3D City modeling for urban scale heating energy demand forecasting

An urban energy management tool was developed, which is able to predict the heating energy demand of urban districts and analyze strategies for improving building standards. Building models of different Levels of Detail are investigated and analyzed according to their suitability for forecasting energy demand. Based on the specific 3D city model, an input file is generated, which can be read by the building simulation model. Special focus is put on a method for modeling the heating energy demand of the buildings with the fewest input parameters possible, but one which will give reliable forecast results. A simple transmission heat loss method and an energy-balance method were tested. In both cases, there was a good correlation between the measured and calculated annual values for a case study area of over 700 buildings in Ostfildern, Germany. The results also show that a 3D city model (with low geometrical detail) can be used for energy demand forecasting on an urban scale.