Energy Reports 9 (2023) 3733–3744

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Energy Reports
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/egyr

Research paper

Retrofit of renewable energy systems in existing community for

positive energy community
Young-Sub An, Jongkyu Kim, Hong-Jin Joo, Gwang-woo Han, Haneul Kim, Wangje Lee,
∗
Min-Hwi Kim
Renewable Thermal Convergence Laboratory, Korea Institute of Energy Research, 152 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34129, Republic of Korea

article info a b s t r a c t

Article history: The decarbonization of buildings and communities has become a requirement for sustainability. In
Received 17 November 2022 this regard, South Korea has set a target of net-zero-energy buildings, wherein all public buildings
Received in revised form 7 February 2023 with a floor area exceeding 500 m2 must cover 80% of the primary energy consumption using
Accepted 23 February 2023
renewable energy systems by 2030. This study investigated the improvement and maximization of
Available online xxxx
energy from renewable energy systems through energy sharing between buildings by retrofitting
Keywords: an existing community. The feasibility of achieving a positive energy balance was investigated via
Positive energy community simulations. The existing community is comprised of two residential houses and two office buildings.
Building integrated renewable energy Through the retrofit design planning of the existing community, the total capacity of renewable energy
system could be applied at 75.4 kW after renovation. Through simulation, power generation rates of the
Annual energy balance
building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) and photovoltaic and thermal (PVT) systems were analyzed.
Retrofit of renewable energy
The renewable energy generation rates were 2.48 times higher when using BIPV and PVT systems.
Therefore, the analysis of the annual energy balance of the community indicated that 46.2% of the
surplus energy can be generated via renewable energy systems, compared with that of conventional
community. Thus, the retrofit community can be renovated into a positive energy community.
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

1. Introduction zero-energy buildings. In particular, the Ministry of Land, Infras-

Based on climate change forecast data (IPCC, 2021) of the
current scenario of greenhouse gases (GHGs), the climate change
evaluation criteria of the sixth report of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations stated that
net GHG emissions should be reduced by 43% within the next
eight years, compared to the 2019 levels. The SSP1-1.9 and SSP1-
2.6 goals reflect the aim of negative CO2 emissions in the GHG
emission scenarios, focusing on removing more GHGs than that
introduced in the atmosphere.
Buildings contribute 24.7% of the total carbon emissions in
South Korea (MOTIE (Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy),
2018). The updated national GHG reduction strategy for 2030
aims to reduce the GHG emissions in buildings by 64.5 million
tons and 32.7% of the business as usual by 2030 and achieve
carbon neutrality by 2050 (Government of the Republic of Korea,
2020). For this purpose, the roadmap for the mandated zero-
energy development has been revised, and by 2030, all public
buildings with floor areas greater than 1000 m2 are required to be
∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mhkim001@kier.re.kr (M.-H. Kim).
tructure, and Transport is promoting the expansion of net-zero-
energy buildings from single building types (e.g., public/private,
detached dwelling) to net-zero-energy districts and cities. Obtain-
ing net-zero energy in single buildings is not sufficient to achieve
net-zero energy in such communities. Therefore, efforts are be-
ing undertaken to attain net-zero energy not just in individual
buildings but also for large communities and cities.
In South Korea, net zero refers to an annual net metering
policy. According to the annual net-zero-energy policy, a sig-
nificant amount of electricity is generated in the summer on
the roof photovoltaic (PV) system. This leads to significant grid
instability and curtailment of photovoltaic power generation in
other seasons. The limitation of roof area is also one of the major
barriers to promoting renewable energy-sharing rates. During the
winter season, the power generation from PV systems is low,
resulting in the seasonal instability of renewable energy. One way
to solve this problem is using a battery energy storage system
(ESS). However, ESSs expensive and pose fire risks. Thus, the
building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system offers an alterna-
tive solution. Installing BIPV systems into the south-facing wall
can increase power generation rates in the winter season and
provides additional roof installation area.
Moreover, to achieve carbon neutrality in South Korea, it is
crucial to create technology that can expand and maximize the

