The smart energy system concept provides an integrated framework for the adoption of renewable energy resources and novel energy technologies, such as distributed battery energy storage systems and electric vehicles. In this effort, large-scale transition towards smart energy systems can significantly reduce the environmental emissions of energy production, while leveraging the compatible operation of numerous distributed grid components to improve upon the energy utility, reliability, and flexibility of existing power grids. Most importantly, transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy resources provides environmental benefits within both the building and transportation sectors, which must adapt to address both increasing pressure from international climate change-related policy-making, as well as to meet the increasing power demands of future generations. In the case of building operation, the transition towards future energy systems consequently result in the adoption of decentralized energy networks as well as various distributed energy generation, conversion, and storage technologies. As such, there is significant potential for existing systems to adopt more economic and efficient operating strategies, which may manifest in novel operational modes such as demand-response programs, islanded operation, and optimized energy vector dispatch within local systems. Furthermore, new planning and design considerations can provide economic, environmental, and energy efficiency benefits. While these potential benefits have been justified in existing literature, there is still a strong research need to quantify the impacts of optimal building operation within these criteria, under a smart energy system context. Meanwhile, the transportation sector may benefit from the smart energy network concept by leveraging electric mobility technologies and by transitioning vehicle charging demand onto the grid’s electricity network. In this transition, the emissions associated with fossil fuel consumption are displaced by ...