A GIS-based methodology to increase energy flexibility in building cluster through deep renovation: A neighborhood in Seville

Natural resource depletion, global warming and pollution pose substantial threats in prioritizing environmental policy, both for private organizations and for governments. Half the EU building stock is prior to energy efficiency standards, thus making it an urgent challenge for the EU to aim at decarbonized cities by 2050. Urban energy retrofitting at cluster level represents a major opportunity, as its current rate is lower than an annual 1%, 3% being the EU desirable rate. This paper presents a bottom-up methodology to assess energy flexibility of building clusters within a Geographic Information System (GIS) framework, applied on a district scale. Energy performance certificates and GIS-based data permit diagnosis and neighborhood selection. The methodology evaluates building cluster energy flexibility via energy demand reduction and PV production. The results show the building cluster hourly load profile for heating and cooling, and thermal comfort indexes. It is expected that this GIS-based methodology will become part of a wider spatial decision support tool for environmental public policies contributing to building stock transformation, from energy consumer to prosumer through deep renovation and renewable energy use. Finally, this methodology is adaptable to other climates, particularly within Spain.