Factsheet: Towards Net Zero Energy Public Communities 
June 2023
Author(s): Annex 73
Until recently, most planners of public communities - for example military and university campuses - have addressed energy systems for new facilities on an individual building basis without consideration of energy sources, renewables, storage, or future energy generation needs. This situation in planning and execution of energy-related projects does not support attainment of current energy reduction goals or the minimization of costs for providing energy security.

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International Forum Frankfurt (PDF 54.6MB) 
Towards a Secure Energy Supply in a Net Zero Emission Society
March 2023
Author(s): Dr. Alexander M. Zhivov, Prof. Dr. Peter Birkner
Industrialization starting at the end of the 19th century increased the overall welfare of human beings and contributed to economic growth, political stability, and overall development and security of other sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing. The World Health Organization (WHO) has shown that access to clean, sustainable, and affordable energy plays a crucial role in advancing health.1 Energy is also critical for achieving nearly all other global goals that include eradication of poverty, opportunities for quality education, access to clean water, job security, economic growth, and combat of climate change.

Guide for Resilient Energy Systems Design in Hot and Humid Climates (PDF 21.74MB) 
November 2022
Editor(s): Dr. Alexander Zhivov
Resilience of thermal energy systems is critically important in extreme climates. While metrics and requirements for availability, reliability, and quality of power systems have been established (DOD 2020), similar metrics and requirements for thermal energy systems are not well understood despite a clear need in the earth’s hot and humid regions.

Energy Master Planning for Resilient Public Communities – Pilot Studies (PDF 3.8MB) 
August 2022
Author(s): Anna Maria Fulterer, Ingo Leusbrock,Alexander Zhivov,
The “Book of Pilot Studies” was developed within the IEA EBC Program Annex 73,”as the result of a joint effort by researchers and practitioners from Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, UK, Norway and the United States. The authors express their appreciation to the many involved international contributors and organizations whose efforts allowed to document the pilot studies. The authors would like to personally thank the members of the EBC Program Executive Committee Mr. Harald Rikheim, Research Council of Norway and Mr. João Mariz Graça, Directorate-General for Energy and Geology for their reviews and valuable input to the content of this report. The authors gratefully acknowledge Mr. William J. Wolfe, Writer-Editor, SC-B Consulting, Inc., for his help with editing the report and Dr. Ingo Leusbrock, AEE - Institute for Sustainable Technologies, Gleisdorf, Austria for the cover artwork.

Energy Master Planning for Net-Zero Energy Resilient Public Communities (Annex 73) (PDF 1.17MB) 
Project Summary Report
May 2022
Author(s): Alexander Zhivov
Buildings use about 40% of global energy, 25% of global water, and 40% of global resources; moreover, they generate approximately one-third of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Yet, buildings also offer the greatest potential for achieving significant GHG emission reductions, at least cost, in developed and developing countries. Furthermore, energy consumption in buildings can be reduced by 30 to 80% using proven and commercially available technologies [1]. Different international, national, regional, local, and institutional sustainability development goals are aiming at using affordable, low carbon, clean energy provided by resilient energy systems. Achieving these goals on the national or even on a large city level with involvement of numerous users and stakeholders, requires significant investments and coordination efforts. Nevertheless, experience of public communities that have one owner (including Ministries of Defense, universities, and hospital campuses) where all buildings and the energy system are managed using one cost center, can serve as a model for larger and more complex communities.

Energy Master Planning toward Net Zero Energy Resilient Public Communities Guide (PDF 28.43MB) 
October 2021
Editor(s): Dr. Alexander Zhivov
Buildings use about 40% of global energy, 25% of global water, and 40% of global resources; moreover, they generate approximately one-third of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Yet, buildings also offer the greatest potential for achieving significant GHG emission reductions, at least cost, in developed and developing countries. Furthermore, energy consumption in buildings can be reduced by 30% to 80% using proven and commercially available technologies (UNEP 2013). Different international, national, regional, local, and institutional sustainability development goals are aiming at using affordable, low carbon, clean energy provided by resilient energy systems. Achieving these goals on the national or even on a large city level with the involvement of numerous users and stakeholders, requires significant investments and coordination efforts. Nevertheless, the experience of public communities that have one owner (including Ministries of Defense, universities, and hospital campuses), where all buildings and the energy system are managed using one cost center, can serve as a model for larger and more complex communities.

