The Zero-Energy Idea in Districts: Application of a Methodological Approach to a Case Study of Epinlieu (Mons)

Abstract

Rapidly increasing global energy demand has raised concerns about the exhaustion of energy resources and the consequent heavy environmental impact. Improving energy efficiency in cities comprises an initial measure for addressing these phenomena. Within the current context of globalization, EU initiatives and policy targets have been proposed in order to revise urban development strategies and motivate its member states (MSes) toward “zero-energy objectives”. Providing a methodological approach with a simulation district analysis, the present article summarizes how this challenge was analyzed in an existing district in Belgium. This study contributes to the scientific discussion by analyzing the applicability of a holistic approach to zero-energy objectives on a larger scale.

A Reference Framework for Zero Energy Districts in Panama Based on Energy Performance Simulations and Bioclimatic Design Methodology

“…Another approach to establishing site boundaries is the definition of "district." From the description given in [41], it is established that a "district" refers to an urban block. For the present study, a district is an interrelated system that includes buildings, residents, streets, sidewalks, and vegetation in its parameters.…”

Integrated and smart design for buildings and communities

“…Both existing areas [25,37,55,56,42,47,[49][50][51][52][53][54], as well as new developments [48,49,65,66,[57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64], have been studied for their potential to become zero energy. The size can vary from a few residential buildings, to tens, hundreds or more than thousand, in areas with urban or suburban character and in a few cases rural areas.…”

“…The size can vary from a few residential buildings, to tens, hundreds or more than thousand, in areas with urban or suburban character and in a few cases rural areas. A few researchers consider a holistic approach to the energy balance of the district, introducing all types of energy uses in the discussion (buildings, transportation, industry, public spaces) [6,25,44,45,50,51]. Most studies investigate zero energy communities focusing on the building-related energy component, either comprising various types of buildings [52,54,[57][58][59]64,[66][67][68], or only residential [37,42,65,69,[47][48][49]55,56,60,62,63].…”

“…The choice and use of the term are related to the perception of the spatial boundary and the interactions within the boundary. In that sense, considering the spatial boundary, a neighborhood or a district can be viewed as a sub-division of a city [25,45,50]. Effectively, representing a city miniature, a district is not merely an administrative boundary but is charged with the social, energy and cost interactions that are formed within the boundary as well as with the specific morphology that identifies it [45,50].…”

“…In that sense, considering the spatial boundary, a neighborhood or a district can be viewed as a sub-division of a city [25,45,50]. Effectively, representing a city miniature, a district is not merely an administrative boundary but is charged with the social, energy and cost interactions that are formed within the boundary as well as with the specific morphology that identifies it [45,50]. Similarly in [73], it is suggested that the neighborhood is a scale that integrates people and place.…”