Procedural digital twin generation for co-creating in VR focusing on vegetation

An early-stage development of a Digital Twin (DT) in Virtual Reality (VR) is presented, aiming for civic engagement in a new urban development located in an area that is a forest today. The area is presently used for recreation. For the developer, it is important both to communicate how the new development will affect the forest and allow for feedback from the citizen. High quality DT models are time-consuming to generate, especially for VR. Current model generation methods require the model developer to manually design the virtual environment. Furthermore, they are not scalable when multiple scenarios are required as a project progresses. This study aimed to create an automated, procedural workflow to generate DT models and visualize large-scale data in VR with a focus on existing green structures as a basis for participatory approaches. Two versions of the VR prototype were developed in close cooperation with the urban developer and evaluated in two user tests. A procedural workflow was developed for generating DT models and integrated into the VR application. For the green structures, efforts focused on the vegetation, such as realistic representation and placement of different types of trees and bushes. Only navigation functions were enabled in the first user test with practitioners (9 participants). Interactive functions were enabled in the second user test with pupils (age 15, 9 participants). In both tests, the researchers observed the participants and carried out short reflective interviews. The user test evaluation focussed on the perception of the vegetation, general perception of the VR environment, interaction, and navigation. The results show that the workflow is effective, and the users appreciate green structure representations in VR environments in both user tests. Based on the workflow, similar scenes can be created for any location in Sweden. Future development needs to concentrate on the refinement of buildings and information content. A challenge will be balancing the level of detail for communication with residents

Effects of Sustainability Policy – Evaluating Social Consequences of Carbon Targets using Trip Completion Rates

Sustainability is widely recognised as having social, economic, and environmental dimensions. Strategies to combat global climate change inherently have an environmental focus. However, in line with the sustainability agenda, the social and economic dimensions must also be addressed. Evaluating the social consequences of decisions is often challenging due to a lack of relevant tools and indicators to measure and track them. This paper presents the Trip Completion Rate (TCR) as an indicator currently under development to evaluate the social consequences of climate change policies such as Personal Carbon Allowances (PCA). TCR is an accessibility indicator that evaluates the proportion of a population that can perform their daily activities against a performance metric. Two examples demonstrate the sensitivity of social impacts based on the geographic and demographic variations in different locations, one at the region level and another at the municipal level, through a national household travel survey (NHTS). The V\ue4stra G\uf6taland region of Sweden is taken as a test case to illustrate how the indicator may be used, comparing TCR on the entire region and then comparing it to TCRscalculated at the municipal level. The greenhouse gas emissions of the trips are calculated based on assumptions for different modes of transport. Finally, the results are evaluated against a hypothetical PCA based on the climate goals for the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. The results show that the ability to satisfy one\u27s daily travel needs depends on individual characteristics such as behavioural patterns of travel, travel mode choices and access to local amenities. We find that PCAs may disproportionately affect certain groups more than others. Policymakers must understand who is most affected by sustainability targets to ensure that disproportionately affected groups have an equal opportunity to achieve their daily needs and that adequatemeasures are taken to mitigate the local policy effects on social equity

Towards digitalisation of socially sustainable neighbourhood design

Digital tools for performance-assessment are commonly used to shorten the feedback loop in testing designs for buildings and neighbourhoods. However, these tools do not extend to the social dimension in the same way as the economic and environmental dimensions. This paper aims to contribute to the development of digital tools to design socially sustainable neighbourhoods. We analyse 115 academic articles to establish a theoretical understanding of Social Sustainability (SoSu). Based on these results, we propose a digital user-interaction model to operationalise SoSu in the digital design process of buildings. In the literature, we observe a lack of consensus on the theoretical discussion on SoSu. Several extrinsic and intrinsic factors are identified contributing to this fuzziness; the dependency on stakeholder value systems, the qualitative nature of social indicators, and comparison to environmental sustainability being the most common. Still, we distinguish two overarching categories, social equity and social capital, that are further divided into sub-themes. Having mapped the categories and hierarchies of social themes, we propose a user-interaction model that incorporates these findings into a digital environment. The user-interaction model creates a guided decision-making framework for architects and urban planners by enabling stakeholders to make conscious and informed decisions grounded in theory

