Positive Energy Districts and Energy Efficiency in Buildings: An Innovative Technical Communication Sheet to Facilitate Policy Officers’ Understanding to Enable Technologies and Procedure

The Horizon 2020 framework programme is defining funding strategies for research and innovation projects in European cities and promoting policies and solutions for the transition to a competitive energy system at an urban scale. Given that Horizon Europe, thanks to the Driving Urban Transition Partnership, will fund RD&I projects regarding transitions to urban sustainability; how municipalities will implement different strategies is a relevant key to developing replicable models. We conducted this study on Italian cities through a mapping exercise on selected case studies. The aim was to provide a knowledge framework to municipalities undertaking sustainable urban development actions. We selected case studies based on energy efficiency in buildings, both in retrofits and new constructions. This highlighted how the adoption of multifaceted technological solutions blended well with each other, and led, not only, to satisfy the initial requirements, in terms of expected impacts from the single actions, but also provided relevant and replicable samples. For this, the analysis of solutions tested by different municipalities in the selected projects led to spreadsheets and indicators related to energy efficiency in buildings, which enabled a transition to a PED, which could facilitate an understanding of elements that must be clearly indicated in a preliminary design document (Directive 2014/24/UE).