Urban form and building energy use: A systematic review of measures, mechanisms, and methodologies

The relationship between urban form and building energy use has received increasing attention in recent literature. However, findings from existing studies are diverse and sometimes contradictory, and this issue has not been extensively discussed in previous reviews. This paper provides a systematic review of studies on the relationship between urban form and building energy use based on the proposed classification framework. The classification framework categorizes existing studies by their measure definitions, mechanism assumptions, and methodologies. Aside from these conceptual differences, the differences in site contexts of the selected cases are also reviewed. On the basis of the review results, this paper summarizes the consideration of mechanisms by pathway maps and provides an updated understanding of the three main debates in this field. These debates concern the magnitude of influence, impact of densification, and preference of typology. This review also reveals many challenges in this field, including the limited measures of urban form and building energy use, lack of understanding of pathway contributions, and uncertainty and validity issues of tools and models. In addition, future research directions are provided to inform urban planning and policy making decisions for sustainable urban development.