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2023.02.055
2352-4847/© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Y.-S. An, J. Kim, H.-J. Joo et al.
installation of renewable energy systems because the proportion
of renewable energy in domestic buildings is much lower in South
Korea than in other countries. To achieve a zero-energy building,
particularly in South Korea, where the proportion of existing
high-rise buildings is significant, it is important to develop tech-
nology to install as many renewable energy systems as possible
in the space through retrofit planning and building renovation.
The planning and construction of a positive energy community
(PEC) through retrofit planning and building renovation can raise
the proportion of renewable energy penetration rate in buildings
and communities.
A PEC can create surplus electrical and thermal energy (above
the zero-energy level) by establishing as many renewable energy
systems as feasible and using them effectively inside the com-
munity unit. Through the PEC, surplus energy can be shared with
adjacent buildings and communities, resulting in a community
with bidirectional energy sharing and trading facilities. In addi-
tion, by minimizing the volatility of renewable energy within a
community and maximizing its self-consumption (through dis-
tributed energy production), it is possible to reduce the burden
on the grid, increase the acceptance of renewable energy, and
decrease the loss of energy. Most European nations are con-
ducting positive energy district (PED) related studies, such as
Norway (nine projects), Italy (eight projects), Finland, Sweden,
the Netherlands, Spain, and Germany.
To date, studies have been conducted to increase the share
of renewable energy. Recently, Civiero et al. (2021) investigated
the design of urban zero-energy buildings with a decision-making
program tool for implementing PEDs. This study has been con-
ducted under the policy issues for PED (Magrini et al.). Hamburg
et al. (2020) proposed a plan to apply NZEB by renovating an
existing apartment building and assessed the empirical results.
De Luca et al. (2020) assessed the economic viability of utilizing
new and renewable energy sources, among the methods adopted
for converting existing buildings to NZEB using renewable energy.
Aparicio-Gonzalez et al. (2020) examined the design for extend-
ing the roof of a residential building in a community unit and the
decrease in its primary energy consumption as a result of ZEB
installation. Kim and Nam (2021) investigated the impact of a
full energy efficiency retrofit on energy consumption reduction,
indoor environment, and air quality. They determined that with a
full energy efficiency retrofit, it was possible to realize an energy
cost reduction of 12%, along with a 30% increase in indoor air
quality.
Studies on the energy renovation of building facades with BIPV
have also been recently conducted (Shukla et al., 2017; Saretta
et al., 2019). BIPV systems installed on the exterior of buildings
account for 80% of the roof and 20% of the exterior walls, and the
usage of BIPV systems as curtain walls is growing rapidly (Shukla
et al., 2017). For building energy renovation, statistical and en-
gineering analyses have been mostly investigated (Saretta et al.,
2019). From the literature, remodeling existing buildings using
BIPV systems could provide an opportunity to reduce energy
consumption and carbon emissions. Further, it was necessary to
conduct studies on increasing the energy and carbon emission
benefits by remodeling using experimental data (Ma et al., 2012).
Martín-Chivelet et al. (2018) undertook a building retrofit case
study with BIPV integrated with a new ventilated façade; How-
ever, only a single building was studied, which showed a limited
share of renewable energy. Sorgato et al. (2018) simulated the
renewable energy share and economic feasibility of BIPV applied
