European Space Agency funding UBDC and SatVu to develop Heat Loss Index

The European Space Agency (ESA) is funding a feasibility study – led by SatVu, a global leader in climate technology, in collaboration with the University of Glasgow - to enhance the analysis of building energy efficiency.

The €244,853 study will drive the development of the Heat Loss Index (HLI), a pioneering metric designed to identify buildings with high thermal energy wastage, enabling policymakers and urban planners to focus retrofitting efforts where they will have the greatest impact.

Traditional thermal surveys - whether conducted via drones or manual inspections - are costly and impractical at scale. Meanwhile, existing openly available thermal satellite datasets, such as Landsat or ECOSTRESS, lack the resolution (70–100m) needed to assess individual buildings.

SatVu believe their space-based approach is a game-changer. By leveraging high-resolution MWIR spectrum imagery with a ground sampling distance of 3.5m, SatVu will deliver unprecedented insights into urban energy loss at a fraction of the cost of conventional methods.

“The Heat Loss Index has the potential to become a key benchmark for urban energy efficiency,” said Natalia Kuniewicz, Business Development Climate & Sustainability Lead at SatVu. “If successful, this initiative could transform how cities tackle energy waste, directly influencing retrofitting strategies, cutting emissions, and accelerating climate resilience.”

“By utilising high-resolution thermal images from SatVU and associated multi-source geospatial datasets, the newly developed Heat Loss Index is a major breakthrough in identifying heat loss at a large scale globally for our cities,” said Prof. Qunshan Zhao, Professor in Urban Analytics based in Urban Big Data Centre and University of Glasgow. “We will validate the Heat Loss Index by using in-home temperature sensors as well as smart metre reading to ensure accuracy, and hope to use this product to accelerate the net zero carbon transition agenda in major global cities, especially in the lagging behind building sectors.”

With global energy efficiency targets tightening and cities under pressure to meet ambitious net-zero goals, space-based thermal intelligence could be the breakthrough tool urban planners have been waiting for helping to build greener, more sustainable cities.

About SatVu

Founded to capture the highest resolution thermal data from space for a safer and more sustainable Earth, SatVu uses infrared technology to monitor locations on Earth in near real-time to measure the impact of human activity. SatVu’s technology brings a new layer of data that augments our understanding of the planet, providing valuable insights for a range of applications: from economic monitoring and national security to climate resilience, including urban heat monitoring. Partnered with Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd to build the satellite constellation, with the first launched with SpaceX in June 2023, SatVu is bringing the highest resolution thermal data to enable us to see the world like never before and take critical action towards net-zero goals.

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‍Picture: Thermal image of Paris from space.
Credit: SatVu

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