The digital revolution is creating an unparalleled amount of data, which could potentially be harnessed to address the challenges of sustainability. Digital technology is opening up avenues for the design, construction and maintenance of buildings, energy grids, transportation systems and other regional infrastructures. Yet every stage of this process – from construction, operation and maintenance, to renovation and demolition – is resource-intensive and generates substantial amounts of greenhouse gas emissions.
A Cluster set up to take up one of ENAC’s three sustainability challenges:
Our Digitalization of Infrastructures and Cities Cluster supports the transition to a sustainable, resource-efficient society by developing tools and methods for improved infrastructures and city management.
Our research in this Cluster is focused on three priority areas:
The Cluster’s research takes its cues from the concept of Baukultur, a holistic approach to built-environment design that emphasizes both sustainability and practicality. Buildings are designed to have a net-zero carbon footprint across their lifetime (factoring in construction materials and energy use) while being attractive, versatile and adaptable.
Advances in digital technology are opening up exciting new avenues for research and practice in the following areas:
- Digital design: parametric design, building information modeling (BIM) and generative design
- Digital fabrication: 3D and 4D printing for recycling construction materials, automated production and additive manufacturing
- Digital operation: smart buildings, autonomous infrastructures and materials passports for recycling and reuse
This Cluster also aims to develop new materials offering alternative environmental footprints and lifecycles.
As part of this Cluster, we are setting up new teaching programs to equip tomorrow’s architects and civil and environmental engineers with the digital and professional skills they need to drive the transition to this new way of thinking.
With the advent of new sensing technology, engineers can now design and deploy vast data-collection systems that gather huge amounts of information across multiple spatial and temporal scales.
At ENAC, our researchers use cutting-edge modeling and processing methods to take account of the myriad of factors that underpin sustainable infrastructure-management policy. This approach supports the development of strategies for maintaining, operating and renovating existing buildings and infrastructure (such as transportation systems, energy grids and water distribution) as society’s needs evolve.
A digital twin is a computer model of a physical asset coupled with real-time data collected from sensor networks. By adding simulation layers to a digital twin, engineers can predict how a given system will respond to different load scenarios. Our researchers are developing augmented digital twins at various scales to support infrastructure design, operation and maintenance.
Our researchers are also exploring ways to address uncertainty – a key factor in risk-assessment and decision-making models – by examining the potential value of analytics tools such as artificial intelligence (AI), data analysis and optimization, and mathematical modeling.
.
Interdisciplinarity on the teaching side:
As part of this focus area, we are setting up new teaching programs to equip tomorrow’s architects, civil and environmental engineers with the skills they need to drive the societal and ecological transition to digital infrastructures and cities.
.