to an office building by renovation, and it was found that there
is an economic advantage owing to the low price of the solar
cell compared with the existing building facade material. Aguacil
et al. (2019) suggested an efficient application method for BIPV
and demonstrated the importance of BIPV in high-rise buildings
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Energy Reports 9 (2023) 3733–3744
with vertical wall areas in increasing the share of renewable
energy. Evola and Margani (2016) analyzed the economic fea-
sibility of remodeling an old 8-story apartment in Italy. They
found that the investment payback period was approximately
9 years, with the PV power generation being 50% of the building’s
self-consumption rate with an 8-story East–West orientation.
Experimental analyses of plus-energy houses have also been con-
ducted. Lee et al. (2022) analyzed data measured for 2 years of a
plus energy house using the BIPV system and demonstrated that
the annual surplus power was 35.58%. Therefore, BIPV systems
should be considered when remodeling the building and com-
munity to improve the economic feasibility. However, real-scale
experimental studies that realize PEC are limited.
A feasibility study for achieving PEC via the retrofit of an
existing community through the real-scale design and construc-
tion process was investigated to improve and maximize energy
conservation from renewable energy systems through energy
sharing. For the case study, an existing community composed
of two residential houses and two office buildings located in
the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), South Korea, was
remodeled and retrofitted by integrating BIPV and PVT systems.
The major contribution of this paper is to provide the capability
of renewable energy sharing and feasibility to achieve positive
energy sharing community.
2. Methodology
This study investigated whether there are synergies for an
engineering assessment of the existing buildings to enhance re-
newable energy by supporting the retrofit of building facades
with BIPV. A building was selected for the study, and a design pro-
cess was conducted. Then, using the detailed simulation program,
the energy balance was analyzed before and after the building
renovation process.
2.1. Simulation methods
The energy consumption, power production, and self-
sufficiency rates of the PEC were analyzed using ECO2, a simu-
lation tool based on ISO 13790 and DIN V 18599. ECO2 is being
extensively utilized as software in building energy efficiency
analysis and certification in South Korea. This application can
estimate a building’s monthly energy demand based on typical
monthly weather data and may also predict a building’s monthly
energy consumption based on its system performance. Energy
consumption is divided into heating, cooling, hot-water supply,
lighting, and ventilation energy. Each computed energy can be
used to estimate a building’s primary energy consumption and
carbon emissions.
Performance details by type for the walls, floors, roofs, win-
dows, and doors of the building were implemented. The area of
each part was determined using the building envelope diagram,
and the data was also utilized for the ECO2 program analysis. The
Solar Pro version 4.7 program (Solar Pro, 2020) that was used to
analyze the performance of the photovoltaic system is a simula-
tion program that includes all types of PV systems such as PV,
building-attached PV, and BIPV. This software can analyze power
generation based on the inverter characteristics and reduction
ratio. In particular, 32,000 solar modules are registered, up to 400
solar inverters can be connected, and up to 160,000 modules can
be implemented.
2.2. Overview of the K-PEC
The Zero Energy Town in Daejeon, South Korea was selected
for the case study of the PEC remodeling. The PEC consists of
Y.-S. An, J. Kim, H.-J. Joo et al. Energy Reports 9 (2023) 3733–3744

