GeoBEM Series: Geospatial computing for Urban-scale building energy solutions

Intro: Cities account for a large share of global energy use and emissions, yet urban-scale building energy modeling (UBEM) is still limited by data gaps and nonstandard geospatial workflows. Our GeoBEM framework bridges this gap by unifying GIS integration, automated data pipelines, and physics-based simulations to enable high-resolution energy modeling across cities. We are leveraging this platform to evaluate various building materials, retrofit strategies, and green finance applications, with multiple exciting studies underway - stay tuned for forthcoming findings!

References:

[1] Zhang, S., Chen, L., Xu, L., & Wang, Z. (2025). GeoBEM: A geospatial computing empowered framework for urban-scale building energy modeling. Sustainable Cities and Society, 106203. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2025.106203

[2] Zhang, S., Zhou, Y., Chen, L., Huang, Y., & Wang, Z. (2025). Inferring building type using textual data and Natural Language Processing for urban building energy modelling. Building and Environment, 269, 112428. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2024.112428

[3] Chen, L., Zhang, S., Li, X. C., Chui, T. F. M., Yang, J., Wang, W., Hong, T., & Wang, Z. (2026). Mitigating Urban Climate–Energy Feedback with Citywide Building-Integrated Photovoltaics Implementation. Nexus.
Full text: https://www.cell.com/nexus/fulltext/S2950-1601(25)00061-0