The impact of density and scale on the life cycle cost of net zero energy communities

Abstract

It is widely agreed that expanding the Net Zero Energy concept to a community scale brings multiple advantages in terms of design flexibility, cost reduction, clean energy and resource management. However, it is less clear what the scale or the density of the community should be to utilize these advantages in the best possible way. The objective of this work is to study how the Life Cycle Costs of new Net Zero Energy communities are affected by changes in their density and scale. To achieve this objective, a model was developed for identifying the optimal configuration of energy technologies for each specific scale and density. The analysis takes into consideration the local climate and the types of buildings in the community. The results of the implementation of the model show that both urban density and scale have a direct impact on the costs of NZE communities, but in ways that depend on the local climate.