Characterising the transdisciplinary challenge in the development of Sustainable Plus Energy Neighbourhoods – what do emerging innovations tell us?

Accelerating decarbonization in the built environment is imperative for a sustainable future. Innovative building concepts on a neighbourhood scale present promising potential to revolutionise how buildings can be designed, built and operated in different climate zones that can bring about a significant decarbonization in the built environment. However, this potential can only be unleashed if a broad range of knowledge and understandings – both technical and non-technical – can be skilfully combined. Yet, such projects are often confronted with a transdisciplinary challenge that is inevitable and inherent. This paper characterises the transdisciplinary challenge in the development of four proofs-of-concept of Sustainable Plus Energy Neighbourhoods (SPENs) in four European countries. It adopts the qualitative research method capturing emerging innovations as practices to position the empirical lens close to what actors do to address the transdisciplinary challenge. The contribution of this paper is to better understand the transdisciplinary challenge that can slow down the uptake of the SPEN concept in the built environment. The paper ends with some suggestions for overcoming the transdisciplinary challenge in the development of neighbourhood scale building projects to unlock its positive effects.