Fig. 1. Overview of the existing zero energy town (ZET) before remodeling.

Table 1
Physical details of buildings before remodeling.
Location Unit ZeSH-1 ZeSH-2 ZET PTB
Exterior wall W/m2 K 0.120 0.120 0.452 0.120
(Direct contact with outdoor air)
Exterior wall W/m2 K 0.280 0.280 0.423 0.379
(Indirect contact with outdoor air)
Floor W/m2 K 0.269 0.265 0.570 1.406
Roof W/m2 K 0.150/0.076/0.290 0.150/0.290 0.545 4.264
Window W/m2 K 1.330 1.2000 1.330 4.000

four buildings: two residential houses, such as Zero energy Solar
House (ZeSH)-1 and ZeSH-2, and two office buildings the Zero
Energy Town (ZET) building and Performance Test Building (PTB)
(Fig. 1). These buildings were constructed in phases between
2000 and 2008 and were remodeled from 2020 to 2021. The
ZeSH-1 and ZeSH-2 houses have been utilized as pilot houses
for experiments in terms of low-energy passive technologies, me-
chanical systems, and renewable energy technologies. The ZeSH-1
and ZeSH-2 houses had a total floor space of 263.4 and 276.2 m2 ,
respectively, with one basement and two above-ground levels.
The ZET and PTB have 513.62 and 25 m2 of total floor area for
heating and cooling, respectively. The passive performance of
each building type before remodeling is presented in Table 1.
3. Renovation of a positive energy community (PEC)
3.1. PEC remodeling process
The target buildings were renovated to achieve a PEC by
sharing the four buildings as a community cover and sharing over
100% renewable energy for each community’s unit energy con-
sumption. Renewable energy sharing rate is the annual renewable
energy generation power rate over the annual community energy
consumption rate. This study analyzed the renovation of the
building for the application of BIPV and BIPVT systems while
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excluding the renovation of the insulation performance of all
buildings (Fig. 2).
To ensure the availability of the maximum roof area for ZeSH-
1, the roof material and structure were partly removed, and BIPV
and building integrated photovoltaic and solar thermal (BIPVT)
systems were installed. After removing the external wall material,
a new public relations hall was constructed to display the oper-
ational status of the PEC. The roof material was removed, and a
BIPV system was placed on ZeSH-2. After the exterior material of
the south-facing wall was removed, the BIPVT system was placed
vertically. Additionally, after removing the exterior material from
the south-facing wall of the ZET building, a color BIPV system was
installed, along with a white BIPV system on the south wall of
the PTB. The remodeling did not modify the total heat exchange
ventilation system installed in the building.
The roof structure of ZeSH-1 was complex, and the PV and
PVT installation area on the roof was limited. Moreover, when
the PV system was installed in ZeSH-1, the power production
efficiency decreased owing to the shadow of a nearby building.
To overcome this limitation, the first-floor roof structure was
removed to secure the installation area for BIPV and BIPVT on
the southern roof surface. PV and PVT systems were installed on
the demolished roof to exploit the surplus power generation. The
integration of renewable energy technologies, including PV and
PVT systems, was envisaged as a BI system that complemented
the building’s exterior design.
Y.-S. An, J. Kim, H.-J. Joo et al.
Fig. 2. Remodeling plan for the pilot buildings considered in this study.
Owing to the lack of roof space for ZeSH-1 and ZeSH-2, during
the design process of the renovation, structural reinforcement
was employed to secure the roof area, and the BIPVT system
was also placed on the south-facing wall and roof to generate
additional energy.
The ZET building, which was a non-residential building, de-
teriorated the performance of the town and lost the finishing
material function owing to aging and damage to the existing PV
system. Therefore, the existing south-facing wall and PV system
were replaced with color BIPV systems. For the PTB, which was
a non-residential building, the BIPV system was installed on the
unused south-facing wall.
Table 2 lists the PV and PVT installation capacities of each
building considered in this study. In terms of building remodeling,
the precise design capacity of renewable energy systems for the
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Energy Reports 9 (2023) 3733–3744
BIPV and BIPVT systems (relevant to the building envelope) was
75.41 kW. This indicates a 48.01 kW increase in capacity after
BIPV and BIPVT were added to the existing buildings (Figs. 3–
6). The installation area can be enhanced by renovating the roof
design of the building. In addition, the installation capacity can
be increased by securing the installation area via wall renovation
and additional integration into new structures. The amount of
power generated per unit area increased with an improvement
in the efficiency of the BIPV.
3.2. Measurement facilities for PEC
The networks within the PEC were unified through a router
and a hub for each building through one Internet network, as
Y.-S. An, J. Kim, H.-J. Joo et al.
Fig. 2. (continued).
shown in Fig. 7, to measure, collect, and monitor the energy pro-
duction and consumption data for each building in the commu-
nity. First, a smart multi-channel meter (model name: gems3500)
was installed on each building’s distribution panel to monitor the
amount of power generated by the BIPVT, BIPV systems, fuel cells,
and other devices in real-time. As shown in Table 3, the cur-
rent transformer (CT) sensors were fitted in circuit breakers that
were divided into production and consumption. Programmable
logic controller (PLC) servers and modules capable of automated
control were installed in each building, except for KPEB-2, to
ensure the efficient functioning of installed heat pumps, heat
storage tanks, PVTs, fuel cells, and ESSs. PLC servers were used to
monitor the temperature, flow rate, pump operation status, valve
opening/closing status, and operating logic for cooling/heating,
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Energy Reports 9 (2023) 3733–3744
hot water supply, and energy production/consumption for each
element in the building.
The configuration of the database (DB) systems for the real-
time storage and exchange of data acquired from each building
is shown in Fig. 7. First, the data for each building was organized
and saved in real-time using the Maria DB management system in
Windows- and Linux-based DBs (backup), which were separated
by hardware. We also used a system that could supplement each
other if the data in one database was lost or omitted owing to
communication and power outages, hardware failure, etc.
Solar irradiance meters, thermometers, flow meters, CT sen-
sors, and other instruments were installed in each building for
the operation, data collection, and analysis of each device in the
community (Table 3). In the case of PVT, a solar irradiance meter
Y.-S. An, J. Kim, H.-J. Joo et al. Energy Reports 9 (2023) 3733–3744

