Digital Twin, Microclimate Simulations, and Dynamic Visualization of the Central Library of TU Dortmund University

Abstract

The term Digital Twin essentially describes the creation of a virtual replica and its net- working with its real physical counterpart. In the context of the digitization efforts of municipalities, the term is now increasingly being used in the context of spatial planning. There, great potential can be assumed, especially against the backdrop of the advancing climate change, for example with regard to the simulation and visualization of climate impacts in urban spaces. Even if this potential seems to be clearly outlined, at least on paper, it is still unclear how this potential can be leveraged in practice. Also unclear is the positive contribution that can be expected from the high spatial detail of digital building models to the accuracy of often coarsely modeled climate simulations. Therefore, this study aims to identify the application potential of Digital Twins of buildings in the context of spatial planning by means of a literature review and to iden- tify possibilities of combining the process of Digital Twin creation with microclimate simulations in an explorative case study using the example of the Central University Li- brary of the TU Dortmund. One focus of the work is the dynamic visualization of the Digital Twin and the climate simulation results. To this end, a unified conceptual under- standing of Digital Twins will be established and practical examples of how the term is understood and its potential applications will be presented. Subsequently, the work pro- cess from the creation of a laser scan-based, detailed 3D building model to the execution of various microclimate simulations and dynamic visualization possibilities of the Digital Twin is presented. The discussion of practical examples of Digital Twins in spatial planning showed that their practical application is still in an early stage. It also became clear that the under- standing of the term Digital Twin in practice and research often differs and that in many practical cases, including the results of this work, the term Digital Shadow should rather be used. As for the microclimate simulations, the effects of three variations of the model- ing on the simulation results could be illuminated. According to this, the size of the study area, but also the spatial resolution of the whole model seem to have a low influence on the results, while the influence of the LoD could not be clearly clarified. Finally, several tools for dynamic visualization of the results could be successfully applied in the context of the work. However, it became clear that their application requires certain technical knowledge (e.g. programming languages), which in turn may deter many spatial planners from using them.