VITALITY District - Optimized energy concepts in the early planning phase of resilient, energy-efficient neighbourhoods

The aim of the VITALITY District project is to coordinate the total (electrical and thermal) load and generation profile in the design phase of urban areas and neighbourhoods in order to optimize the energy concept of energy-efficient districts. Hence smart city indicators in detailed level (buildings, individual technologies, public spaces) as well as models, principles and catalogs of criteria for energy-optimized urban neighbourhoods were created. The results were presented in compact form on the district level in order to serve as input for future urban planning projects.

Short Description

Motivation and research question

The main objective of the VITALITY District project was to optimize photovoltaic planning during the early design phase of building clusters and neighborhoods. This involved considering consumption profiles, building typologies, and solutions for energy communities, storage, and greening. The main research question was how integral system planning at the neighborhood level could reduce energy peaks, buffer surpluses in urban energy storage, and effectively coordinate and supply buildings.

Initial situation/status quo

At the beginning of the project, there was a lack of effective tools and methods for the early planning phase of neighborhoods in the field of distributed energy generation, storage, and building-storage interaction. The VITALITY District project aimed to fill this gap while meeting the requirements of the EU Directive and the European Green Deal.

Project contents and objectives

The project involved developing and evaluating parameters for the development of energy concept drafts at the neighborhood level. These parameters included the share of renewable energies, energy efficiency, room comfort, optimal placement of PV modules, and the size of the storage system to increase self-consumption at the neighborhood level. The overarching goal was to showcase the possibilities of urban planning with photovoltaics and establish a specialized foundation for integrating PV into ambitious and feasible neighborhood-level urban planning.

Methodical procedure

Within the project, models were developed to simulate aggregated PV yields for distributed and partially shaded systems. Energy generation profiles of renewable energies and consumption profiles of different building types at the neighborhood level were generated. Additionally, a tool based on Grasshopper for Rhino was developed, enabling city planners to simulate neighborhoods in the early planning phase. Comprehensive solution proposals were formulated to facilitate coordinated energy usage, incorporate energy-efficient components, integrity in BIM and even ecological aspects were analysed.

Results and conclusions

The developed tool based on Grasshopper for Rhino allows urban planners to simulate districts in the early planning phase and evaluate optimization potentials compared to existing districts and non-optimized use cases. There are many advantages to prioritizing district solutions over individual buildings for energy aspects of building sector decarbonization. In particular, splitting energy consumption and production leads to improved self-consumption and self-sufficiency, as well as optimal design options (both from an architectural and system perspective). Therefore, the sustainability of renewable energy projects can be improved from an energy, economic and environmental point of view by adopting the district solution. In addition, the district scenario allows for an increase in systemsize, reducing system costs andmaking innovative solutions and technologies accessible to the building sector as well.

Outlook

The VITALITY District project provides an innovative edge for Austrian stakeholders in the field of low-carbon energy concepts at the neighborhood level. The achieved results contribute to achieving the climate goals of the City of Vienna and the Republic of Austria, while laying the foundation for future-oriented neighborhood-level urban planning.

Project Partners

Project management

AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH

Project or cooperation partners

Technische Universität Graz, Institut für Gebäude und Energie IGE
DI Sebastian Sautter - SAUTTER ZT
ATB-Becker e.U.
Architekturbüro Reinberg ZT GmbH
Fachhochschule Technikum Wien
GrünStattGrau Forschungs- &Innovations GmbH
Accademia Europea di Bolzano

Contact Address

AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH
DI Dr. Shokufeh Zamini
Giefinggasse 6
A-1210 Vienna
Tel.: +43 (505) 50 64 28
E-mail: Shokufeh.Zamini@ait.ac.at
Web: www.ait.ac.at/themen/photovoltaics/