Abstract. The anthropogenic heat flux can be an important part of the urban surface energy balance. Some of it is due to energy consumption inside buildings, which depends on building use and human behaviour, both of which are very heterogeneous in most urban areas. Urban canopy parametrisations (UCP), such as the Town Energy Balance (TEB), parametrise the effect of the buildings on the urban surface energy balance. They contain a simple building energy model. However, the variety of building use and human behaviour at grid point scale has not yet been represented in state of the art UCPs. In this study, we describe how we enhance the Town Energy Balance in order to take fractional building use and human behaviour into account. We describe how we parametrise different behaviours and initialise the model for applications in France. We evaluate the spatio-temporal variability of the simulated building energy consumption for the city of Toulouse. We show that a more detailed description of building use and human behaviour enhances the simulation results. The model developments lay the groundwork for simulations of coupled urban climate and building energy consumption which are relevant for both the urban climate and the climate change mitigation and adaptation communities.

This article addresses school and community-level issues associated with the expanding crisis of student homelessness in the United States. We note that while an increased geographic dispersion of homeless and highly mobile (HHM) families is largely attributed to the widespread effects of the economic recession, it is also furthered by shifting federal policy on the engagement of homelessness. Highlighting the greater Madison, Wisconsin, area, we use geospatial analysis to document the area’s expanding “geographic centers” of HHM families. We then consider how, in these new geographic centers, schools may lack readiness to serve HHM students and HHM families may not have access to vital community-based resources. We conclude by suggesting that research and practice should more purposefully consider school effects and community effects in contexts of homelessness.

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