Microclimate mitigation for enhancing energy and environmental performance of Near Zero Energy Settlements in Italy

•A design stage multi-scale approach for building energy prediction is proposed.•Impact of outdoor microclimate improvements on NZEBs performance is assessed.•The proper inter-building size to be focused on for settlements analysis is defined.•The proposed methodology is applied to a real residential NZE settlement in Italy.•Microclimate mitigation strategies can lead to annual energy saving up to 22 %.