Energy and Urban Built Form

Energy and Urban Built Form contains the papers that were presented at the International Seminar on Urban Built Form and Energy Analysis, held at Darwin College in Cambridge on June 26 and 27, 1986. The seminar focused on energy use in the built environment at an intermediate scale, between individual buildings and cities, where urban and architectural factors interact. It also covers the simulation and analysis of the performance of groups of buildings, from city blocks and industrial developments to mixed-use urban developments, housing estates, and stocks of buildings such as schools and houses. Organized into four parts encompassing 13 chapters, this volume describes techniques for calculating and minimizing energy consumption in groups of buildings, cities or entire regions. It first provides an overview of mathematical models, as well as approaches to the computation of the energy demand or energy-related properties of housing designs or groups of buildings. It then explores the politics of energy and the built environment, the mechanisms by which technical developments may be translated into effective action, and the energy efficiency of the urban built form. The reader is also introduced to passive solar scenarios for the UK domestic sector, intermediate-scale energy initiatives in the United Kingdom, thermal efficiency of building clusters, and glazed courtyards as an element of the low-energy city. This book is a valuable resource for city planners and engineers, scientists, and anyone interested in energy conservation.