Toronto Metropolitan University

Purpose

The overall scope of this Project is to develop a highly granular, bottom-up physics-simulation model that utilizes basic building characteristics (e.g., building age, type, and other relevant attributes) and statistical sampling methods to estimate the annual sub-hourly energy consumption and operational GHG emissions of the commercial building stock across Canada. The primary outcome of this Project will be the commercial building stock model validated against the best-available ground-truth data (e.g., Urban Building Energy Models (UBEM) for cities/communities/municipalities, whole-building interval meter data, submetering, national surveys, etc.). This model will be used to assess the impact of technological advancements, building stock improvements, demand-side management, and electrification strategies on energy demand and operational GHG emissions—addressing a key limitation of existing top-down or bottom-up statistical/econometric models. Additionally, the model can evaluate the impact of building codes and regulations at national, regional, and local levels, as well as assess indoor environmental quality requirements.