Synergizing Buildings Renovation and Regenerative Urban Furniture to Co-create PED Ecosystem
How can building renovation contribute to wider neighbourhood regeneration? SET-PED explores how building renovation, circular material reuse, regenerative urban furniture and local renewable energy can work together within Positive Energy Districts. Through pilots in Bucharest, Eskilstuna and Mascalucia, the project develops and tests adaptable public-space solutions that connect environmental performance, local energy systems and community needs.
SET-PED explores how building renovation can contribute to neighbourhood regeneration beyond improvements in building performance. The project connects climate-adapted renovation, circular material reuse, regenerative urban furniture and local energy systems within the Positive Energy District (PED) framework, bringing together processes that are often planned and implemented separately. Circularity is addressed from the building scale onward. SET-PED maps low-carbon and bio-based renovation solutions and assesses which materials from renovation and construction processes can be recovered and reused. These material flows inform the design of regenerative urban furniture, linking building refurbishment with new public-space applications and more efficient use of local resources. The urban furniture prototypes are also designed as small-scale energy nodes. A mountable modular kit integrates solar PV, recycled battery storage, monitoring and micro-grid technologies, allowing the furniture to contribute to local energy generation, storage and management. The project examines how these solutions can be adapted to different spatial conditions, user needs and climatic contexts while supporting wider PED and Local Energy Community objectives. Co-creation connects the technical solutions with local conditions and everyday use. Residents, municipalities, practitioners and other stakeholders contribute to defining pilot requirements, prototype functions and use-case scenarios. Three prototypes are developed and tested in Mascalucia, Eskilstuna and Bucharest Sector 6, allowing the project to compare different climatic, spatial and social contexts and identify what can be adapted or replicated elsewhere. Beyond the individual pilots, SET-PED translates the lessons from prototyping into co-designed use-case scenarios and a city-scale strategy for circular smart urban furniture integration. This connects public-space regeneration with renovation dynamics, local material availability, energy production and community needs, providing a basis for future replication and investment. From Renovation to Regenerative Public Space SET-PED follows an integrated circular approach in which renovation, material reuse, public-space design, local energy and co-creation are considered as parts of the same neighbourhood transformation process. BUILDINGS — Climate-adapted renovation Circular and bio-based renovation solutions are mapped and assessed for different climatic and geographical contexts. MATERIALS — Reusing local resources Recycled and locally available materials are assessed as a resource base for new urban furniture. FURNITURE — Adapting solutions to place Modular urban furniture is co-designed for different public spaces, users and functions. ENERGY — Supporting local energy systems PV, monitoring and micro-grid technologies allow the furniture to function as active energy nodes. COMMUNITY — Co-designing for local needs Residents, municipalities and other stakeholders help define requirements, prototypes and future use cases. CITY — Planning for replication Pilot evidence is translated into use-case scenarios and a city-scale strategy for wider application.
