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Peer-reviewedCC BYEnergy and Built Environment

The impact of spatial form on carbon emissions from building energy use and photovoltaic carbon reductions in residential neighborhoods

  • Jingyi Han1
  • Hongxin Guo2
  • Jiajie Pan3
  • Hao Sun4
  • Hongda Yan5
  • Gaomei Li6
6 affiliations
  1. 1School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang Island 11800, Malaysia
  2. 2School of Architecture & Urban Planning, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
  3. 3School of Architecture and Planning, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
  4. 4School of Sustainable, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK; Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
  5. 5College of the Arts, Baoding University of Technology, Baoding 071000, China
  6. 6School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; Key Laboratory of Eco Planning & Green Building, Ministry of Education (Tsinghua University), Beijing 100084, China; Corresponding author.
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Abstract

Spatial form significantly influences the carbon emissions during the building operation phase (Ope-BCE) at the neighborhood scale. However, the impact of spatial form on building carbon emissions at this scale has not been studied in detail. This study aims to investigate the impact of spatial form on Ope-BCE in residential neighborhoods, considering scenarios that incorporate building-integrated Photovoltaic (PV) systems. Initially, a comprehensive technical framework was developed to assess Ope-BCE at the neighborhood scale, utilizing Rhino & Grasshopper parameterized platform. It should be noted that the Ope-BCE in this paper focused on the building operation phase, and included carbon emissions from building energy use (CE-BEU), photovoltaic carbon reductions (PVCR), and net carbon emissions (NCE), over its 50-year design life. Then, an architectural typology approach was then employed to categorize residential neighborhoods and extract relevant form parameters. Subsequently, the regression analysis was conducted to determine the impact of these parameters on Ope-BCE, encompassing CE-BEU, PVCR, and NCE. The results indicated significant variability in NCE across different neighborhood types. The multi-story pavilion exhibited the lowest NCE at -1720.8 kgCO 2 /m 2 , within its 50-year design life, while Type I high-rise slab recorded the highest at 339.1 kgCO 2 /m 2 , within its 50-year design life. The magnitude of impact on CE-BEU, PVCR, and NCE due to neighborhood form changes in multi-story residential neighbouhoods were 33.44 %, 69.12 %, and 90.01 %, respectively. Multi-storey residential neighborhoods could achieve carbon neutrality or even net carbon benefits through integrated PV systems. However, only a minority of high-rise neighborhoods reached carbon neutrality. Both the roof-to-façade area ratio and building height jointly influence NCE, accounting for 96 % of its variance. This technical framework offers a referential strategy for achieving carbon neutrality in urban neighborhoods worldwide, contributing to the sustainable development and carbon neutrality of global cities.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{han2026impact,
  title = {{The impact of spatial form on carbon emissions from building energy use and photovoltaic carbon reductions in residential neighborhoods}},
  author = {Jingyi Han and Hongxin Guo and Jiajie Pan and Hao Sun and Hongda Yan and Gaomei Li},
  journal = {Energy and Built Environment},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1016/j.enbenv.2026.02.004},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbenv.2026.02.004},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - The impact of spatial form on carbon emissions from building energy use and photovoltaic carbon reductions in residential neighborhoods
AU  - Jingyi Han
AU  - Hongxin Guo
AU  - Jiajie Pan
AU  - Hao Sun
AU  - Hongda Yan
AU  - Gaomei Li
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/30
JO  - Energy and Built Environment
DO  - 10.1016/j.enbenv.2026.02.004
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbenv.2026.02.004
AB  - Spatial form significantly influences the carbon emissions during the building operation phase (Ope-BCE) at the neighborhood scale. However, the impact of spatial form on building carbon emissions at this scale has not been studied in detail. This study aims to investigate the impact of spatial form on Ope-BCE in residential neighborhoods, considering scenarios that incorporate building-integrated Photovoltaic (PV) systems. Initially, a comprehensive technical framework was developed to assess Ope-BCE at the neighborhood scale, utilizing Rhino & Grasshopper parameterized platform. It should be noted that the Ope-BCE in this paper focused on the building operation phase, and included carbon emissions from building energy use (CE-BEU), photovoltaic carbon reductions (PVCR), and net carbon emissions (NCE), over its 50-year design life. Then, an architectural typology approach was then employed to categorize residential neighborhoods and extract relevant form parameters. Subsequently, the regression analysis was conducted to determine the impact of these parameters on Ope-BCE, encompassing CE-BEU, PVCR, and NCE. The results indicated significant variability in NCE across different neighborhood types. The multi-story pavilion exhibited the lowest NCE at -1720.8 kgCO 2 /m 2 , within its 50-year design life, while Type I high-rise slab recorded the highest at 339.1 kgCO 2 /m 2 , within its 50-year design life. The magnitude of impact on CE-BEU, PVCR, and NCE due to neighborhood form changes in multi-story residential neighbouhoods were 33.44 %, 69.12 %, and 90.01 %, respectively. Multi-storey residential neighborhoods could achieve carbon neutrality or even net carbon benefits through integrated PV systems. However, only a minority of high-rise neighborhoods reached carbon neutrality. Both the roof-to-façade area ratio and building height jointly influence NCE, accounting for 96 % of its variance. This technical framework offers a referential strategy for achieving carbon neutrality in urban neighborhoods worldwide, contributing to the sustainable development and carbon neutrality of global cities.
SN  - 2666-1233
ER  -