ReDiT4Edu
Indoor Air Quality and Thermal Comfort Energy-Efficient Reduced Digital Twins for Educational Buildings

Low-cost Reduced Digital Twins to enhance indoor air quality, thermal comfort, and energy efficiency in schools, delivering data-driven, optimized decisions through real case studies.

Objectives of the ReDiT4Edu project

The ReDiT4EDU project aims to unleash the potential of classic Digital Twins (DTs) to support and optimize decisions regarding Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), Thermal Comfort (TC) and Energy Efficiency (EE) in educational facilities. With this pursuit, the novel concept of low-cost Reduced Digital Twin (RDT), in conjunction with state-of-the-art Data-Based Reduced Order Models (DB-ROM), will be developed and its feasibility demonstrated through real case studies.

The combination RDT + DB-RPM overcomes the main drawbacks hindering the extensive use of traditional DT and excessively complex numerical models, as it is characterized by the minimum necessary level of static and dynamic information from the indoor educational building spaces to:

Monitor and visualize the IAQ, TC and EE parameters.
Predict the evolution of IAQ, TC and EE.
Provide resilient, healthy and energy-efficient optimized decisions for classrooms.

Research Questions

Our approach and implementation mindset

How can low-cost technology, mathematical modelling, and data management improve the capacity of educational centres to control and enhance IAQ, TC, and EE?

What is the minimum static and dynamic data required to develop effective RDTs for educational environments, and which sensors and technologies are the most suitable?

How accurately can DB-ROM predict IAQ, TC, and EE in real-time within classrooms?

What are the impacts of RDTs and DB-ROM on decision-making processes related to ventilation and thermal adaptation in educational buildings?

How effective is the ReDiT4EDU approach in improving IAQ, TC, and EE in classrooms during pilot tests?

What are the key challenges and opportunities in scaling the use of low-cost RDTs to other public buildings, such as climate shelters?

Which ventilation strategies, informed by RDTs, perform best in terms of IAQ, TC, and EE?

What are the perceptions and feedback of decision-makers regarding the use of RDTs in managing IAQ, TC, and EE in schools?

How can the adoption of RDTs in educational centres contribute to Barcelona’s goal of becoming a leader in sustainable building management?

Specific objectives

“Our responses derived through analytical reasoning of the research questions.”

OBJECTIVE 1

Explore how low-cost technology and data can enable educational centres to improve their capacity to process, understand and manage the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), Thermal Comfort (TC) and Energy Efficiency (EE), by implementing Data-Based Reduced Order Models (DB-ROM) into Reduced Digital Twins (RDT).

OBJECTIVE 2

Identify the data complexity needed of the RDT to limit the required static and dynamic information with regards to a complete DT solution.

OBJECTIVE 3

Design and implement the RDT technologies an integrate the DB-ROM prediction and simulation modules.

OBJECTIVE 4

Validate the feasibility and usefulness of the RDT approach to support IAQ, TC, and EE decisions in educational facilities regarding when, how, and for how long to ventilate the classrooms.

OBJECTIVE 5

Identify new opportunities to promote a better IAQ, TC, and EE management in other public buildings, specially focusing especially on the Climate Shelters Network of Barcelona.

OBJECTIVE 6

Democratize the technology promoting the novel concept of low-cost RDT as a tool to manage the IAQ, TC, and EE and scale its use so that it can rapidly become more accessible to more schools and other public buildings and facilities.

OBJECTIVE 7

Position Barcelona as a leading metropolitan area in managing IAQ, TC, and EE through digital technology resulting in more safe, resilient, energy-efficient and green schools.

Redit4edu

TEAM

ORCID

Dr. Rubén-Daniel López

Principal investigator

ORCID

Prof. Dr. Marta Gangolells

Mentor & researcher

ReDiT4Edu
Indoor Air Quality and Thermal Comfort Energy-Efficient Reduced Digital Twins for Educational Buildings

Objectives of the ReDiT4Edu project

Research Questions