Cities are responsible for 67% of global energy use. Building sector accounts for considerable amount of energy consumption, contributing to adverse environmental and climate change impacts. As the consequences of climate change increase, there is an increased focus on the building sector, a major negative contributor and a major positive solution provider. Currently, the knowledge regarding building energy use at the urban scale in accordance to climate change projections is scarce. Understanding urban building energy use provides perspective about a city’s energy demand which is beneficial for climate change reduction goals and policies, design of distributed energy resources, and utility planning.
In addition to use phase energy, new materials entering into urban building stocks because of maintenance and renovation, and wastes generated as result of demolition have significant environmental impacts. Therefore, there is an expressed need to analyze material stock and material flows of existing buildings at an urban scale. Knowledge of where and what types of building materials existing in a city may allow for more sustainable maintenance, demolition, and waste management.
