Mapping Building Age for Sustainable Urban Energy Systems: Georeferencing and Classifying IGM Maps with GRASS GIS

Urbanization and its associated energy demands are among the critical challenges of our time, emphasizing the need for innovative and sustainable strategies. A deep understanding of the energy performance of the building stock, particularly through the analysis of building age, is essential. Building age not only reflects insulation properties but also plays a central role in energy models that guide decision-making processes. However, the lack of data on this parameter remains a widespread obstacle.

This study aims to address this gap by developing a semi-automatic methodology that combines georeferencing and classification of historical maps to extract and analyze data on building characteristics. The city of Parma serves as a case study, where maps from the Italian Istituto Geografico Militare (IGM), often overlooked, are revitalized through digital tools to reveal historical urban transformations. Using GRASS GIS software, the proposed workflow segments and classifies cartographic data, filtering textual annotations, boundaries, and roads in order to isolate built structures and estimate their construction periods.

In this context, these maps offer a window into past urban landscapes, allowing us to trace their evolution and extract meaningful information about the energy characteristics of the building stock.

The proposed approach provides critical insights into urban energy systems by bridging historical and modern datasets, supporting the development of sustainable energy models. Through the application of multidisciplinary techniques, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of urban energy dynamics, aiming to address economic, environmental, and social challenges.

Keywords: Energy efficiency, Building stock, Building age, GRASS GIS, Historical maps, Cartographic classification, Multidisciplinary approach, Urban transformation