Evaluation of social facilities coverage: A case study of Sofia city

In order to aid the decision making process related to the provision of public services as to maximize the benefits for society, it is crucial to evaluate the current social facilities demand in terms of spatial distribution and access. The paper aims to solve this problem by proposing a method for automated assessment of the coverage of public services within an urban region using a capacitated graph. The methodology abstracts residential buildings into demand nodes and public service buildings into supply nodes within a graph and then uses shortest distance calculations in order to balance the two, while prioritizing residential buildings based on distance. The paper is focused on creating a general pipeline that can be used on any type of public services, as long as a certain geospatial and demographic data are available. The method is described without referencing specific tools, but focusing on the general procedure. The procedure is then applied to the whole city of Sofa, focusing on assessing the coverage of kindergartens using the 15 minutes walking distance, followed by a brief discussion of results

Combining Open Source and Commercial Tools in Digital Twin for Cities Generation

Evidently, Smart Cities are on the rise and there is an increasing need for digital twins of these complex environments and their corresponding 3D models. The creation and maintenance of such twins is a time consuming task, since cities are living evolving organisms. In this paper we are presenting work done within the Digital Twin Cities Centre (DTCC) in Sweden in the field of automated 3D city model generation. We showcase a novel method of combining open source and commercial software for creating digital twins of any urban context in a procedural way from raw input data and using Unreal Engine as a visualization front-end. We combine two different workflows, one based on the commercial software suite Feature Manipulation Engine and in parallel we utilize the open source code developed within the Centre, dubbed DTCC Builder. The assets created can be used in urban planning, multiphysics continuum mechanics simulations and for visualization and illustration on a 3D scale. By using, in a complementary way, established commercial software and state of the art open source C++ code we manage to utilize the quality of life features the first provides, while assigning the demanding tasks of comforming mesh generation to the former. The longer term goal is (nearly) real-time mesh digital twinning of any city and user interaction with the 3D assets provided. Copyright (C) 2022 The Authors

Application and validation of a method to assess the energy reduction and environmental impact of renovation alternatives

The renovation of residential stock is one of the most promising areas, in terms of energy reduction, because these buildings are highly inefficient and represent the largest part of the building stock. However, the environmental impact assessment over the life cycle of building renovation is rare. It is more common to develop an assessment for new buildings. This study presents a method that combines the evaluation of the benefits of renovating residential buildings, considering cost, energy and environmental benefits using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The method is based on 3 stages of development. First, the database of energy certificates, costs and LCA was analysed. The second step is to develop a workflow in Rhino/Grasshopper/E-Plus to automatically model a residential building and feed the simulation model with the data obtained from the databases. Finally, a simulation campaign was carried out to obtain an optimal renovation package, minimising energy consumption and environmental impact. The research was carried out in a case study in Uddevalla, Sweden. The residential building has different measurements including energy consumption data before and after renovation. This was used to validate the proposed methodology. The validation shows that accurate results are achievable with potential for mass application

Towards digitalisation of urban social sustainability

The primary goal of the built environment is to create the infrastructure that facilitates the needs of the people that use them and elevate their quality of life. Sustainable development has encouraged architects and urban planners to be more sensitive toward the built environment\u27s economic, environmental, and social dimensions. Digital tools for performance assessment are commonly used to shorten the feedback loop in testing designs for buildings and neighbourhoods. However, these tools do not extend to the social dimension in the same way as the economic and environmental dimensions. This thesis aims to contribute to USS research and bridge the gap between theory and practice through digitalisation. It investigates USS in general and explores how it can be conceptualised and made operational to support architects and urban planners in their design process. The focus is on digital tools and how they can be integrated into the current architectural and urban design process. Two studies are carried out (A and B). Based on systematic literature analysis, study A explores the theoretical background of USS. It investigates the reasons for the lack of consensus on USS\u27s conceptualisation and how digital tools can be developed around these issues. Study B explores the development of an indicator to support practitioners in evaluating the ability of residents to achieve their daily needs and uses interviews with practitioners for feedback on the indicator and how it can be improved. The findings indicate that USS is a complex and often "fuzzy" topic. There are many definitions for USS but little consensus among them. By viewing USS as an empty signifier, stakeholders can collaboratively decide what social themes are important to them. Two categories of social themes are identified - social equity and social capital. Focusing on social and spatial equity, a USS indicator called Trip Completion Rate is developed and used to explore the ability of residents to fulfil their daily needs through examples. The interviews with practitioners suggest that an indicator for evaluating social issues is appreciated, but further development is required in communicating complex results to stakeholders. In conclusion, the findings of this thesis contribute to a better understanding of USS and how to operationalise it for architects and urban planners through indicators. To further advance the integration of USS into the design process of neighbourhoods, digital tools must focus on enhancing social equity in the built environment. Finally, it identifies the indicators, methods and future pathways to advance the design of socially sustainable neighbourhoods through digitalisation

