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Energy use in the built environment is globally recognized as a key issue for sustainable urban development. In temperate-cold arid regions with a generous solar resource, such as those of western Argentina, adequate design and technology can substantially reduce the energy demand for space and water heating in urban buildings. The solar potential of low-density residential urban areas in the city of Mendoza’s Metropolitan Area (MMA), has been studied earlier in this research Ill. Several indicators of the solar potential were elaborated. They provide necessary information when planning and designing new urban structures or refurbishing existing ones. However, a more direct indicator, relating the available solar radiation during a heating season to the space volume to be heated, the Volumetric Insolation Factor (VIF), seems to be of most practical use as far as contributing a helpful evaluation indicator, to the above mentioned design processes. The present study follows the methodological steps used in the former research, evaluating comparatively the results of a Graphic-Computational Model and a Multiple Linear Regression Statistical Model. As in the earlier study, the good fit of both models’ results clearly point at the reliability of the statistical procedure and its valuable contribution of a simplified calculation tool as its by-product. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.