E-City Web Platform: A Tool for Energy Efficiency at Urban Level

Miguel Amado, Francesca Poggi, António Ribeiro Amado and Sílvia Breu
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Miguel Amado: CERIS Civil Engineering Research and Innovation for Sustainability, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
Francesca Poggi: CICS.NOVA—Interdisciplinary Center of Social Sciences, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Av. de Berna 26-C, 1069-061 Lisbon, Portugal
António Ribeiro Amado: CIAUD Centro de Investigação em Arquitectura, Urbanismo e Design, Faculdade de Arquitectura, Universidade de Lisboa, R. Sá Nogueira, 1349-063 Lisbon, Portugal
Sílvia Breu: Municipal Development Office, 2784-214 Oeiras Municipality, Portugal

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 7, 1-14

Abstract: Cities, as main energy consumers, play a crucial role in achieving a more sustainable energy future. This means that there is an urgent need to transform the way of planning urban areas, focusing on more efficient and self-reliant energy production and consumption modes overall. In this framework, the aim of this study is to explore the Net-Zero energy balance between two spatial scales: the whole city with its diversified energy consumption patterns, and those urban blocks, neighborhoods, or industrial areas that can produce energy and supply it to other areas. This approach leads to the development of an energy zoning for the city, based on the geographical urban delimitation of solar energy exporters cells and the energy consuming ones. On the production side, cells are delimited according to their solar energy production potential. On the demand side, cells are delimited according to four specific criteria: construction timeline, population density, urban morphologies, and land-use patterns that permit the definition of a classification of urban areas, based on the different energy consumption levels. In this paper, the web platform “E-City”, a tool for planning energy balance at urban level is presented, by describing its practical application in the city of Oeiras, Portugal. The platform integrates itself with the existing municipal Geographic Information System, exploring both spatial and statistical dimensions associated with zoning and the overall energy network system. Results from the use of this tool are relevant for urban planning practices, formulation of policies, and management of public investment that can be guided to more energy efficient solutions and supporting the transition towards nearly zero-energy cities.

Keywords: net-zero energy balance; municipal planning; web platform; solar energy; GIS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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