BYFORSK - EE settlement - Embodied Energy, Costs and Traffic in Different Settlement Patterns

A detached house in a scattered area requires not only more heating energy than a dwelling in an urban apartment building. In scattered areas, there is also needed a lot more roads, parking spaces and infrastructure such as water, electricity, sewages, etc. In addition, costs for municipal services like waste disposal and snow removal are more expensive. The more scattered people live, the more traffic is generated. We know a lot about energy demand in different building types, and somewhat about traffic generated by different settlement patterns. In contrast, we know almost nothing about energy needed for building outdoor facilities, roads and infrastructure around the homes. This is the issue the EE Settlement project will address. The project will provide basic data on embodied energy (and associated costs) for different building types and settlement structures, including embodied energy for associated infrastructure and outdoor facilities. Embodied energy is the energy needed to produce, transport and install materials for the building and its surroundings. The term also includes energy at the construction site as well as for maintenance and replacement of components. Based on these fundamental data, as well as data for operational energy, costs and traffic, an online tool will be developed that will show results for typical buildings and settlement structures. In addition, the project will analyse framework conditions that affect housing preferences and municipal decisions. The tool, as well as guidelines with recommendations will help authorities and professionals in their work for more sustainable urban and regional development. The project is an interdisciplinary collaboration between SINTEF Building and Infrastructure, Institute for Urban and Regional Research, Institute of Transport Economics, Kristiansand Municipality, National Association of Architects and two partners from Vienna which have previously developed recommendations and tools for Austria. The project started with a kick-off meeting August 28, 2017. The advisory board was established on November 2, 2017. In the first two years of the project period, the challenges and needs of different relevant actors have been evaluated through workshops and interviews (WP1). Furthermore, two state-of-the-art reports on existing studies, databases, and tools (one focused on mobility, and one on district-level tools) were also performed to consider these issues, fill in the gaps in the current approach, and bring new insights to the project. The findings from WP1 is used as a background for other WPs to develop the background model and prototype tool. In 2019, first ideas for tool functionality and visual presentation have been developed (WP3). Draft data structure and background model for buildings, infrastructure and mobility has been developed (WP2) in close collaboration with the tool functionality (WP3). The work has consisted of developing a model framework in excel (with background data of typical building, infrastructure and traffic), designing linkages between user inputs (e.g. dwelling types and settlement structure) and model outputs (energy, emissions, mobility and costs), and integration of background model to web tool. The prototype tool developed was tested by the partners in a workshop conducted in Autumn 2019. Hamrevann has been selected as one of the first case study area from Kristiansand for testing and quality assurance of the prototype tool and the background model. In 2020, progress was hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic, but team members have worked diligently to maintain expected schedules and timetables. The online tool functionality and visual presentation have been further developed and refined (WP3), with integration of inputs from model changes (WP2) as well as by feedback from real-life test cases in Norway and Austria (WP4). The data structure and background model for buildings, infrastructure and mobility was further developed and refined (WP2) in close collaboration with the tool functionality (WP3). Furthermore, we have elaborated guidelines for the consortium (for administration and translation purposes) and for users and the tool is now available in three languages. The postdoc working on the project conducted a 5-month research stay abroad at MIT Building Technologies Department (also impacted by the COVID-19 shutdown in the US). The project has been extended 3 months into 2021. In 2021, final refining and finalizing of the Norwegian and Austrian background model (WP2) and the EE Settlement tool (WP3) has been done based the input from tool testing with 5 Norwegian case studies (WP4). A series of 6 reports have been finalized and published as final project deliverables. A project closing meeting with project partners and advisory board members have been done with presentation of the work done in the project from 2017-2021, discussion on lessons learnt and potential spin-off project ideas.

-The main results from EE Settlement project, the EE Settlement decision-support tool and a guideline and recommendation, are expected to contribute to GHG emissions reductions within a sustainable urban development and play major role in fulfilling national, regional, and local environmental goals. -Basis data for embodied energy generated in the project can be very important for the definition and implementation of appropriate policy instruments. -As the tool has been developed in a series of consultation with relevant actors, the project results are expected to have high practical relevance in urban planning. -Furthermore, the results from EE Settlement project contribute to several of the UN sustainable development goals including: SDG11 Sustainable cities and communities; SDG12 Responsible production and consumption; SDG13 Climate action and waste and pollution reduction impacts.

The vision for the project is to provide guidelines and tools for municipalities, regional and central authorities, as well as for professionals and the public, for assessing consequences and impacts of different housing development options, taking into account energy need, environmental impact and costs over the lifecycle - not only for the buildings, but also for surroundings, infrastructure and transport. Different settlement patterns bring along different impacts, not only caused by different building types, but also by embodied energy within the buildings, energy and investment needed for infrastructure, operating cost for public services and generated traffic. Many of these issues are not (or only to a minor degree) addressed by existing policies or guidelines. The main challenge for addressing the whole picture of consequences and impacts connected to different settlement patterns is the total lack of data for embodied energy required for infrastructure. Based on the data to be developed for embodied energy, the project will estimate the annual proportion of embodied energy in the building and the associated infrastructure and outdoor facilities. Furthermore, the building's operational energy will be calculated. This will be conducted for different typical buildings and settlement densities, which in addition will be used to model the residents' energy needs for transport, as well as for estimation of investment and operating cost for infrastructure and also of the energy need and cost for operation of services. In parallel to the these analyses the project will examine how framework conditions such as regulations, subsidies, tax incentives and households' preferences affects individuals' housing demand and location decisions. Policy recommendations will be an outcome of both the environmental and economical assessments and this framework examination. The online tool will be based on the technical and economical assessments and underpin the recommendations.