Proximity-Based Food–Energy–Water (FEW) Integration in a Neighborhood-Scale Montreal Case Study

Abandoned and underutilized buildings/spaces exhibit considerable potential to transform into resource-producing hubs (RPHs) by integrating food–energy–water (FEW) systems. The Pointe-Saint-Charles neighborhood is used as a representative case study for FEW incorporation and proximity-oriented developments (PODs). A scalable food–energy–water + proximity-oriented development (FEW–POD) framework is developed to integrate retrofitting strategies in an existing neighborhood. Food is cultivated through urban agriculture (UA), energy is produced using solar photovoltaics (PVs), and rainfall is harvested to support irrigation. Resource-sharing networks (RSNs) are developed to improve availability and accessibility to food items. A scenario-based assessment is performed, where Scenario 1 (S1) includes baseline resource demand assessment, Scenario 2 (S2) integrates FEW, and Scenario 3 (S3) distributes food items within the neighborhood, from surplus to deficit neighborhood units (NUs) by developing RSNs. The Food–Energy–Water–Carbon Index (FEWCI) is developed to estimate contributions to resource needs and carbon emission reductions. It is based on food self-sufficiency (FSS), energy self-sufficiency (ESS), and water self-sufficiency (WSS), and avoids carbon emissions from food miles and the grid. Carbon emissions from food miles and the grid are reduced by 96% and 27.5%, respectively, from S1 to S2, but remain unchanged in S3 as no extra food or energy is being produced. The estimation of ESS and grid-based carbon emissions excludes the energy demand associated with greenhouse operations, as incorporating this will reduce energy and carbon benefits. The neighborhood’s FEWCI is improved to 0.40 by bringing in FEW production and to 0.66 by distributing food items among NUs.