Abstract:

Rapid urbanization and the expansion of building floor area have increased energy consumption in the building sector. Addressing this issue requires effective approaches to assessing and improving building energy performance. This study presents an integrated framework for assessing the energy performance, environmental implications, and economic indicators of urban buildings in Qazvin by combining urban building energy modeling (UBEM) with the requirements of Section 19 of Iran’s National Building Regulations. A prototype-based UBEM approach was used, and the model was calibrated against measured energy consumption data (CV(RMSE) = 3.4%; MAPE = 3.3%). The results show that the combined retrofit scenario reduces energy consumption in the prototype building by up to 46.5%. Extrapolating the results to similar residential, commercial, and office buildings across the city yields estimated annual energy savings of 648–792 GWh. The corresponding absolute annual reductions in emissions are 125,000 tonnes of CO₂, 390 tonnes of SO₂, 390 tonnes of NOₓ, and 96 tonnes of PM₂.₅. One-way sensitivity analysis shows that the building envelope’s thermal transmittance has the greatest effect on urban energy consumption, whereas energy prices have the greatest effect on net present value. Based on these findings, a financial incentive covering 15–20% of investment costs could be considered as a support scenario to reduce investment risk and improve the economic attractiveness of retrofitting.