Urban and Energy Assessment from a Systemic Approach of Urban Morphology, Urban Mobility, and Buildings: Case Study of Agua Branca in Sao Paulo

Abstract

This paper aims to demonstrate and assess the potential for integrated planning involving urban morphology, urban mobility, buildings, and energy efficiency. The approach is based on the development and application of a method for energy modeling on the scale of urban districts and neighborhoods, envisioning the physical structure, functional characteristics, such as land use and urban circulation, and energy efficiency of urban areas. The results of methodology application in the Agua Branca case study, an urban development area located in Sao Paulo, Brazil, indicate that the planning, in the master planning stage, of a basic volume of buildings associated with their geographical orientation and the design of urban canyons represents the main urban strategy to reduce energy consumption in buildings. The energy efficiency potential in urban transport is much higher than in buildings, indicating that the main energy efficiency action in the Agua Branca urban area as a whole would be the prioritization of public transport in relation to individual transport.