Project description

Period: 2022-2024

Starting situation, problems and motivation

In order to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (Paris Agreement), in addition to the switch to sustainable energy sources and the creation of energy-efficient buildings, transport in particular offers a major lever for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gases. The increasing demand for emission-free mobility (e.g. through e-mobility) but also the supply of heat with heat pumps has a direct impact on the electricity consumption of buildings and settlements. It is still difficult to simulate the effects and interactions of measures that affect the settlement structure (densities, distribution and mix of uses), mobility and transport. Through concepts of sustainable urban development with a focus on qualitative redensification and a mix of uses in settlements, many trips can be replaced by walking or cycling instead of going by car which both reduces energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Sector coupling concepts require comprehensible tools for ex-ante evaluation of planning measures at the community level and the linking of domain-specific models (energy, transport) for small-scale forecasting models. Also data availability and data quality for the simulation models used are very heterogeneous at different scales.

Goals and innovative content

Therefore, a digital twin of the municipality of Bruck an der Leitha based on an open data model will be built for the method development, which can be used to simulate measures to improve the settlement structure within the municipality. For this purpose, forecast models for mobility, the energy network and the building stock are developed or applied and linked via the open data model in order to be able to run through development scenarios and variants based on concrete questions. The forecasting and visualisation options created in the project form the basis for the ex-ante evaluation of measures and policies on the way to a Positive-Energy-District. By identifying and collecting missing data, data gaps are filled for the simulation of precise models in the specific study area.

Desired results and findings

A proof-of-concept for an intuitive decision support tool in the form of a digital, interactive 3D model will be created to examine the forecast results and the different scenarios. This will serve as a communication and decision-making tool to improve planning and policy measures to achieve energy efficient and self-sufficient settlement structures. In addition to the development of simulation model modules for specific questions about the effectiveness of changes in the settlement structure (mix of uses, mobility, …) with regard to the energy balance of neighbourhoods, interface definitions and data descriptions for the simulation of entire settlement systems are created. The open data model used allows the results of different simulation models to be compared.

Further information: TISS Research Portal, opens an external URL in a new window

This project was implemented under the Stadt der Zukunft program (9th call) within a proposal of the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG).