VIRTUAL Manchester Livable Cities

Abstract

While much attention has been given to individual buildings and large-scale energy districts, the intermediate scale of the Positive Energy Block (PEBlock), defined as a cluster of at least three interconnected buildings that produce more energy than they consume, offers a promising yet underexplored opportunity for urban and building transformation to accelerate the rate of building renovation. This paper introduces a novel decision-making framework that enables architects and urban planners to assess and design PEBlocks at the early stages of the planning process, using a scalable, data-informed, and context-sensitive methodology. The framework is structured around three early-stage design levels, each corresponding to increasing levels of information and decision-making granularity. The framework was tested on a real-world case study an additional test was conducted adopting a parametric analysis of PEBlock performance to demonstrate the scalability of the approach. Beyond its technical robustness, the framework introduces a new urban design logic for energy planning. The implications for architectural and urban design are profound, as it allows energy-sensitive master planning, in which designers can integrate energy performance requirements into clusters of potential building aggregations. Second, it allows adaptive reuse and retrofitting strategies that are tailored to the real constraints and opportunities of existing urban fabrics. Third, it provides an intuitive and visual tool that can be used in participatory planning processes to engage stakeholders and effectively communicate the benefits of PEBlock transformation.