The residential solar block envelope: A method for enabling the development of compact urban blocks with high passive solar potential

The Residential Solar Block (RSB) envelope is a transferable method that enables the development of compact urban blocks with high passive solar potential. It achieves this aim by describing the maximum theoretical block volume that does not hinder the utilization of useful solar energy at specified periods of time. Although the residential solar block envelope is primarily intended for passive solar applications, it is also suitable for active solar thermal and PV technologies. A novelty of the proposed method is the use of a dynamic energy modelling approach in determining the usefulness of solar gains and the construction parameters of the envelope.

The method draws inspiration from the residential solar block typology proposed by Ahmad Okeil and the extensive work of Ralph Knowles on solar envelopes. The residential solar block typology represents a significant point of convergence between compact city and passive solar strategies that leads to low energy consumption. The proposed method, being a derivative of the original solar envelope, allows the generalized application of this environmentally beneficial urban typology. The residential solar block envelope was pilot tested at an urban site in the Mediterranean city of Thessaloniki, demonstrating a significant improvement over the existing layout in terms of winter insolation with only a minor sacrifice in urban density.

One of the main strengths of the residential solar block envelope is its suitability for both masterplanned and plot-based developments. However, for the latter case a synthetic design approach is required where both the 2D urban geometry and the resulting volume of the envelopes are studied simultaneously. Another key strength of the method is its adaptability to different climatic and development conditions and the relatively easy construction of the envelope using common CAD software.