Revisiting City Energy Performance Grading: The Inadequacy of Current Standards and The Promise of Big Data

Authors

  • Sokratis Papadopoulos New York University
  • Constantine E. Kontokosta New York University

Keywords:

urban energy benchmarking, energy efficiency labeling, data-driven energy policy

Abstract

In recent years, cities in both the U.S. and globally are adopting energy disclosure policies to better understand, and eventually improve, the condition of existing building stocks. Statistical methods have been widely adopted for building energy benchmarking, replacing or supplementing traditional engineering approaches. Although conceptually correct, we find state-ofthe-art benchmarking tools to be flawed in various aspects, from data quality to model robustness and generalizability. In this work, we focus on ENERGY STAR® scoring, the prevalent energy benchmarking tool in the United States. Specifically, we show that the ENERGY STAR’s models trained on nationwide samples are not able to generalize when applied to city-specific data, leading to estimates with significant uncertainty. We identify the factors resulting in this failure and propose a conceptual ontology for the next generation city energy benchmarking, built on more contextualized statistical learning algorithms and market-specific data sources.

Author Biographies

  • Sokratis Papadopoulos, New York University

    Sokratis Papadopoulos is a PhD candidate in the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. He is a researh affiliate of Dr. Constantine Kontokosta's Civic Analytics Program at the Marron Institute.

  • Constantine E. Kontokosta, New York University

    Constantine E. Kontokosta, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Urban Science and Planning and Director of the Civic Analytics program at the NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management. He also directs the Urban Intelligence Lab and holds cross-appointments at the Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) and the Department of Civil and Urban Engineering (CUE). He is affiliated faculty at the Wagner School of Public Service and was Visiting Professor of Computer Science at the University of Warwick (UK) and a Senior Scholar at the New York Academy of Medicine. Previously, he served as the inaugural Deputy Director of CUSP and Assistant Professor of Urban Informatics at CUSP and CUE, where he was part of the Center’s founding leadership team and designed, launched, and directed one of the first graduate programs in urban informatics. He is a recipient of the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award for his research in urban informatics for sustainable cities.

    Trained in urban planning and computational methods (Columbia), real estate finance and economics (NYU), and systems science and engineering (UPenn), Constantine brings an inter-disciplinary perspective to urban science that connects fundamental research with impact-driven, use-inspired needs. His work leverages large-scale data with computational methods to understand and drive change in urban energy and climate policy, neighborhood dynamics and the impacts of urban development, and bias and fairness in public sector decision-making. Recent projects include research to measure bias in resident complaint reporting for predictive analytics; to understand disparities in the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable communities using mobility data; and to develop data-driven methods to reduce carbon emissions from the built environment. Constantine’s research groups — the Civic Analytics program and the Urban Intelligence Lab — are motivated by the need to bring evidence to policy-making, to democratize knowledge through information transparency, and to uncover discrimination and bias in data-driven decision-making.

    Constantine’s research is funded by the National Science Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Sloan Foundation, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the NYC Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, among others, and he has received several honors for his work, including the IBM Faculty Award, the UN Data for Climate Action Challenge Award, the Goddard Junior Faculty Fellowship, the Real Green Research Challenge Award, the Charles Abrams Award for Social Justice Research, the C. Lowell Harriss Dissertation Award, the HUD Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, and a NYU Award for Teaching Excellence. Constantine has published in leading peer-reviewed journals – including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature Communications, and Nature Energy – and has a forthcoming book on urban analytics and data-driven climate action. His publications have earned best paper awards from the Journal of the American Planning Association and the Bloomberg Data for Good symposium. His research has been featured in the New York Times, Scientific American, the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, FastCompany, CityLab, Wired, CNN, NPR, and other media outlets. He holds a PhD, M.Phil, and M.S. from Columbia University, a M.S. from New York University, and a B.S.E. from the University of Pennsylvania.

    He has served on several city and federal advisory committees and boards, including the UNEP Sustainable Buildings and Climate Council, the Americas Board of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and was Vice Chair and Commissioner of the Suffolk County (NY) Planning Commission, where he led initiatives for affordable housing and green building. In addition to his academic work, Constantine is an accomplished entrepreneur.

    Research Interests: Urban Science and Informatics

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Published

2019-11-16

Issue

Vol. 3 (2019): Buildings, Cities, and Performance I

Section

Articles