IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v16y2023i11p4309-d1154966.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Geographic Information Systems for Facilitating Audits of the Urban Built Environment

Author

Listed:
  • Constantinos A. Balaras

    (Group Energy Conservation, Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development (IERSD), National Observatory of Athens (NOA), P. Penteli, 15236 Athens, Greece)

  • Andreas I. Theodoropoulos

    (Independent Researcher, 13451 Athens, Greece)

  • Elena G. Dascalaki

    (Group Energy Conservation, Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development (IERSD), National Observatory of Athens (NOA), P. Penteli, 15236 Athens, Greece)

Abstract

Data collection and large-scale urban audits are challenging and can be time consuming processes. Geographic information systems can extract and combine relevant data that can be used as input to calculation tools that provide results and quantify indicators with sufficient spatial analysis to facilitate the local decision-making process for building renovations and sustainability assessment. This work presents an open-access tool that offers an automated process that can be used to audit an urban area in order to extract relevant information about the characteristics of the built environment, analyze the building characteristics to evaluate energy performance, assess the potential for the installation of photovoltaics on available building rooftops, and quantify ground permeability. A case study is also presented to demonstrate data collection and processing for an urban city block, and the relevant results are elaborated upon. The method is easily replicable and is based on open data and non-commercial tools.

Suggested Citation

  • Constantinos A. Balaras & Andreas I. Theodoropoulos & Elena G. Dascalaki, 2023. "Geographic Information Systems for Facilitating Audits of the Urban Built Environment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-26, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:11:p:4309-:d:1154966
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/11/4309/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/11/4309/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Angeliki Peponi & Paulo Morgado & Jorge Trindade, 2019. "Combining Artificial Neural Networks and GIS Fundamentals for Coastal Erosion Prediction Modeling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-14, February.
    2. Pratyush Tripathy & Krishnachandran Balakrishnan & Carlo de Franchis & Amit Kumar, 2022. "Generating megacity-scale building height maps without DGNSS surveyed GCPs: An open-source approach," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 49(9), pages 2312-2330, November.
    3. Filippidou, Faidra & Nieboer, Nico & Visscher, Henk, 2017. "Are we moving fast enough? The energy renovation rate of the Dutch non-profit housing using the national energy labelling database," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 488-498.
    4. Estitxu Villamor & Ortzi Akizu-Gardoki & Olatz Azurza & Leire Urkidi & Alvaro Campos-Celador & Izaro Basurko & Iñaki Barcena Hinojal, 2020. "European Cities in the Energy Transition: A Preliminary Analysis of 27 Cities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-25, March.
    5. Constantinos A. Balaras & Kalliopi G. Droutsa & Elena G. Dascalaki & Simon Kontoyiannidis & Andrea Moro & Elena Bazzan, 2019. "Urban Sustainability Audits and Ratings of the Built Environment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-36, November.
    6. Emmanuel N. Efthymiou & Sofia Yfanti & George Kyriakarakos & Panagiotis L. Zervas & Panagiotis Langouranis & Konstantinos Terzis & George M. Stavrakakis, 2022. "A Practical Methodology for Building a Municipality-Led Renewable Energy Community: A Photovoltaics-Based Case Study for the Municipality of Hersonissos in Crete, Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-31, October.
    7. Byrne, John & Taminiau, Job & Kurdgelashvili, Lado & Kim, Kyung Nam, 2015. "A review of the solar city concept and methods to assess rooftop solar electric potential, with an illustrative application to the city of Seoul," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 830-844.
    8. Anna Codemo & Angelica Pianegonda & Marco Ciolli & Sara Favargiotti & Rossano Albatici, 2022. "Mapping Pervious Surfaces and Canopy Cover Using High-Resolution Airborne Imagery and Digital Elevation Models to Support Urban Planning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-21, May.
