Parametric systems modeling for sustainable energy and resource flows in buildings and their urban environment

This paper proposes Parametric Systems Modeling (PSM) as a tool for building and city planning. The method outlined is based on Systems Modeling Language (SysML). It supplements geometry-based Computer-aided Design (CAD) with a non-geometric, design-oriented modeling approach that considers multidisciplinary information and parametric interdependencies. Its application is intended for the exploration of innovative sustainable design solutions at the system level. An innovative urban building-greenhouse system illustrates how the approach works for urban system design. This system features closed water cycles, renewable energy production and use, thermo-chemical energy accumulation and transport of energy for heating and cooling, as well as transformation of biomass into pyrogenic carbon. Finally, the dimensioning of the system model determines the required land areas for sustainable supply and shows that the system configuration has features of a carbon-absorbing city and thus exceeds the concept of a zero-emission city.