A review of existing large-scale building energy models was undertaken, highlighting their prevalence at geographically higher latitudes. The ability of these models to adequately represent is questionable and existing classifications are inadequate to describe the diversity of models that have been developed. As a response, a novel model classification scheme was developed to explore how the various models capture the underlying physical context, and to assess their appropriateness for application to the city of Ahmedabad in western India. The model classification scheme was used to develop a characteristic map for the new model of Ahmedabad and define priorities for the model’s development