A review of resistance–capacitance thermal network model in urban building energy simulations

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With the increasing population and urbanization promotion, energy consumption and carbon emissions have increased, and concern for inefficient energy use and deteriorating urban environments is growing. The prediction of building energy consumption and environmental evaluation, especially at large scales, are considered to be a major challenge confronting the research community. An outstanding strategy for mitigating energy consumption and carbon emissions resides in the field of energy modeling. As a simplified building energy modeling model, resistance–capacitance (RC) network model has the applications in fast predicting building energy consumption. Notably, in recent years, there has been an evident absence of thorough review endeavors related to RC model for urban building energy loads and climate. This review systematically explores the application of low-order models and reduction methods for urban or regional energy simulation starting from the typical RC model for building. In summation, the challenges associated with employing this model for urban building energy loads and climate can be succinctly summarized as follows: the absence of a unified platform for RC modeling; insufficient readily applicable urban datasets; the need for modeling tools that facilitate cross-platform analyses in conjunction with existing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and urban thermal environment simulation research platforms, and the essential requirement for seamless integration with other complementary modules.