. Environmental challenges imposed by greenhouse gases are currently well recognized and a worldwide commitment tends to be reached, to replace fossil fuels (mainly responsible for global warming and climatic changes) with renewables. Concepts were formulated, as the Net Zero Energy Building (NZEB), although the current building stock mainly consists of old buildings (97%). Thus, technical and cost-related barriers are faced and transition concepts are formulated, as the Nearly Zero Energy

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... ing (nZEB), legally binding for the EU states (starting with 2019/2021), that may ease the transition and can be realistically met, considering the current situation. Following this pattern the paper proposes the Nearly Zero Energy Communities (nZEC) concept, as a transition path to be implemented in various geographical locations, with specific prerequisites. Different scenarios are discussed based on coherent technical solutions, involving large(r) community/districts; the public support is required for a clear definition of the short and long-term community gains.