Optimized workflow for Drone-Assisted quantitative thermography in urban scale energy management

Urban-scale energy management optimizes energy consumption, production, and distribution across multiple buildings and infrastructure within a city. Unlike individual building management, it addresses complex interactions among buildings, renewable energy sources, and the power grids, introducing challenges such as data integration and real-time monitoring. Non- destructive testing (NDT) techniques play a crucial role due to their rapid, comprehensive, and non-invasive nature, improving the understanding of building energy performance. Infrared thermography (IRT) has been widely used for qualitative energy audits (qIRT) to identify defects (e.g., thermal bridges, air leakages). Quantitative IRT (QIRT) also enables U-value measurements without direct contact, offering an efficient alternative to heat flux meters. Drone- assisted infrared thermography (UAV-IRT) enhances the scale and accuracy of energy management while lowering costs and safety risks. While qualitative applications (UAV-qIRT) are well documented, expanding its quantitative use for large-scale energy management requires addressing environmental and operational challenges to minimize measurement errors. This paper explores the potential of drones in quantitative thermography (UAV-QIRT) and discusses optimisation procedures, technical trends, influencing factors, and challenges for scaling this method to the urban level.