Digital Twin for modelling future energy needs in the Gothenburg building stock: A tool for increased stakeholder collaboration, efficiency, and coordination of energy issues

Report, 2024

The research project “Digital twin for modelling future energy needs in the Gothenburg building stock: A tool for increased stakeholder collaboration, efficiency, and coordination of energy issues” (DTE project) combines building stock modelling with digital twins to develop a visual communication platform to support stakeholders with responsibilities for urban energy transition and enables more efficient decision-making with focus on the city of Gothenburg. The project makes use of digital twin technology, to generate a virtual copy of the city including 3d models of buildings and related data such as building age, energy systems and functions. The project was carried out during April 2021 and December 2023 and conduced in four phases:

1) Inventory of needs and alignment with Gothenburg Energy Plan (GEP)
2) Development of qualitative scenarios
3) Building stock modelling (BSM) and quantitative scenario development
4) Development and testing of visual communication platform, the Digital Twin Energy (DTE) Viewer.

The viewer can be used to simulate among others the heating demand, cooling demand, and total energy demand of buildings for the city of today and the city of the future. Users can also see how climate change and rising temperatures will influence the energy performance of buildings.  This information can be used to visualize possible future scenarios and establish common ground for stakeholders to make strategic decisions on decarbonization plans. For example, decision makers can visualize renovation options and compare the effectiveness of different measures such increasing insulation of roofs and walls or install more efficient energy systems.