Cities and Energy: Urban Morphology and Residential Heat-Energy Demand

Philipp Rode, Christian Keim, Guido Robazza, Pablo Viejo and James Schofield
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Philipp Rode: LSE Cities, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, England
Christian Keim: EDF R and D Center, Asia Pacific Direction-China Division, Henderson Center, Tower 2, 12th floor, 18 Janguomennei Avenue, 100005 Beijing, China
Guido Robazza: LSE Cities, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, England
Pablo Viejo: European Institute for Energy Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Emmy-Noether-Strasse 11, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
James Schofield: LSE Cities, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, England

Environment and Planning B, 2014, vol. 41, issue 1, 138-162

Abstract: Our aim is better understanding of the theoretical heat-energy demand of different types of urban form at a scale of 500 m × 500 m. The empirical basis of this study includes samples of dominant residential building typologies identified for Paris, London, Berlin, and Istanbul. In addition, archetypal idealised samples were created for each type through an analysis of their built form parameters and the removal of unwanted ‘invasive’ morphologies. The digital elevation models of these real and idealised samples were run through a simulation that modelled solar gains and building surface energy losses to estimate heat-energy demand. In addition to investigating the effect of macroscale morphological parameters, microscale design parameters, such as U-values and glazing ratios, as well as climatic effects were analysed. The theoretical results of this study suggest that urban-morphology-induced heat-energy efficiency is significant and can lead to a difference in heat-energy demand of up to a factor of six. Compact and tall building types were found to have the greatest heat-energy efficiency at the neighbourhood scale while detached housing was found to have the lowest.

Keywords: urban form; building energy consumption; digital elevation models; urban morphology; heat energy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envirb:v:41:y:2014:i:1:p:138-162

DOI: 10.1068/b39065

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