Feasibility study for renewable and low-energy applications in urban building sector

Global warming and fossil energy sources depletion represent an emergency at Planet scale. As a consequenceof the new regulations leading to lower energy demand in buildings for heating and cooling, new technologiessuch as ground source heat pump, are becomingmore and more popular in many parts of Europe,sometimes coupled with PV systems. Some solar thermal applications for heating (combi-systems) and cooling (solar assisted desiccant cooling systems) have also been developed in Europe and the interest in this area is growing. The question is: are these, and other not mentioned renewable based technologies, suitable to other geographical contexts, in particular in the DevelopingCountries? In this study an attempt has been made to give an answer to this question, by proposing a methodology and by assessing the issues that should be considered in a comprehensive feasibility study aimingto promote an effective low energy and renewable based approach in built environment. The approach is presented for Shanghai as a case study; however, the methodology can be applied, in general, for other kind of climates and regions.