2.1 Spatial Multi-Criteria Decision Model Architecture
Phasing out fossil heating assets across university facilities requires a systematic, spatial multi-criteria decision framework to establish clear retrofit sequencing. Institutional estate managers must justify capital allocations by evaluating building thermal demands, spatial constraints, and existing heating systems. Practical deployment prioritizes facilities where air-source heat pumps can replace legacy condensing gas boilers effectively ("Simulation-based Evaluation of Air-Source Heat Pump Retrofit to Phase-out Condensing Gas Boilers", 2024). Decision-makers structure the screening process by cross-referencing building age, heating distribution configurations, and installation feasibility against institutional decarbonisation targets. To implement this workflow without arbitrary intervention choices, estate management applies geographic information system mapping combined with thermo-economic evaluation parameters ("Thermo-economic modeling and GIS-based spatial data analysis", 2017). Spatial data layers account for physical layout constraints, local electrical substation access, and ambient thermal conditions. By ranking individual building zones through spatial multi-criteria layers, technical teams identify which campus sectors provide the highest readiness for heat-pump retrofitting before committing institutional capital and construction budgets. The expected practical application of this geospatial prioritization tool guides multi-year capital staging and coordinates district-level hydronic modifications across campus sectors. Facility directors use the resulting spatial priority map to schedule detailed engineering reviews, phase out aging boiler equipment systematically, and align electrification interventions with electrical distribution network capacity. This spatial decision-making methodology ensures that heat-pump conversions progress logically from high-feasibility target zones to more complex architectural assets across the university portfolio.