Assessing a simplified procedure to reconcile distributed renewable and interactive energy systems and urban patterns. The case study of school buildings in Rome

Abstract

Distributed, Renewable and Interactive energy Systems (DRIs) are revolutionizing the concept of infrastructure by introducing a set of new properties. The implications of the new system properties in the realm of Urban Design are often neglected. This paper proposes a procedure to reconcile DRIs and urban patterns. This procedure is tested on 23 school buildings in four urban regions of the Ostiense district in Rome. Findings suggest that the identification of existing buildings as active, neutral and passive nodes in DRIs can make a contribution to Urban Design decisions to exploit the renewable energy production capacity inherent in urban patterns.