Ten questions on tools and methods for positive energy districts

Abstract

Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) are emerging as a new symbol for sustainable urbanism and energy transition in the built environment. The pursuit of PED development is increasingly rooted in several EU policies and initiatives, sparking discourse on the interplay between governance, technological and non-technological solutions, multiple stakeholders, and the dynamics of urban and climatic contexts. As their name suggests, PEDs are characterized by surplus renewable energy generation; however, recent developments in urban environmental science emphasize the critical need for an integrated approach to achieve the key performance indicators of the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Consequently, PED designs must dynamically integrate several stakeholders. These complexities intersect with urban challenges such as urban heat islands, microclimates, nature-based solutions integration, future climatic conditions, resource availability, social vibrancy, connectivity, walkability, economic activity, and more. Current tools are fragmented, severely limiting their ability to support such a multifaceted design process. This paper describes a holistic framework for tools and methods for PED design through a set of relevant questions. Drawing upon the expertise of nine researchers with complementary practical and scientific experience in various aspects of district-scale environmental performance analysis, we offer a comprehensive overview of the scopes, methods, metrics, and toolchains for PEDs, along with available tools to integrate them into different phases of the design process. This paper highlights both the challenges and opportunities ahead, emphasizing the cutting-edge methods and tools necessary to achieve robust, resilient, and data-driven processes for PED designs in a dynamic, multi-scale, and multi-disciplinary urban environment.