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Cornell Building Energy Model Uses Ithaca as Case Study
An Affordable Resource for Smaller Cities
Cornell University researchers have developed a new software tool that can model a small city’s building energy use within minutes on a standard laptop, according to the Cornell Chronicle. Researchers used Ithaca as a case study and claim the tool is an affordable resource for cities of similar size, although it can be scaled up to serve a state.
The Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability and the Park Foundation helped fund the research. The software has an automated and accurate workflow that does not use advanced computing power, researchers said.
The urban building energy model can factor in costs while simulating the addition of weatherization, electric heat pumps, and rooftop solar panels. The model mapped out the baseline energy use of Ithaca’s over 5,000 residential and commercial buildings, providing the city with information on achieving its goal of carbon neutrality by 2030. Tompkins County is also utilizing the tool.
Timur Dogan, associate professor of architecture and design technology at Cornell, heads the lab that developed the model. He said it can shape policies and policy prioritization.
“We’re really excited that this can scale and is efficient enough even for a state to map out energy consumption and the potential for retrofits – what they mean from a carbon emissions perspective, a financial perspective or just an efficiency perspective,” Dogan told the Cornell Chronicle.
The building and construction industry contributes to over 37% of carbon dioxide emissions. While other urban building energy models exist, Dogan said his lab’s model produces similar results with lower costs and in a “fraction of the time.”
The Ithaca case study revealed some seemingly “counterintuitive insights,” researchers said. Replacing gas furnaces with heat pumps would increase operating costs, meaning the replacement should occur with weatherization and the addition of rooftop solar panels to make the cost financially reasonable. In addition, multifamily residential buildings are more affordable to retrofit than large commercial buildings, the latter of which is traditionally thought of as the logical place to focus.
Dogan said his lab’s model makes this decision making process smoother.
“The models allow you to flag properties that are interesting to look into more closely,” Dogan said. “You go from 5,000 buildings and we don’t know what to do, to ‘These 100 are the clear ones to go after first.’”
While big cities may have the budget to fund expensive decarbonization efforts, Dogan told the Cornell Chronicle that he hopes the new model makes such initiatives more financially feasible to small municipalities.
Rebecca Evans, Ithaca’s director of sustainability, told the Cornell Chronicle that the city and county are already using the model. Both welcome the ongoing partnership with Dogan’s lab.
“Urban building energy models have the potential to significantly reduce the capital necessary to identify buildings primed for electrification, bundle those buildings into portfolios, and create attractive areas for investment,” Evans said.
- Shuba Gautam, Ithaca Times, 8/19/25
Cornell University researchers have developed a new software tool that can model a small city’s building energy use within minutes on a standard laptop, according to the Cornell Chronicle. Researchers used Ithaca as a case study and claim the tool is an affordable resource for cities of similar size, although it can be scaled up to serve a state.
The Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability and the Park Foundation helped fund the research. The software has an automated and accurate workflow that does not use advanced computing power, researchers said.
The urban building energy model can factor in costs while simulating the addition of weatherization, electric heat pumps, and rooftop solar panels. The model mapped out the baseline energy use of Ithaca’s over 5,000 residential and commercial buildings, providing the city with information on achieving its goal of carbon neutrality by 2030. Tompkins County is also utilizing the tool.
Timur Dogan, associate professor of architecture and design technology at Cornell, heads the lab that developed the model. He said it can shape policies and policy prioritization.
“We’re really excited that this can scale and is efficient enough even for a state to map out energy consumption and the potential for retrofits – what they mean from a carbon emissions perspective, a financial perspective or just an efficiency perspective,” Dogan told the Cornell Chronicle.
The building and construction industry contributes to over 37% of carbon dioxide emissions. While other urban building energy models exist, Dogan said his lab’s model produces similar results with lower costs and in a “fraction of the time.”
The Ithaca case study revealed some seemingly “counterintuitive insights,” researchers said. Replacing gas furnaces with heat pumps would increase operating costs, meaning the replacement should occur with weatherization and the addition of rooftop solar panels to make the cost financially reasonable. In addition, multifamily residential buildings are more affordable to retrofit than large commercial buildings, the latter of which is traditionally thought of as the logical place to focus.
Dogan said his lab’s model makes this decision making process smoother.
“The models allow you to flag properties that are interesting to look into more closely,” Dogan said. “You go from 5,000 buildings and we don’t know what to do, to ‘These 100 are the clear ones to go after first.’”
While big cities may have the budget to fund expensive decarbonization efforts, Dogan told the Cornell Chronicle that he hopes the new model makes such initiatives more financially feasible to small municipalities.
Rebecca Evans, Ithaca’s director of sustainability, told the Cornell Chronicle that the city and county are already using the model. Both welcome the ongoing partnership with Dogan’s lab.
“Urban building energy models have the potential to significantly reduce the capital necessary to identify buildings primed for electrification, bundle those buildings into portfolios, and create attractive areas for investment,” Evans said.
- Shuba Gautam, Ithaca Times, 8/19/25
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