Early energy assessment at the neighborhood level to promote greater energy efficiency. The case of Nabta Smart Town in Egypt

The potential for an early energy assessment to further improve neighborhood/precinct planning and promote greater energy efficiency is considerable, as confirmed by numerous studies around the world and corroborated by the authors’ experience. Egypt is certainly no exception and in recent years there is growing research evidence to this effect. However, more knowledge is needed on how to develop affordable and locally viable solutions that are integrated into the urban planning process from the outset. This article discusses the results of the “Energy Efficiency Feasibility Assessment of the Master Plan of Nabta Smart Town (NST)”, an “education town” under planning in New Borg el Arab City (NBC), close to Alexandria. The results show how an early energy assessment, carried out as early as the planning stage, which considers local regulations and specific conditions, can help achieve considerable energy efficiency in the future by identifying affordable, evidence-based, and locally feasible solutions that can be further optimized at the design stage. Therefore, the value of this study is not in proposing a new standard solution for everyone, but in showing through an application example how the potential of an early energy assessment at the neighborhood/precinct level can be realized in practice. The immediate benefit is in promoting greater energy efficiency through the design and optimization of renewable energies and passive solutions. This achievement can in turn be used to rethink the planning and decision-making process in the local context. The greatest impact is not only in the selected case study, but in its potential for replicability throughout the Global South.