Pathways to ZEED

The EPBD, 2010/31/EU directive on the energy performance of buildings, introduces the concept of Nearly Zero-Energy Building (nZEB) supporting the transition towards Zero Energy Emission Districts (ZEED) and potentially transforming cities perspectives in order to reduce human impact on the environment. The EPBD revision in course aims at decarbonising the building stock also taking into account ICT facilities and smart readiness for better knowledge, management, and efficiency both at building and at district level. Most of Italian buildings were built before the 80es’ and more than 25% with specific architectural constraints. Thus the transition towards nZEBs could be extremely difficult, owing to the low new construction rate and to the feasibility of single buildings renovation. The main objective of this paper is to investigate whether the nZEBs could be the only pathway in promoting transition towards ZEEDs, or not, and, in the former case, which would be the benefit to promote transition thanks to Energyefficient Interactive Building.