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The rise of public policies oriented toward the energy transition puts increasing pressure on urban development projects, which are expected more and more to demonstrate exemplarity in energy management. Analyzing the materialization of the energy transition therefore requires a better understanding of how such pressures are translated into the projects’ technical design processes. Drawing on the design of energy requirements in one project, we show that the analysis of such processes needs to account both for learning dynamics that build the cognitive framework upon which the actors rely, and for power relations that drive and focus these dynamics. By doing so, we contribute to building a body of knowledge of systems of collective action that embody energy transition and the material fabric of cities and urban energy systems.