Why did you build Plan4DE?
The way in which the built environment is developed either enables district energy or makes it cost prohibitive or ineffective. Once constructed, the built environment lasts for a long time. City planners have a significant influence over the way in which the built environment develops. Plan4DE is designed to be a tool that helps planners to enable district energy.
What can I use Plan4DE for?
Plan4DE can be used to evaluate an existing neighbourhood, town or city and whether or not district energy could make sense for that area. If district energy doesn’t make sense, Plan4DE will help you figure out how many additional buildings are required for it to make sense.
Who built the model and how long did it take?
An international team built the model over the course of two years.
What are the next steps for the project?
We are currently exploring how we can further automate the model so that it can easily assess large areas such as states or provinces. We are also considering additional visualization techniques.
Can I adapt Plan4DE for my own purposes?
Plan4DE is open source and can be modified by users. We do ask that users tell us about modifications that they are making so that we can improve the next version.
Can I change the assumptions in Plan4DE?
All of the assumptions in Plan4DE can be customised for a particular location.
Will Plan4DE be too complicated for me as a non-expert?
Plan4DE is designed to be simple and easy to use. However, it is possible to dive into the details of the Plan4DE which are more complex.
