The City of London Corporation’s Square Mile Resilient Buildings Digital Twin is part of its Climate Action Strategy and its Net Zero and Resilient Buildings Centre of Excellence project. Its purpose is to identify climate risks to the Corporation’s buildings and guide measures to make vulnerable assets more resilient. 1
In 2022, consultants Arcadis modelled projected climate conditions across the Square Mile. The digital twin combines City Corporation data with aerial survey information from Verisk, tree data from the Greater London Authority and information from Thames Water; the work also calculated stormwater-system gutter capacity. 14 Built on a Geodesign platform, the model brings together geographic data, models and applications, and incorporates the Corporation’s Thermal Comfort Guidelines. It was used to assess the potential effects of extreme heat and intense rainfall. 1
The modelling identified buildings and other assets at heightened risk of heat stress during prolonged hot weather and flooding during high-intensity rainfall. The results are intended to help prioritise interventions in new building designs and retrofits, reduce overheating risks for workers and residents, and improve indoor comfort. 1 The Corporation is developing a Buildings Resilience Action Plan and an internal Asset Resilience Portal, where asset managers can review priority assets’ resilience in light of climate risks and measures already taken. 13
The wider project also aims to embed resilience in planned works, monitor mitigation through the Climate Action Dashboard, and align interventions with the Corporation’s Design Standards. It is intended to support leadership, research, best practice and training across the Corporation’s building decarbonisation and resilience work. 1 The City’s progress report records the digital twin and the planned action plan and portal as part of its climate-resilience programme. 3