The combination of scientific excellence and a broad interdisciplinary consortium with actors from business, the public sector and academia convinced Vinnova to invest in the Chalmers Digital Twin Cities research collaboration as one of eight new centers of excellence in Sweden.

The objective of the Center of Excellence is to significantly strengthen the design and planning process of viable and sustainable cities and communities through the development and use of digital twins for buildings and cities.

- The best way to do this is by integrating advanced digital models into our creative processes, where the power of computers can enhance and improve us as humans," says Petra Jenning, FOJABcode Director and Industry Manager for the Architecture area of the Digital Twin Cities.

In recent years, FOJAB has built up a team, called FOJABcode, with solid knowledge at the interface between mathematics, programming and architecture. This has provided sharpened tools and increased competence in digital modeling, simulation and analysis. Several of the proprietary tools are about visualizing the performance of buildings and cities to clarify relationships and connections that were previously difficult to understand intuitively. The toolbox includes interactive analysis tools that, from early volume sketches of buildings, estimate their performance in terms of daylight, views, energy use and flows in real time. There are also programs to simulate the development of an entire city, as an interactive support for choosing which areas to develop, build and densify.

Well-developed digital tools from the first sketch to production provide better decision support, a more flexible process and a smoother journey from start to finish. FOJAB sees a clear need from the entire industry to take the step together to more informed digital twins across all scales.

- We look forward to new transdisciplinary collaborations to continue the development of FOJABcode, and we are happy to share this journey with Chalmers," concludes Petra Jenning.

About Chalmers Digital Twin Cities
A strong consortium of 28 Swedish and international partners demonstrate the great innovation potential of digital twins throughout the value chain, as a basis for the continued development of vibrant, sustainable and democratic cities and communities.

Cutting-edge research will be carried out in eight different research areas, covering all the aspects required to develop digital twins on a large scale, and to exploit the opportunities this offers for architecture, urban design and construction with digital support. A particular focus is on the transfer of knowledge to industry and public actors, in order to strengthen Sweden's role in the digitalization and development of the built environment sector.

Read more about Chalmers Digital Twin Cities

Cooperation partners
Academia: Chalmers, Chalmers Industriteknik, Frauenhofer Chalmers, Sofia University, University of Virginia

Public sector: Göteborgs Stad, Linköpings Kommun, Höganäs Kommun, Lunds Kommun, Västra Götalandsregionen, Härryda Kommun, Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting.

Industry: FOJAB, Sweco, White, PEAB, Ramboll, Mixtive, Liljewall, StruSoft, Tengbom, NCC, Virtual Cities Sweden, Viscando Traffic Systems, Johanneberg Science Park, Visual Arena.