    9. Roman V. Klyuev & Irbek D. Morgoev & Angelika D. Morgoeva & Oksana A. Gavrina & Nikita V. Martyushev & Egor A. Efremenkov & Qi Mengxu, 2022. "Methods of Forecasting Electric Energy Consumption: A Literature Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-33, November.
    10. Ballarini, Ilaria & Corrado, Vincenzo & Madonna, Francesco & Paduos, Simona & Ravasio, Franco, 2017. "Energy refurbishment of the Italian residential building stock: energy and cost analysis through the application of the building typology," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 148-160.
    11. Niall Buckley & Gerald Mills & Samuel Letellier-Duchesne & Khadija Benis, 2021. "Designing an Energy-Resilient Neighbourhood Using an Urban Building Energy Model," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-17, July.
    12. Droutsa, Kalliopi G. & Kontoyiannidis, Simon & Dascalaki, Elena G. & Balaras, Constantinos A., 2016. "Mapping the energy performance of hellenic residential buildings from EPC (energy performance certificate) data," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 284-295.
    13. Zhang Deng & Yixing Chen & Xiao Pan & Zhiwen Peng & Jingjing Yang, 2021. "Integrating GIS-Based Point of Interest and Community Boundary Datasets for Urban Building Energy Modeling," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-17, February.
    14. Balaras, Constantinos A. & Dascalaki, Elena G. & Droutsa, Kalliopi G. & Kontoyiannidis, Simon, 2016. "Empirical assessment of calculated and actual heating energy use in Hellenic residential buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 115-132.
    15. Dijkstra, Lewis & Florczyk, Aneta J. & Freire, Sergio & Kemper, Thomas & Melchiorri, Michele & Pesaresi, Martino & Schiavina, Marcello, 2021. "Applying the Degree of Urbanisation to the globe: A new harmonised definition reveals a different picture of global urbanisation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    16. Dascalaki, E.G. & Balaras, C.A. & Gaglia, A.G. & Droutsa, K.G. & Kontoyiannidis, S., 2012. "Energy performance of buildings—EPBD in Greece," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 469-477.
    17. Zirak, Maryam & Weiler, Verena & Hein, Martin & Eicker, Ursula, 2020. "Urban models enrichment for energy applications: Challenges in energy simulation using different data sources for building age information," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Constantinos A. Balaras & Kalliopi G. Droutsa & Elena G. Dascalaki & Simon Kontoyiannidis & Andrea Moro & Elena Bazzan & Paola Borgaro, 2023. "Auditing and Rating Sustainability of Mediterranean Buildings, Neighbourhoods and Cities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-18, December.
    2. Ali Taileb & Mohammed Fareed Sherzad, 2023. "Energy Audits and Energy Modeling as a Tool towards Reducing Energy Consumption in Buildings: The Cases of Two Multi-Unit Residential Buildings (MURBs) in Toronto," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-16, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hettinga, Sanne & van ’t Veer, Rein & Boter, Jaap, 2023. "Large scale energy labelling with models: The EU TABULA model versus machine learning with open data," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    2. Spyridaki, Niki-Artemis & Stavrakas, Vassilis & Dendramis, Yiannis & Flamos, Alexandros, 2020. "Understanding technology ownership to reveal adoption trends for energy efficiency measures in the Greek residential sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    3. Elena G. Dascalaki & Poulia A. Argiropoulou & Constantinos A. Balaras & Kalliopi G. Droutsa & Simon Kontoyiannidis, 2020. "Benchmarks for Embodied and Operational Energy Assessment of Hellenic Single-Family Houses," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-36, August.
    4. Kalliopi G. Droutsa & Constantinos A. Balaras & Spyridon Lykoudis & Simon Kontoyiannidis & Elena G. Dascalaki & Athanassios A. Argiriou, 2020. "Baselines for Energy Use and Carbon Emission Intensities in Hellenic Nonresidential Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-29, April.
    5. Wilson, C. & Pettifor, H. & Chryssochoidis, G., 2018. "Quantitative modelling of why and how homeowners decide to renovate energy efficiently," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1333-1344.
