Next-Gen Urban Building Energy Modelling: Integrating Sufficiency, Efficiency, Renewables, and Climate Resilience

Achieving net-zero emissions in urban environments requires a paradigm shift in how we understand, design, and operate buildings. The building sector is at the center of urban energy consumption, and next-generation urban energy models must integrate the three strategic pillars, sufficiency, efficiency, and renewable energy, while also incorporating the challenges and adaptations required by climate change.

This Research Topic, “Next-Gen Urban Building Energy Modelling: Integrating Sufficiency, Efficiency, Renewables, and Climate Resilience,” aims to highlight innovative modelling approaches that support carbon-neutral building stocks. It seeks interdisciplinary contributions that advance the capabilities of urban-scale building energy simulations, enhance data-driven policy decisions, and enable a deeper integration of technical and socio-environmental solutions.

We welcome original research articles, methodological developments, case studies, and review papers that explore the future of urban building energy modelling.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
1. Bottom-up and hybrid approaches to urban building energy modelling.
2. Modelling energy sufficiency measures (e.g., behavioral change, passive strategies, compact urban forms).
3. Simulation of energy efficiency retrofits, optimization, and smart controls.
4. Integration of renewable energy systems in urban building models (PV, wind, district energy, storage).
5. Digital twins, AI, and surrogate models for scalable and dynamic urban simulations.
6. Coupling building energy models with climate resilience indicators and extreme weather data.
7. Use of GIS and open urban data platforms in building energy modelling.
8. Socio-technical, equity, and policy dimensions of sufficiency and renewable integration.
9. Urban energy system modelling at buildings, community, district, and city scales.
10. Case studies informing decision-making for carbon-neutral building stock.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Energy Demand, Building Simulation, UBEM, Sufficiency, Efficiency, Renewables, Climate Change

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.