Page 29 - Guidelines for cities to achieve carbon Net Zero through digital transformation

5 Initiatives

Zero Energy Building Initiative

To achieve in this goal, Zero Energy Building (ZEB) is one of the most important pillars. The
concept of ZEB was introduced in the early 2000s, and its popularity increased rapidly worldwide;
nevertheless, there is still a lack of agreement on its definition. Moreover, ZEB requirements vary
by nation. At the technical level, ZEB is equipped with renewable energy systems and generates
as much energy as it consumes over a specific period. As technology evolved, so the definition of
ZEB extended to residential and public buildings. In 2020, the five biggest economies of APEC
(Asia-Pacific Energy Cooperation), which are Canada, China, Japan, Korea (Republic of) and the USA
announced a carbon-neutral goal towards 2050/2060, which will significantly affect the building
sector. Simultaneous with the APEC ZEB project, several economies have achieved, and published,
successful practices and fruitful research outcomes - these include Australia, Canada, Chile, China,
Japan, Korea (Republic of), Malaysia, Russia, Singapore and the USA (Zhang et al., 2021). To reduce
carbon emissions, the Korean Government implemented a series of polices aimed at promoting
a sustainable economy. The 2020 promulgated “2050 Carbon Neutral Strategy of the Republic of
Korea” introduced the goal of achieving carbon neutrality in all sectors by 2050, while introducing
multiple related emission reduction strategies for the building sector. All new public buildings
would need to achieve the zero-energy standard by 2020, extending the regulation to private
buildings by 2030 (Amoruso et al., 2022).

The “100 Climate-neutral Cities by 2030” initiative

This initiative is part of the European Green Deal strategy that aims to make Europe climate neutral
by 2050. All 27 European Union (EU) Member States have committed to turning the EU into the
first climate neutral continent by 2050. To get there, they committed to reduce emissions by at least
55 per cent by 2030, compared with 1990 levels. The action of European Green Deal suggests the
following: 1

• Transforming our economy and societies. Climate change is the biggest challenge of our times,
and it is an opportunity to build a new economic model.

• Making transport sustainable for all. The transition to a greener mobility will offer clean transport
even in the most remote areas.
• Leading the third industrial revolution. The green transition presents an opportunity for European
industry by creating markets for clean technologies and products.

• Cleaning our energy system. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 per cent by
2030 requires higher shares of renewable energy and greater energy efficiency.

1 https:// ec .europa .eu/ info/ strategy/ priorities -2019 -2024/ european -green -deal/ delivering -european -green -deal _en

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