Fig. 3. Overview of the installation of new and renewable energy facilities, portraying the placement of the newly installed systems (a) before and (b) after remodeling.

Fig. 4. Photographs portraying the remodeling of the buildings and houses.

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Y.-S. An, J. Kim, H.-J. Joo et al. Energy Reports 9 (2023) 3733–3744

Fig. 5. Photographs portraying the installation of new and renewable energy facilities.

Fig. 6. Photographs of the constructed positive energy community (PEC).

was installed at the same angle as the installed PVT to analyze
the amount of collected heat and the efficiency of the meter,
along with a resistance temperature detector (RTD) temperature
sensor and flow meter for inlet/outlet temperature measure-
ments. Furthermore, temperature sensors and flow meters were
installed in the heat pump and the inlet/outlet piping line for the
cooling/heating side of the building to analyze the heat produced
by the heat pump and heating/cooling losses of heat. Temperature
sensors and flow meters were installed inside (placed above the
heat storage tank) to analyze the stratified and stored heat capac-
ities, the temperature of the city water supplied as makeup water,
and amount of hot water used. In addition, the operation statuses
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of the pumps and valves installed in the PVT were also measured,
along with the heat storage tank, cooling/heating piping line,
power production and consumption by each element through the
CT sensor, and the temperatures of the front and rear surfaces and
air layer of the PVT and BIPV.
4. Results
4.1. Community energy demand of PEC
The weather conditions in Daejeon that were used for sim-
ulation are shown in Fig. 8. The monthly average outdoor air
Y.-S. An, J. Kim, H.-J. Joo et al. Energy Reports 9 (2023) 3733–3744

Fig. 7. Measurement database construction status.

Fig. 8. Outdoor air conditions of selected community.

