Developing a process-oriented approach towards Positive Energy Blocks: the wind-analysis contribution

Abstract

Positive Energy Block (PEB) is an emerging paradigm to transform cities into low carbon cities. It is expected that buildings will become the main components of the future energy infrastructure. This scenario demands a structural integration of the cyclical environmental variables in designing our buildings and cities as a whole. However, such an integration continue to be rare due to the dominance of object-oriented approaches. This study contributes to reducing these difficulties by developing a process-oriented approach, focusing on the wind contribution. The assumption posed herein is that the transition towards PEBs should be an opportunity to redefine the rules to organise the built environment structure integrating energy and urban environmental qualities. A case study, involving three public school buildings located in three different urban patterns in Rome, illustrates a preliminary step in developing an integrated platform to orient strategic design solutions towards PEBs. This is done by developing and assessing three indexes: wind form index, wind thermal-loss index, and wind energy production index. The results point out the usability and limits concerning the approach adopted, stressing the relevance of an integrated platform to support decision-makers in planning the agenda to transform buildings as components of PEBs.