10. Energy Problems Analysis

The reduction of the energy demand of building stocks is a crucial issue for designers and public administrations, considering the huge effect on population in terms of health related to thermal comfort and to pollution, and in terms of energy costs. However, in common design practice just the effect of climate on buildings is considered, while designers, normally, since they are not provided with the suited tools for this, do not care about the influence of the built environment, which is proved in the literature to be huge. Herein we present the analyses of possible actions for refurbishing and reshaping the energy demand of the Walled City of Multan, focusing on three main aspects: urban scale, building scale, and solar energy exploitation. In detail, we analyzed and modeled the existing condition and possible improvements to mitigate thermal stress in urban areas. Then, we analyzed the energy demand of single buildings, modeling possible actions to improve indoor thermal comfort. Finally, we considered the possible ways to exploit the available solar energy to reduce the energy use in buildings. The aim of this study is then to assess the mitigation of outdoor heat stress conditions, within the urban environment; the thermal comfort conditions indoors; the operational energy need of buildings; and the fraction of energy that is possible to cover with renewable sources.