Using urban building energy modelling (UBEM) to support the new European Union’s Green Deal: Case study of Dublin Ireland

The European Unions (EU) Green Deal plans for a carbon neutral economy by 2050. Achieving this goal will require actions across all economic sectors, especially the building sector, which currently accounts for 40% of energy use. Residential energy use is a significant contributor, much of it due to an aging, poorly insulated building stock, much of which is concentrated in urban neighbourhoods. This research focusses on the application of an Urban Building Energy Model (UBEM) to support the Green Deal and the planned ‘renovation wave’. An archetype approach is used to efficiently derive the building data needed to run the Urban Modelling Interface (UMI) to test the efficacy of energy retrofitting policies for neighbourhoods, using a case-study area of 9,000 residential buildings in a European city. Initially, UMI simulations of energy use intensity are evaluated against reported energy performance certificate data in the study area. The UBEM is then used to quantify the most cost-effective mix of envelope retrofit and onsite energy production to achieve a 60% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The methodology shown here is based on residential building archetypes that are available for many EU countries and the method outlined can be replicated in other urban settings.