Automatic generation and simulation of urban building energy models based on city datasets for city-scale building retrofit analysis

Chen, Yixing; Hong, Tianzhen; Piette, Mary Ann

doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.07.128

Title: Automatic generation and simulation of urban building energy models based on city datasets for city-scale building retrofit analysis

Abstract

Buildings in cities consume 30–70% of total primary energy, and improving building energy efficiency is one of the key strategies towards sustainable urbanization. Urban building energy models (UBEM) can support city managers to evaluate and prioritize energy conservation measures (ECMs) for investment and the design of incentive and rebate programs. This paper presents the retrofit analysis feature of City Building Energy Saver (CityBES) to automatically generate and simulate UBEM using EnergyPlus based on cities’ building datasets and user-selected ECMs. CityBES is a new open web-based tool to support city-scale building energy efficiency strategic plans and programs. The technical details of using CityBES for UBEM generation and simulation are introduced, including the workflow, key assumptions, and major databases. Also presented is a case study that analyzes the potential retrofit energy use and energy cost savings of five individual ECMs and two measure packages for 940 office and retail buildings in six city districts in northeast San Francisco, United States. The results show that: (1) all five measures together can save 23–38% of site energy per building; (2) replacing lighting with light-emitting diode lamps and adding air economizers to existing heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems are most cost-effective with an averagemore »« less

Authors:

Chen, Yixing ^[1];

^[1]; Piette, Mary Ann ^[1]

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Publication Date:: Mon Aug 07 00:00:00 EDT 2017

Research Org.:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Building Technologies Office

OSTI Identifier:: 1436612

Alternate Identifier(s):: OSTI ID: 1549851

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Applied Energy

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 205; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0306-2619

Publisher:: Elsevier

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION; CityBES; Urban scale; Building energy modeling; EnergyPlus; Energy conservation measures; Retrofit analysis

Citation Formats


                    Chen, Yixing, Hong, Tianzhen, and Piette, Mary Ann. Automatic generation and simulation of urban building energy models based on city datasets for city-scale building retrofit analysis.  United States: N. p., 2017. 
Web.  doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.07.128.

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                    Chen, Yixing, Hong, Tianzhen, & Piette, Mary Ann. Automatic generation and simulation of urban building energy models based on city datasets for city-scale building retrofit analysis.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.07.128

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                    Chen, Yixing, Hong, Tianzhen, and Piette, Mary Ann. Mon .  
"Automatic generation and simulation of urban building energy models based on city datasets for city-scale building retrofit analysis".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.07.128.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1436612.

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@article{osti_1436612,

  title        = {Automatic generation and simulation of urban building energy models based on city datasets for city-scale building retrofit analysis},

  author       = {Chen, Yixing and Hong, Tianzhen and Piette, Mary Ann},

  abstractNote = {Buildings in cities consume 30–70% of total primary energy, and improving building energy efficiency is one of the key strategies towards sustainable urbanization. Urban building energy models (UBEM) can support city managers to evaluate and prioritize energy conservation measures (ECMs) for investment and the design of incentive and rebate programs. This paper presents the retrofit analysis feature of City Building Energy Saver (CityBES) to automatically generate and simulate UBEM using EnergyPlus based on cities’ building datasets and user-selected ECMs. CityBES is a new open web-based tool to support city-scale building energy efficiency strategic plans and programs. The technical details of using CityBES for UBEM generation and simulation are introduced, including the workflow, key assumptions, and major databases. Also presented is a case study that analyzes the potential retrofit energy use and energy cost savings of five individual ECMs and two measure packages for 940 office and retail buildings in six city districts in northeast San Francisco, United States. The results show that: (1) all five measures together can save 23–38% of site energy per building; (2) replacing lighting with light-emitting diode lamps and adding air economizers to existing heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems are most cost-effective with an average payback of 2.0 and 4.3 years, respectively; and (3) it is not economical to upgrade HVAC systems or replace windows in San Francisco due to the city's mild climate and minimal cooling and heating loads. Furthermore, the CityBES retrofit analysis feature does not require users to have deep knowledge of building systems or technologies for the generation and simulation of building energy models, which helps overcome major technical barriers for city managers and their consultants to adopt UBEM.},

  doi          = {10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.07.128},

  journal      = {Applied Energy},

  number       = C,

  volume       = 205,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Mon Aug 07 00:00:00 EDT 2017},

  month        = {Mon Aug 07 00:00:00 EDT 2017}

}

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Similar Records

Title: Automatic generation and simulation of urban building energy models based on city datasets for city-scale building retrofit analysis

Abstract

Citation Formats

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World Urbanization Prospects: an alternative to the UN model of projection compatible with the mobility transition theory
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Modeling Boston: A workflow for the efficient generation and maintenance of urban building energy models from existing geospatial datasets
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Energy performance assessment in urban planning competitions
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Outdoor thermal environment for different urban forms under summer conditions
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Commercial Building Energy Saver: An energy retrofit analysis toolkit
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Accelerating the energy retrofit of commercial buildings using a database of energy efficiency performance
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Spatial clustering for district heating integration in urban energy systems: Application to geothermal energy
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The significance of using local predicted temperature for cooling load simulation in the tropics
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Cooling and energy saving potentials of shade trees and urban lawns in a desert city
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A city scale degree-day method to assess building space heating energy demands in Strasbourg Eurometropolis (France)
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