temperature ranges from −1.9 to 25.9 ◦ C. The monthly solar
radiation ranges from 103.4 to 143.1 kWh/m2 .
The thermal and electric energy demands of each building
were evaluated based on the ECO2 simulation analysis. The com-
munity’s energy demand was identical before and after the ren-
ovation process. This is mainly because the passive renovation
of the building is excluded from this study. Table 4 lists the
thermal energy demand for cooling, heating, and domestic hot
water (DHW), and the electric energy demand for lighting. The
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annual heating and cooling demands of the buildings ranged from
58.3 to 170.2 kWh/m2 and from 9.1 to 31.4 kWh/m2 , respectively.
The cooling and heating demand differences between KePSH-
1 or −2 and KPEB-1 or −2 are caused by the difference in
building usage and envelope thermal resistance. The annual DHW
demand of buildings ranged from 7.5 to 30.7 kWh/m2 . This is
because the DHW demand depends on the building usage, such
as a residential or non-residential building. The annual lighting
demand ranged from 8.4 to 16 kWh/m2 .
Y.-S. An, J. Kim, H.-J. Joo et al.
Fig. 9. Comparison of power generation of BIPV system by building according
to remodeling; (a) before remodeling, (b) after remodeling.
4.2. Power generation of BIPV system according to remodeling
The annual power generation of the BIPV system before and
after remodeling was analyzed using a simulation software, as
shown in Fig. 9. The conventional PV system in the commu-
nity before renovation produced 27,737.8 kWh per year. The
annual electric energy production of ZeSH-1, ZeSH-2, and ZET
are 4394.6, 9357.8, and 13,985.3 kWh, respectively. After the
renovation process, the PEC could produce 68,802 kWh of electric
power annually. KePSH-1 generated 18,201.8 kWh, which was
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Energy Reports 9 (2023) 3733–3744
4.14 times higher than before the renovation. KePSH-2 produced
13,512.5 kWh per year, which was 1.44 times more than be-
fore the renovation. KPEB-1 produced 33,062.3 kWh per year,
a 2.36 times increase than before the renovation. KPEB-2 did
not generate power before remodeling but produced an addi-
tional 4025.3 kWh after renovation. The annual power generation
of each building contributed over 26.5% for KePSH-1, 19.5% for
KePSH-2, 48.1% for KPEB-1, and 5.9% for KPEB-2. KPEB-1 ac-
counted for the largest proportion after renovation. The total
annual power generation of the proposed PEC was 2.48 times
higher compared to the conventional community prior to the
renovation process.
4.3. Primary energy and carbon emission savings after community
renovation
According to the simulation of ECO2 and SolarPro software
analysis, as shown in Table 5, the conventional community’s
primary energy consumption and production from the BIPV sys-
tem are presented. During the renovation process, all buildings
were tuned to the positive energy buildings, including cooling,
heating, HDW, and lighting energy consumption. Then, the carbon
emission rate also changed from a carbon-positive to a carbon-
negative emission community. All buildings in the community
showed no change in the energy demand before and after renova-
tion because the building envelope was not changed and modified
during the renovation process. Further, the renewable energy
sharing rate of the community buildings significantly increased
from 58.9% to 146.2%. This indicates that the renewable energy
sharing rates can be reached at over 140% with the installa-
tion of roof and vertical wall areas on the community buildings.
This is also mainly caused by the design improvements in the
construction sector and the implementation of BIPV systems.
As shown in Fig. 10, compared to the total yearly amount be-
fore the renovation, the renewable energy system did not achieve
the overall energy demand and primary energy consumption, in-
dicating that the conventional community was a negative energy
community. However, after renovating the buildings, the primary
energy consumptions of the buildings were at levels that could be
met by the amount of energy generated by the renewable energy
system installed in the building. Moreover, the additional surplus
energy can be transferred to other buildings or communities.
Fig. 11 shows the primary energy balance following the ren-
ovation stages. The first case shows the base case before the
renovation of the community. Subsequently, after renovating
the KePSH-1 and KePSH-2 residential houses, the community
achieved nearly net-zero energy. However, after renovating KPEB-
1, the community resulted in a PEC with negative annual CO2
emissions. Converting the two residential houses into positive
energy houses results in a nearly net-zero-energy community,
including the two office buildings.
5. Conclusions
The objective of this study was to develop a PEC technology for
GHG reduction in the construction sector and attain community
renewable energy sharing. The PEC was designed for renovating
building construction and renewable energy systems towards
positive renewable energy sharing. The community energy design
software and energy data digitization technologies developed in
this study are critical for extending renewable energy sources.
Results showed that 2.75 times more installation capacity of
the BIPV system can be placed through the renovation process.
From this design capacity enhancement, the annual renewable
energy sharing rates can also increase from 58.9% to 146.2%. Thus,
Y.-S. An, J. Kim, H.-J. Joo et al. Energy Reports 9 (2023) 3733–3744

Fig. 10. Primary energy production and consumption comparison of the PEC before and after renovation.

