Estimating the building based energy consumption as an anthropogenic contribution to urban heat islands

In the absence of detailed measurements calculating the local consumption can be challenging. We present a methodology which combines a top-down disaggregation of sectoral electricity consumption with a bottom-up geographic information system (GIS) derived building database for obtaining anthropogenic heat emission maps with high spatial resolution. The database has been validated through control samples. Using the example of Singapore we can show that heat emissions are more inhomogeneous and higher in magnitude than previously estimated. Our method can now be employed to generate better UHI models by identifying areas with significant anthropogenic heat emissions.