CREATE: A toolbox to develop, implement and monitor advanced energy and climate goals and strategies

Abstract

Various environmental and regulatory changes, such as climate change mitigation strategies and market regulation, have increased the complexity of the challenges which cities, utilities, and real estate owners face. Thus, cities and their utilities are confronted with various problems: How, and at which costs can ambitious climate change mitigation goals be reached? How can urban planning be developed while simultaneously tackling climate change? How can the long-term economic and environmental performance of the building stock be optimized? How to plan electricity, gas, and thermal networks to suit future energy demand and the existing urban topology? These problems are usually addressed individually and independently from each other using instruments that lack an interdisciplinary approach. Data collections are often done “ad hoc” and not from a systemic point of view, resulting in datasets that are often incomplete, incoherent, and with different structures that make them difficult to merge. The paper describes the Carbon Resource Energy and Adaption Toolbox Europe (CREATE), a comprehensive modelling and data toolbox that can overcome these shortcomings. This toolbox has been developed to include elements that are specially conceived for various use cases of different decision makers (and their service providers): urban planners, energy utilities, network operators, building portfolio owners, building code designers, construction authorities, energy and climate policy makers. CREATE has three main elements: • Expert BSM: GIS-based scenario analysis tool for urban and utility energy planners, providing evaluation and management of energy demand, emissions, renewable energy resources, and other parameters. • Basic Web BSM: Simplified web-based spatial data information, monitoring and visualization tool for smaller municipalities and utilities. • Portfolio BSM: A portfolio assessment tool for real estate portfolio owners and manager to analyse the status quo of their portfolio and the possibility to develop short- and long-term strategies in terms of economic, energy and carbon performance. As such CREATE enables engagement between the various decision-making levels and bodies of cities and municipalities as well as (energy) utilities and building portfolio owners or real estate site developers.

Holger Wallbaum

Full Professor, Vice-Head of Department and Vice-Dean for Research

Holger is a Full Professor in sustainable building at the Division of Building Technology, research group Sustainable Building, and in the Area of advance Building Futures. Holger works within sustainable building on concepts, tools and strategies to enhance the sustainability performance of construction materials, building products, buildings as well as entire cities.