Visualise Energy Saving Potentials in Settlement Development: By linking transport and energy simulation models for municipal planning

Abstract

To achieve Sustainable Development Goals, in addition to the switch to sustainable energy sources and energy-efficient buildings, transport offers a major lever for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gases. The increasing demand for emission-free mobility (e.g. through electromobility) but also 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 different measures as 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). Using the municipality of Bruck an der Leitha (Austria) as an example, a digital twin based on an open data model (Bednar et al., 2020) is created for the development of methods, which can be used to simulate measures to improve the settlement structure within the municipality. Forecast models for mobility (Schmaus, 2019; Ritz, 2019) and the building stock are developed or applied and linked via the open data model to be able to run through development scenarios and variants. 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. A digital, interactive 3D model is created to examine the forecast results and the different scenarios.