Abstract
This paper will analyze and contrast the framing goals and limitations that must be considered when energy master planning is conducted for communities in six different countries. The analyses will be based on findings from countries participating in the International Energy Agency’s “Energy in Buildings and Communities Program Annex 73” The papers cover design constraints such as emissions, sustainability and resilience goals, regulations and directives, and regional and local limitations such as available energy types, local conditions and different levels of stakeholders as well as community objectives. We illustrate how a comprehensive consideration of these constraints can be used to guide the planner toward design options that will lead to an optimum solution for an energy master plan. An analysis of the different constraints on different planning levels was done and the key stakeholders were identified characterized by different governance structures and thereby stakeholder constellations.