How can city planners predict the energy needs of thousands of buildings at one?
This research reviews the urban building energy modeling as a possible solution, a methodology that allows for large-scale energy estimation and policy testing.
By performing a SWOT analysis on current tools, methods and approaches, the authors provide a clear guide for choosing between fast, data-drive predictions and detailed, physics-based simulations.
The study explicitly addresses the challenges of data scarcity and model complexity, proposing a universal framework to help energy policymakers maximize their impact.
The findings suggest that as urban population grow, urban building energy models will be indispensable for designing energy-efficient districts and achieving long-term climate resilience. For urban planners, this paper acts as a strategic manual for leveraging limited resources to create deep, sustainable building energy plans.
Learn more about this review here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2021.111073
Reference
Ali, U., Shamsi, M. H., Hoare, C., Mangina, E., & O’Donnell, J. (2021). Review of urban building energy modeling (UBEM) approaches, methods and tools using qualitative and quantitative analysis. Energy and Buildings, 246, 111073