Improving energy efficiency of existing suburban areas through district energy planning

Urban sprawl represents a significant contribution to the overall energy consumption of a territory for energy needs in buildings and for transport. It is a huge concern in Belgium where public authorities face the following question: “what to do with existing low-density districts that require a lot of resources?” while households still continue to favour this kind of dwellings. In this context, the paper draws up a typological classification of reference Walloon suburban blocks. Then, energy savings relating to several types of renewal strategy are evaluated. These strategies deal with the measures to reduce heat demand in buildings, to increase the built density and to reduce energy consumption in the transport sector. Results from this analysis show that a strong potential exists to improve energy efficiency in existing suburban districts. Building insulation and travel distances are critically important factors. Solar gains on the roofs are huge even if the built density is increased.