Energy Resilience of Interacting Networks (ERIN) Tool - User Guide (PDF 1.73MB) 
October 2021
Author(s): Big Ladder Software
The purpose of the tool itself is to simulate the energy flows through a district energy system composed of an interacting network of components. The main contributions of this tool that we maintain are unique in aggregate are as follows:

• the tool accounts for both reliability (failure and repair) as well as resilience to various scenarios (design basis threats)
• while also accounting for topology and interaction between an open-ended number of energy networks
• while providing key energy usage, resilience, and reliability metrics for the modeler / planner

The resilience calculation tool is available as open-source software written in C++

• Software Zip File (ZIP 2.16MB)

Annex 73 Technologies Database (XLS 14.25MB) 
October 2021
The technologies database presented in this appendix was developed based on the information available from various sources. These included; NZP/SMPL tool, MIT LL ERA tool, REOpt tool, U.S. Department of Energy CHP factsheets, Danish Energy Agency Technology Catalogue and information provided by the International District Energy Association, EATON, Schneider Electric, TKDA, and GEF. The technology reliability data was provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Power Reliability Enhancement Program (PREP). The database is comprised of multiple energy conversion, distribution and storage technologies which can be integrated by energy planners into energy system architectures to create different alternatives of community energy systems.

The database features information on mature (first generation) technologies and state-of-the-art technologies available on the market for supplying electricity, heating, cooling and natural gas. It includes technical characteristics and costs and shows the economy of scale for different technologies and the way different technologies can interact with each other.

The database technology information contains general data which is accurate enough to support comparison of different concepts on the planning level, but is not designed for making specific investment decisions, system design, or equipment specification. Information is supported by references and links to examples of technology implementation, including case studies [Annex 73 Book of Case Studies].

Guide for Resilient Thermal Energy Systems Design in Cold and Arctic Climates (PDF 19.6MB) 
January 2021
Editor(s): Dr. Alexander Zhivov
Thermal energy systems resilience is especially important in extreme climates. While metrics and requirements for availability, reliability, and quality of power systems have been established (DoD 2020), similar metrics and requirements for thermal energy systems are not well understood despite a clear need in earth’s cold regions.

Thermal energy systems addressed by this Guide consist of both the demand and supply side. The demand side is comprised of active and passive systems including thermal demand by the process; heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems maintaining required environmental conditions for the building’s operations and comfort for people; and a shelter/building that houses them. The supply side includes energy conversion, distribution, and storage system components. Requirements to maintain thermal/environmental conditions in the building (or in a part of the
building) needed for housing critical mission-related processes and for occupants include criteria to maintain thermal comfort and health, to support process needs, and to prevent mold, mildew, and other conditions that can damage building materials or furnishings.

Energy Master Planning for Resilient Public Communities – Case Studies (PDF 14.53MB) 
January 2021
Editor(s): Anna Maria Fulterer, Ingo Leusbrock
The “Energy Master Planning for Resilient Public Communities – Case Studies” book was developed within the IEA EBC Program Annex 73, as the result of a joint effort by researchers and practitioners from Australia, Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The authors express their appreciation to the many international contributors and organizations, whose volunteer efforts made possible the development of this practical document. Special gratitude is owed to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and its Technical Committees TC 7.6 “Building Energy Performance,” The U.S. National Academies’ of Sciences and Medicine Federal Facilities Council, and the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) for providing a platform for public discussion of the project’s progress and for the review of the document by its members.
The authors would like to personally thank the members of the EBC Program Executive Committee for providing direction, guidance, and support to the project. Special appreciation is owed to the following reviewers, who provided their valuable comments and suggested improvements to this book.

Energieversorgungsysteme: Resilient und Nachhaltig in Die Zukunft (PDF 0.27MB) 
German
March 2018
Author(s): Anna Maria Fulterer, Ingo Leusbrock
Nachdem jahrelang bei Energiesystemen die Themen Effizienz und Erneuerbare Energien im Vordergrund standen, erlangen mehr und mehr zwei weitere Themen Gewicht: Flexibilität und Resilienz unserer Energieversorgung.

Approaches Towards Low Energy Resilient Public Communities: Case Study: University of Innsbruck, Technology Campus (PDF 0.59MB) 
Poster at ISEC 2018 in Graz
2018
Author(s): A.Fulterer, I. Leusbrock, Dirk Jäger
An ensemble of public buildings built in the 60s, owned by the public BIG (federal property company) and used by the University of Innsbruck was to be renovated since some of the buildings components (windows…) had reached their end of life. It was clear that also high energy consumption and low comfort (overheating) were to be addressed in the renovation.