Towards digitisation of socially sustainable neighbourhood design

In the built environment, digital tools for performance assessment considerably shorten the feedback loop in an iterative design process. However, these digital tools focus on the economic and environmental dimensions and do not extend to the social dimension in the same way. Our research aims to develop digital tools to integrate Social Sustainability in the digital design process on the neighbourhood level.In this project, we evaluate academic literature on Social Sustainability through Conceptual framework analysis. First, we map the data sources and categorize them. Second, we identify and name the concepts found in the search. Third, we deconstruct and re-categorize the concepts. Finally, we integrate the concepts to form the theoretical basis of our solution.We find that the contributing factors that create contention in discussing social sustainability are both intrinsic and extrinsic to Social Sustainability. There is a disconnect between the theory and policy recommendations of social sustainability in the built environment. The practical challenges for the development of a digital design tool are primarily in resolving differences in stakeholder value systems and subsequently the priorities of social issues to stakeholders, and the technical issues we observe are on the quantification of qualitative indicators of social sustainability and availability of data. Drawing from these results, we propose guidelines for the development of digital tools for architects and planners working to promote social sustainability on a neighbourhood scale

A user interaction model for digital tools to support socially sustainable neighbourhood planning

Most digital tools developed for architects and urban planners cater to the environmental and economic dimensions of SD, leaving out the social dimension. SoSu as a dimension of SD lacks the analytical ability available to the economic and environmental dimensions in addressing the environmental and economic impacts of design decisions enabling a shorter feedback loop in the early design stage. In this paper, we implement a seven-step conceptual analysis methodology framework to explore (a) – the theoretical background of SoSu and (b) – to develop a user interaction model that can serve as a blueprint to develop digital tools to promote SoSu in the early stages of neighbourhood design.The theoretical background is developed in the first three steps – Mapping selected data sources, extensive reading and categorising selected data, and identifying and naming concepts. The model development further builds on the results of part (a) and involves deconstructing and categorising the concepts, integrating concepts and synthesis and re-synthesis of the concept. Finally, the seventh step consists of validating the conceptual framework through public discussion.We identify architects and urban planners as the target user group and the neighbourhood scale to apply SoSu concepts in the built environment and propose pre-requisites following a four-step user interaction model to develop digital tools to promote SoSu

The relation between social life cycle assessment and green building certification systems

This research investigates methodologies of Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) and Green Building Certification Systems (GBCS) along with the European standard EN 16309 for social performance assessment for buildings. We follow a two-step approach of first reviewing methods used to perform an S-LCA in the literature and then comparing the methods to GBCS and EN 16309 regarding their coverage of S-LCA subcategories. Two fundamental differences lie in the targeted life cycle stages and stakeholders. UNEP/SETAC guidelines for S-LCA tend to be dominant in the “production” stage, whereas, GBCS and EN 16309 focus predominantly on the “use” stage of the lifecycle. GBCS and EN 16309 methodologies focus on the “consumer” (building occupant) and “local community” stakeholders. Extending the scope of the rating systems across more stakeholders and life cycle stages to include S-LCA subcategories could lead to greater awareness and application of the S-LCA concept in the building and construction sector