The Task is organized in four main activities/Subtasks, derived from the described key areas:
Subtask A is looking at concepts for solar neighborhood planning in view of achieving high environmental goals (e.g. NZE, NZC), and the role of various strategies to reach them (including planning, design and technology implementation). Subtask B is focusing on strategies - business models and stakeholder engagement - to increase the solar energy utilization towards zero emission neighborhoods. Subtask C works on supportive tools, related to active solar energy systems and daylighting, within a chain of tools needed for neighborhood planning and design. Subtask D focuses on implementation issues and dissemination of case studies with solar planning of existing and new neighborhoods. Subtask D also gives input and serves as a testing platform for Subtask A, B and C, thus the case studies are a core activity for the Task work.
The following activities will be performed in the four Subtasks:
Subtask A: Solar planning strategies and concepts
Lead: Caroline Hachem-Vermette, University of Calgary, Canada
A.1 Review of current neighborhood designs:
A.1.1 Review existing guidelines and common practices that underlie the design of existing and new neighborhoods, especially those aiming at increased efficiency and solar capture, and other compatible/hybrid usages, in the participating countries. These include examples in practice and literature (with Subtask D).
A.1.2 Based on the review conducted in A.1.1, determine the main parameters/design elements that can impact the design and performance of neighborhoods, and possible combinations in various prototypical neighborhoods (archetypes for existing and new) considering both solar and other surface usages.
A.2 Design and analysis of archetypes /prototypes to bridge gaps in practice and literature:
A.2.1 Develop a number of neighborhood prototypes (existing and new) that include the neighborhood variables determined in A1, and that can serve as a basis to analyse various impacts.
A.2.2 Develop methods to analyse scenarios developed in A.2.1, and carry out these analyses (including modelling (with Subtask C)).
A.2.3 Develop business models and financial studies for various scenarios (with Subtask B).
A.3 Develop recommendation on strategies, including a proposal for a common definition/understanding of urban surface usage (link to Subtask B).
Subtask B: Economic strategies and stakeholder engagement
Lead: Daniele Vettorato and Silvia Croce, Eurac Research, Italy
B.1 Analysis of the potential integration of the outputs for the New Urban Agenda (NUA) implementation:
B.1.1 Analysis of the articles of the NUA that relate to the urban surface usages with special focus on energy production / resilience to climate change.
B.1.2 Definition of a pathway to contribute to the implementation of NUA within the results of the Task.
B.2 Identify and describe conflicts and synergies of the different and potential urban surface usages, with specific relevance to solar energy harvest (link to Subtask A, activity A.3):
B.2.1 From literature: extraction of evidences of conflicts and synergies.
B.2.2 Presentation and discussion within the expert group the results from the literature review on conflicts and synergies; focusing in particular on the potentialities of integration of functions, and on the possible improvements to the state-of-the-art.
B.3 Develop a method to propose and assess alternative scenarios for urban surface usage (e.g. pareto optimization, multi criteria, etc.) (link to Subtask C):
B.3.1 Modelling of scenarios using also outputs from Subtask A - archetypes - and, when possible of selected real neighborhoods (link to Subtask D case studies).
B.3.2 Discussion within the expert group in relation to the integration of the outputs in the participating countries’ urban planning procedures.
B.4 Develop a framework to assess the multiple-benefits created by the adoption of hybrid and integrated strategies for urban surface usages (link to Subtask A, activity A.3).
B.5 Recommend suitable activities for stakeholder engagement/nudging strategies and integrate lessons learnt into the urban planning practice:
B.5.1 Framework development for the integration of the traditional stakeholders engagement approaches (e.g. governance approaches) with behavioural economics[1].
B.5.2 Discussion/workshop on the added value of the proposed framework.
B.6 Identify financial mechanisms and suggest ways to finance the transition, moving from energy market to added value services (link to Subtask D):
B.6.1 Analysis from literature and selected case studies of innovative financial models and trends (connection with the new concepts of smart grids, block chain, etc.).
B.6.2 Discussion of the results within the expert group in order to find connection with country specific characteristics.
Subtask C: Solar planning tools
Lead: Jouri Kanters, Lund University, Sweden, and Martin Thebault, University Savoie Mont-Blanc - INES, France
C.1 Identification of current tools and tool workflows on all platforms:
C.1.1 Determine main strengths and weaknesses of available tools, including readiness level (from proof of concept to licensed software), usability (which target users) and accessibility (which competences needed by target users).
C.1.2 Contact with local urban planners and key actors, maybe also Task experts, to identify which key performance indicators are meaningful, which tools they use and when, and to extract which data, etc.
C.1.3 Combine and generalise existing workflows.
C.2 Discussion and development of workflow of tools needed in all planning stages (tool chain):
C.2.1 Complement the missing parts of the current workflow(s) as found in C.1, based on existing software developments, including novel contributions from Task experts.
Subtask D: Case studies
Lead: joint by Operating Agent, Gabriele Lobaccaro, Norway, and leaders of Subtask A/B/C
Every participating country should contribute with at least one (1) case study. The following activities are planned.
D.1 Coordination of database of solar neighborhoods (link to Subtask A/B/C):
D.1.1 Gather performance indicators and key aspects each subtask will use to identify and describe relevant case studies. Decide which aspects are mandatory to document and which are optional, depending on case study.
D.1 2 Create a template for documenting case studies based on the aspects identified.
D.1.3 Collect case study documents, based on the template and filled in by experts.
D.1.4 Publish the case studies of existing and new solar neighborhoods on the website.
D.2 Communication and dissemination of results from selected case studies (link to Subtask A/B/C):
D.2.1 Organize workshops/seminars to present developed strategies and methods/tools in conjunction with Task meetings, inviting practitioners (feedback and dissemination).
D.2.2 Organize local workshops/seminars in neighborhoods/cities, by local experts.