    6. George M. Stavrakakis & Panagiotis L. Zervas & Konstantinos Terzis & Panagiotis Langouranis & Panagiota Saranti & Yorgos J. Stephanedes, 2023. "Exploitation of Mediterranean Cooperation Projects’ Tools for the Development of Public Buildings’ Energy Efficiency Plans at Local Level: A Case Study in Greece," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-33, April.
    7. Dimitris Al. Katsaprakakis & Antonia Proka & Dimitris Zafirakis & Markos Damasiotis & Panos Kotsampopoulos & Nikos Hatziargyriou & Eirini Dakanali & George Arnaoutakis & Dimitrios Xevgenos, 2022. "Greek Islands’ Energy Transition: From Lighthouse Projects to the Emergence of Energy Communities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-34, August.
    8. Dimitris Al. Katsaprakakis & Apostolos Michopoulos & Vasiliki Skoulou & Eirini Dakanali & Aggeliki Maragkaki & Stavroula Pappa & Ioannis Antonakakis & Dimitris Christakis & Constantinos Condaxakis, 2022. "A Multidisciplinary Approach for an Effective and Rational Energy Transition in Crete Island, Greece," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-49, April.
    9. Pasichnyi, Oleksii & Wallin, Jörgen & Levihn, Fabian & Shahrokni, Hossein & Kordas, Olga, 2019. "Energy performance certificates — New opportunities for data-enabled urban energy policy instruments?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 486-499.
    10. Aleksandar S. Anđelković & Miroslav Kljajić & Dušan Macura & Vladimir Munćan & Igor Mujan & Mladen Tomić & Željko Vlaović & Borivoj Stepanov, 2021. "Building Energy Performance Certificate—A Relevant Indicator of Actual Energy Consumption and Savings?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-19, June.
    11. Li, Y. & Kubicki, S. & Guerriero, A. & Rezgui, Y., 2019. "Review of building energy performance certification schemes towards future improvement," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1-1.
    12. Ehsan Kamel, 2022. "A Systematic Literature Review of Physics-Based Urban Building Energy Modeling (UBEM) Tools, Data Sources, and Challenges for Energy Conservation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-24, November.
    13. Hyunjoo Lee & Misuk Lee & Sesil Lim, 2018. "Do Consumers Care about the Energy Efficiency of Buildings? Understanding Residential Choice Based on Energy Performance Certificates," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-18, November.
    14. Xie, Hailun & Eames, Matt & Mylona, Anastasia & Davies, Hywel & Challenor, Peter, 2024. "Creating granular climate zones for future-proof building design in the UK," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 357(C).
    15. Olatz Azurza-Zubizarreta & Izaro Basurko-PerezdeArenaza & Eñaut Zelarain & Estitxu Villamor & Ortzi Akizu-Gardoki & Unai Villena-Camarero & Alvaro Campos-Celador & Iñaki Barcena-Hinojal, 2021. "Urban Energy Transitions in Europe, towards Low-Socio-Environmental Impact Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-29, October.
    16. Roberta Pernetti & Riccardo Pinotti & Roberto Lollini, 2021. "Repository of Deep Renovation Packages Based on Industrialized Solutions: Definition and Application," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-18, June.
    17. Formolli, M. & Kleiven, T. & Lobaccaro, G., 2023. "Assessing solar energy accessibility at high latitudes: A systematic review of urban spatial domains, metrics, and parameters," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    18. Besagni, Giorgio & Premoli Vilà, Lidia & Borgarello, Marco & Trabucchi, Andrea & Merlo, Marco & Rodeschini, Jacopo & Finazzi, Francesco, 2021. "Electrification pathways of the Italian residential sector under socio-demographic constrains: Looking towards 2040," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    19. Luis M. López-Ochoa & Jesús Las-Heras-Casas & Luis M. López-González & César García-Lozano, 2020. "Energy Renovation of Residential Buildings in Cold Mediterranean Zones Using Optimized Thermal Envelope Insulation Thicknesses: The Case of Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-34, March.
    20. Nausheen Masood & Alessio Russo, 2023. "Community Perception of Brownfield Regeneration through Urban Rewilding," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-15, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:11:p:4309-:d:1154966. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.