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The key intent of UBEM.io is to receive an input geometric file defining the urban building context of interest, and output an umi for Rhino file for simulations and scenario analysis in UMI for Rhino. Within UBEM.io, users can segment/group the building stock into desired archetypes, and assign relevant building simulation templates from our database of archetype templates. The assigned building templates will be reflected in the umi file automatically, eliminating the need for manual assignments. Umi allows various urban-scale simulations, including energy and daylighting.

Data Requirements

There are three main types of data required for the workflow:

Weather Data
Geometry Data
Non-geometric data

Weather Data

Weather data for the appropriate region of interest can be downloaded from the following:

UBEM.io will automatically assign the closest EnergyPlus weather station, but users can assign a different weather file once the project is opened in Rhino (see project-setup).

Geometry

Geometry files can exist in different formats, and cities/municipalities around the world manage these files differently. Common file formats include geographical information system (GIS) shapefiles, CityGML files, CityJSON, etc. Alternatively, geometry data can also be extracted from open data sources such as OpenStreetMaps.

The basic requirement is a GIS file containing building footprints (Polygons or MultiPolygons are supported) with the following attributes:

Minimum data requirements

At least one categorical column or attribute field is necessary to categorize/group the building stock into appropriate archetypes (e.g. program type or zoning type). At least one numerical column or attribute field to categorize/group the building stock (e.g. the year built or the building age).

Other required columns / attribute fields

ID: Unique identifier for each building footprint polygon. If the ID field is not present, UBEM.io will automatically generate one sequentially, but this will be hard for the city to compare back to at the end). The ID must be in the first column. Refactor the attribute table if you to at the end). The ID must be in the first column. Refactor the attribute table if you need to change t need to change this.

Height: height of each building in meters (if difficult to obtain, obtain by multiplying floors or number of storeys by a standard floor-to-floor height, which can be done easily in QGIS or ArcGIS) Program Type / End Use: For each building footprint polygon. Examples include residential, commercial, and mixed-use, etc.

Year Built (Age)

Additional columns / attribute fields that enhance models:

Storey: Number of storeys for the building. Necessary if you do not have height data.

Window-to-wall (WWR) ratio: If you have the data, great. Otherwise, it can be assigned in UBEM.io, based on archetype / category. Defaults to 40 % for all of north, south, east and west elevations.

UBEM.io assumes WWR is similar across all elevations (currently does not have functionality to assign different WWR for each elevation).

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) ShapeFiles : Shapefile (.shp) with all associated files (.dbf .cpg .prj .shx) should be included Shapefile should contain building footprint polygons, with each polygon representing one building, and includes all available data/attributes for the building (see Summary of required fields).

Summary of required fields

Attribute	Type	Description
height	numerical `decimal`	The height of the building in meters. This value is used to extrude the 2D footprint to a certain height.
program/use type	categorical `string`	The program/use type is an attribute that is used to identify the main activity occurring in a building. Typicall values are: “Office”, “Residential”, “Retail”, etc.

Coordinate System

EPSG: 4326 - WGS 84 - Geographic Coordinate Reference System preferred, but UBEM.io supports other projections.

Important for GeoJSON!
For GeoJSON files, it is imperative that the units of the geometries be in Lat/Lon EPSG: 4326 - WGS 84 - Geographic Coordinate Reference System. This insures that the file can be reprojected correctly into Rhino coordinates.

Non-Geometric Data

Non-geometric data is necessary to characterise the building properties. Typical non-geometric data includes envelope and fenestration/glazing properties, as well as systems (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning). These non-geometric properties will aid the creation of building simulation templates for the simulation engine. These data can be obtained from building audits, records, specifications, as-built models, or simply best-estimates.

Non-Geometric Data: Creating UMI Building Templates Define key parameters for building energy simulation Need to be developed for different building use types or construction and age Three ways to create templates: From an existing EnergyPlus idf file via archetypal By editing an existing template to match your parameters using the UMI Template Editor From scratch using the UMI Template Editor

Typical data required for creating building templates (in UMI for Rhino) include: Construction assembly (such as typical roof, wall, floor construction materials and thickness) Glazing (window) properties Equipment and lighting loads HVAC equipment and schedules Occupancy schedules and density

Key terms for defining templates:

Keyword	Description
Building Templates	Entire collection of interior and exterior features of the structure. Templates may consist of one or more zones, with each zone having different parameters.
Zones	Groups of enclosed surfaces that typically have different space conditioning parameters, and can each interact with each other thermally and have a common air mass at roughly the same temperature. One or more rooms within a building. Zones may consist ofone or more surfaces but need to be closed
Surfaces	Walls, roofs, ceilings, floors, partitions, windows, shading devices, etc. Surfaces consist of a series of materials called a “construction”. One or more surfaces make up a zone.
Materials	Define the thermal properties for layers that are used to put together a construction. One or more material layers make a construction. One or more material layers make a construction.