Potential Energy, Demand, Emissions, and Cost Savings Distributions for Buildings in a Utility’s Service Area

Abstract

Several companies, universities, and national laboratories are developing urban-scale energy modeling that allows the creation of a digital twin of buildings for the simulation and optimization of real-world, city-sized areas. Prior to simulation-based assessment, a baseline of savings for a set of utility-defined use cases was established to clarify the initial business case for specific energy efficient building technologies. In partnership with a municipal utility, 178,337 OpenStudio and EnergyPlus models of buildings in the utility’s 1400 km2 service area were created, simulated, and assessed with measures for quantifying energy, demand, cost, and emissions reductions of each building. The method of construction and assumptions behind these models is discussed, definitions of example measures are provided, and distribution of savings across the building stock is provided under a maximum technical adoption scenario.

Digital Twin and Industry 4.0 Enablers in Building and Construction: A Survey

“…To lower energy consumption, Francisco et al [167] benchmarked daily electricity usage according to strategic period while innovative approaches including activity monitoring [168,169] and resilient buildings achievement [170,171] were proposed. Bass et al [172] and Huang et al [173] achieved the regional energy saving system through urban-scale energy modelling to achieve NZEB [174]. Hosseini Haghighi [175] enhanced the interoperability between urban building data and energy consumption evaluation.…”

“…Energy reduction [167][168][169][170][171][172][173]175] Promote energy-saving construction to achieve energy-reduction goals through accurate energy simulation analysis, encourage energy-efficient behaviours, and intelligent matching of residents and activities.…”

Digital Twins’ Applications for Building Energy Efficiency: A Review

“…This approach also used building energy models of the buildings integrated in a BIM model for the DT. Also on a city scale, Bass et al [69] outlined a method for developing urban-scale building energy models, and illustrated the distribution of potential savings from energy efficient building systems. Several corporations, universities and national laboratories are working on urban-scale energy modeling, which will allow for the production of a digital twin of buildings for simulation and optimization of real-world, city-sized areas.…”