Table 2
Details of the installation of new and renewable energy facilities through remodeling.
Buildings Before remodeling After remodeling
Renewable Installed Installed Renewable Installed Installed
energy location capacity energy location capacity
facilities [kW] facilities [kW]
ZeSH-1 to BIPV Roof 3.3 BIPVT Roof 4.29
KePSH-1
BIPV Roof 15.12
ZeSH-2 to BIPV South-facing 2.92 BIPVT South-facing 3.3
KePSH-2 wall wall
BIPV roof 4.98 BIPV roof 8.3
ZET to BIPV South wall 16.2 BIPV South wall 39.6
KPEB-1
PTB to – – – BIPV South wall 4.8
KPEB-2
Total 27.4 75.41

Table 3
Specifications data of measuring equipment.
Item Instrument Specification of instrument
DASS 3.5i Maximum Power Point Tracking 200∼400 V
PV inverter
Efficiency Maximum >97%
DASS 20i, DASS 30i Maximum Power Point Tracking 480∼800 V
Efficiency Maximum >99%
Solar radiation CMP21 Measuring range: 4,000 W/m3
Accuracy: < 0.2%(@100∼10,00 W/m3 )
Module temperature K-type Thermocouple Measuring range: 0∼+120 ◦ C
Accuracy: ±0.3 ◦ C
Power meter Gems3500 45∼65 Hz
Accuracy: ±0.02 Hz

the building sector can achieve carbon neutrality by designing
and maximizing the installation of renewable energy resources.
Further, the renovation process can reduce up to 53.6 tCO2 of
annual carbon emissions.
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For future studies, an experimental analysis will be conducted
to prove the concept of this community. Additionally, the self-
consumption of renewable energy sources and energy demand
within an hour will be studied to enhance the stability of the
Y.-S. An, J. Kim, H.-J. Joo et al. Energy Reports 9 (2023) 3733–3744

Table 4
Annual thermal and electric energy demands of the community.
Buildings Heating [kWh/m2 ] Cooling [kWh/m2 ] Domestic Hot Lighting [kWh/m2 ]
Water (DHW)
[kWh/m2 ]
ZeSH-1 to KePSH-1 58.3 27.2 30.7 8.4
ZeSH-2 to KePSH-2 59.1 31.4 30.7 8.4
ZET to KPEB-1 40.5 27.1 7.5 15.5
PTB to KPEB-2 170.2 9.1 7.5 16

Table 5
Impact of building renovation on primary energy balance, carbon emission, and renewable energy sharing rate.
Buildings Before remodeling After remodeling
Primary Primary CO2 Renewable Primary Primary CO2 Renewable
energy energy con- emissions energy energy energy con- emissions energy
production sumption [tCO2 ] sharing production sumption [tCO2 ] sharing
[kWh] [kWh] rate [%] [kWh] [kWh] rate [%]
ZeSH-1 to KePSH-1 12,085.3 34,141.0 10.5 35.4% 50,055.0 34,141.0 −7.6 146.6%
ZeSH-2 to KePSH-2 25,734.2 32,682.4 3.3 78.7% 37,159.6 32,682.4 −2.1 113.7%
ZET to KPEB-1 38,459.6 57,251.5 8.9 67.2% 90,921.5 57,251.5 −16.0 158.8%
PTB to KPEB-2 – 5,380.8 2.6 0.0% 11,069.6 5,380.8 −2.7 205.7%
PEC 76,279.1 129,455.7 25.2 58.9% 189,205.7 129,455.7 −28.4 146.2%

Fig. 11. Primary energy balance and carbon emission via renovation stages of the PEC.

national electric grid through the widespread use of renewable
energy-based buildings.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare the following financial interests/personal
relationships which may be considered as potential competing
interests: Min-Hwi Kim reports financial support was provided
by Korea Institute of Energy Research.
Data availability
The data that has been used is confidential.
Acknowledgments
This research was funded by the basic project of the Korea
Institute of Energy Research (KIER) (grant number C2-2474).
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