Neighborhood localization and global energy consumption
In an article published in "Energy and Buildings", Prof. Emmanuel Rey from the Laboratory of Architecture and Sustainable Technologies (LAST) and the co-authors Sophie Lufkin, Pierre Renaud and Lionel Perret bring new light on the relationship between the degree of centrality of neighborhoods in the Swiss context and primary energy consumption for buildings, infrastructure and mobility. The results obtained highlight in particular the prevalence of human density compared to built density and the interest, on an energy angle, of urban housing for households with a greater number of people.
In a context characterized by the search of strategies leading to sustainable development, the issues related to energy have an increasing role in the built environment. The objective of the research presented in this paper was to compare the energy consumption of seven recently built residential neighborhoods in the urban region of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, in order to identify the influence of centrality on total energy spending. Primary energy is used as a common reference value to include the energy required for construction, operation and transportation.
Operating energy constitutes the greatest impact on the total consumption, which highlights the need for measures promoting the construction of buildings that are highly energy efficient, despite the additional initial investment. The energy for construction and mobility have to be carefully taken into in account in order to tend to sustainable neighborhoods.
Total energy consumption correlates to centrality only when related to households, which highlights the prevalence of occupant density over built density. In a global energy efficiency optic, new housing will have to reply in an attractive and affordable manner to household needs which gather more and more people. Energy issues bring together here socio-demographic issues and encourage architectural exploration the typologies of which are susceptible to bring not only and answer to traditional aspirations of families with children but also to integrate more innovative forms of community housing.
Emmanuel Rey, Sophie Lufkin, Pierre Renaud, Lionel Perret, "The influence of centrality on the global energy consumption in Swiss neighborhoods". Energy and Buildings, 2013, Vol. 60, p. 75 - 82.