Estimated reduction of energy consumption related to mobility in urban renewal projects

The urban sprawl that characterizes most European cities relies highly on the use of private motor vehicle. As a result, there is a prominent increase in the energy consumption of the built environment. Therefore, the densification of existing urban areas located near public transportation is an interesting alternative to dispersed urbanization, provided that such process goes together with an offer of local services and facilities to promote the use of soft mobility. Analysis at neighborhood scale allows studying the influence of infrastructures, facilities and services on daily mobility choices. This analysis should create direct insights into how the combination of global and local parameters related to mobility infrastructures and urban developments affect mobility energy consumption. The latter can be calculated by two main different methods: the macro-scale methods, which are based on parameters defining the city, and the micro-scale methods, which use accurate data from individuals and infrastructures. The present paper shows an application of a novel intermediate method at neighborhood level developed by the Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects (SIA) to estimate the energy consumption related to mobility and attributed to buildings. The analysis of induced mobility by different urban renewal scenarios of an existing neighborhood in Lausanne, Switzerland, shows the importance of the number of car parks and of the human density (residents or jobs per square meter) as key factors related to mobility energy planning. Results also highlight the significant impact of changes in behavior, in terms of chosen mean of transportation and covered distances, on the potential for energy savings.