Buildings from around the world are being mapped by a team of scientists to measure their energy use.

Yuyu Zhou, assistant professor of geological and atmospheric sciences, is the co-author of a research paper recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The paper details population growth and energy consumption in urban areas.

“Urban density significantly impacts urban energy use and the quality of life of urban residents,” according to the paper.

The higher density a city has, the more energy efficient it will be.

To determine the energy use, the researchers had to map every building in a city through a computer system.

The data collected by specialized computer models shows the energy efficiency in areas around the world until 2050. Images of the data shows every individual building mapped out with a coordinating color to show the level of energy efficiency.

Researchers involved in the study had backgrounds that had a broad range of expertise.

“We didn’t have the data and the model before we started this research, and it is impossible to finish this work without an interdisciplinary team,” Zhou said.

More than 30 regions around the world were studied and showed very fast growth and energy use. The population densities in North America and Asia will change at different rates, given the differences in culture and the rate of population growth.

The study also revealed that there are different energy levels during different times of the day. Energy use in a city might be higher in the morning when people are going to work than in the middle of the day when many people are at work.

In all scenarios, the annual global energy use for heating and cooling may increase 7 to 40 percent from 2010 levels by 2050, according to the report.

“In our study, the large range of potential future patterns of urban development in most of the developing world indicates that these regions can gain a lot of energy savings by encouraging higher urban densities,” the paper concluded.

Zhou is working on mapping the city of Des Moines. To complete the research, Zhou must map over 260,000 buildings in the Des Moines area. The research should be done by summer 2017.

He hopes the results can be used by policy makers, city managers and developers to make informed decisions throughout the community.

“It is going to be good for people to compare Des Moines to other standards set around the world,” Zhou said.