Modeling and design of smart buildings

This chapter discusses modeling and designing smart buildings as an essential element of urban systems. The topic of smart buildings is explored in-depth nuances and technical steps required to enact the approaches of the urban systems design introduced in Chapter 2. Buildings are endpoints of distributing resources in urban systems. Buildings consume about 40% of energy and account for about 40% of CO2 emissions globally. Smart buildings not only should contribute to reducing carbon emissions but also should be connected into urban systems in which buildings harness low-carbon energy systems. In this respect, smart buildings require special considerations to incorporate new types of technologies and systems. The method to create smart buildings should be discussed under the overarching framework of urban systems design. Buildings are also interfacing between inhabitants and cities as key nodes for networking systems in a city. How humans interact within the smart buildings are discussed.