Quantifying the Building Energy Dynamics of Manhattan, New York City, Using an Urban Building Energy Model and Localized Weather Data

Abstract

Building sectors account for major energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in the US. While urban building energy-use modeling has been widely applied in many studies, limited studies have been conducted for Manhattan, New York City (NYC). Since the release of the new “80-by-50” law, the NYC government has committed to reducing carbon emissions by 80% by 2050; indeed, the government is facing a big challenge for reducing the energy use and carbon emissions. Therefore, understanding the building energy use of NYC with a high spatial and temporal resolution is essential for the government and local citizens in managing building energy use. This study quantified the building energy use of Manhattan in NYC with consideration of the local microclimate by integrating two popular modeling platforms, the Urban Weather Generator (UWG) and Urban Building Energy Modeling (UBEM). The research results suggest that (1) the largest building energy use is in central Manhattan, which is composed of large numbers of commercial buildings; (2) a similar seasonal electricity-use pattern and significantly different seasonal gas-use patterns could be found in Manhattan, NYC, due to the varied seasonal cooling and heating demand; and (3) the hourly energy-use profiles suggest only one electricity-use peak in the summer and two gas-use peaks in the winter.