Urban planning increasingly requires tools capable of analysing large urban areas with a high level of detail. However, decision-making is often limited by fragmented data sources, 2D maps or isolated indicators that make it difficult to assess the impact of urban interventions in an integrated way.
This creates a need for software that can transform available public geospatial data into interactive 3D urban models and support the evaluation of energy, environmental, economic and comfort-related parameters.
To address this need, researchers from the Institut de Recerca en Energia de Catalunya (IREC) developed a 3D urban modelling software designed to support urban planning, personalized consultancy and decision-making at city scale.
The software generates three-dimensional models of large urban areas using geometric datasets such as topographic maps, cadastral information and terrain elevation data. Based on these inputs, it creates an interactive and dynamic 3D replica of the urban area under study, structuring the information according to the OGC CityGML standard.
The tool integrates calculation modules to assess different urban parameters, including primary energy, energy consumption, economic balance, global cost, comfort analysis, CO₂ emissions, life cycle assessment, energy certificates and renewable energy potential. These modules can be expanded or adapted according to the specific needs of each project.
The software also includes automatic window generation once the 3D building models have been created, as well as large-scale calculation capabilities based on extensive urban datasets. This allows users to plan urban interventions and estimate their potential impact from energy, environmental, economic and social perspectives.
The tool has been designed to generate 3D urban models from publicly available data repositories and to integrate calculation modules that can be expanded according to specific project needs.
An easy-to-use interface is currently under development to facilitate access for different user profiles and support more flexible, customized outputs.
Benefits:
- Automatic 3D modelling of large urban areas.
- Use of public geospatial and cadastral datasets.
- Urban data structured through CityGML.
- Integration of energy, economic and environmental indicators.
- Large-scale calculations for urban planning.
- Expandable modules according to project needs.
The represented institution is looking for a collaboration that leads to commercial exploitation of the presented invention.
Institution: Institut de Recerca en Energia de Catalunya (IREC)
TRL: 5
Protection Status: Know-how
Contact: Begoña Iborra | biborra@viromii.com