European smart cities: The role of zero energy buildings

The European "Smart Cities & Communities Initiative" of the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan) supports cities and regions in taking ambitious measures to progress by 2020 towards a 40% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through sustainable use and production of energy. This initiative aims to pool resources to support the demonstration of energy, transport and information and communication technologies in European urban areas. In this effort, the zero energy buildings (ZEB) are expected to play a crucial role. The main objective of this paper is to present the potential contribution of the ZEB principle towards achieving smart cities in Europe. In terms of this study, the evolution of building standards towards the ZEB concept will be presented, followed by discussions regarding the provisions of a SET-Plan smart city and the ZEB definition. Additionally, past studies discussing on the role of zero energy buildings in smart energy regions will also be reviewed. The conclusions of the analysis on the potential of ZEBs in SET-Plan smart cities will provide some useful insight towards the actions required in the building assessment methodologies' developments, in order to achieve the envisioned smart cities in Europe. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.