the Horizon Europe Mission Project Neutralpath has been initiated. This project investigates how PCEDs (Positive and Clean Energy Districts) can be achieved in 5 European cities, in an inclusive manner. PCEDs are districts that produce more energy than they consume, and only use 'clean', i.e. renewable energy. The design of these PCEDs is done through participative and human-centre principles. This research is part of the Neutralpath project and investigates the most optimal renovation scenarios in existing districts in a holistic manner, with the Muide Meulestede district in Ghent as case study. Energy use, the environmental impact over the full life cycle and costs will be considered. To make sure the results are accurate, dynamic simulations will be performed and the energy performance gap, future climate data, a dynamic electricity mix and current costs from the building sector will be used. District-specific parameters, such as the maximum available renovation budget of the inhabitants, are also included. At first, different building envelope renovation scenarios will be evaluated. As the renovation budgets might be limited, deep renovations will not always be feasible. Therefore, alternative renovation solutions, with a focus on sufficiency, will be explored. For these different renovation scenarios, collective and individual heating/cooling and domestic hot water solutions are investigated and compared to each other. Thus, the outcome of this research will be optimal renovation scenarios, taking into account the specific boundary conditions of the district. There will also be a trade-off between collective and individual heating and cooling solutions, indicating which is the best solution. The results of this study will be scalable to other similar districts.