Smart City Twin – Digital twins of smart city quarters

Cities and city quarters today face the major challenge of reducing their energy consumption and becoming climate neutral. This is particularly difficult because many factors – from technical equipment and building use to the behavior of residents – are constantly changing. To reliably assess whether a neighborhood is on the path to climate neutrality, a transparent data basis and continuous monitoring are required. Only when energy parameters are recorded and evaluated in a comprehensible manner on a long-term basis can realistic statements be made about operations and effective measures be derived.

To meet these requirements, a digital twin for city quarters that centrally bundles all relevant technical and operational information is developed in the project. This digital twin is based on modern BIM building models and enables building and energy data to be recorded and visualized in real time and used for optimal operational management. The required data is transferred directly from existing building management systems to the digital twin, where it is combined and aggregated.

The aim of the project is to develop a building operation platform that supports the standardized import and creation of digital city quarter twins. A federated, IFC-based approach allows BIM models of different buildings to be merged into a shared digital representation without losing their individual structure. The digital city quarter twin developed in the project is being extensively tested in the Smart City Graz Mitte and forms the basis for future-oriented, climate-neutral city quarter management.