Las Vegas is implementing digital twin technology to tackle its urban emissions.

An area of downtown Las Vegas will use advanced 5G networking and IoT along with the digital twin technology to improve air quality, water management and carbon emissions produced from major buildings in the city.

Cityzenith will provide the technology for the project as part of its Clean Cities – Clean Future initiative. Las Vegas-based Terbine will use IoT data from government agencies, building operators, transportation systems among other uses to provide sensor information needed for the digital twin.

Digital twins are virtual environments and can aggregate large amounts of data and in the case of cities can provide ample smart building analytics.

“Now in Las Vegas we will have a city-scale digital twin that is driven by the physical environment, and ultimately letting us control key systems through it,” Las Vegas Chief Innovation Officer Michael Sherwood says. “This will give us new levels of insights and control to benefit city planners, residents and businesses.”

An EY report from earlier in 2021 says digital twins can dramatically increase the efficiency of buildings. The report says buildings can use digital twins to identify waste and find cost savings providing a 35% increase in operational efficiency. The report also says the platforms can increase sustainability by 50% by cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

The smart building automation market is also predicted to hit $20.5 billion by 2027 and 78% of new construction will involve at least one facet of IoT or related smart building  technologies over the next five years.

Digital twin technology can aggregate, visualize and analyze 3D space and 4D time data and correlate efficiencies among multiple systems, Cityzenith says, and can provide an optimized net zero building engineering platform.

Cityzenith says three quarters of the world’s carbon emissions are produced by cities and that it aims to use its platform and initiative to help make cities smarter and more sustainable. The company says using the digital twin project will help building owners reduce operating costs and emissions with little investment.

The platform can help with smart building and financial strategies to achieve net zero, Cityzenith says, and the projects can track energy costs and emissions.

Artificial intelligence is part of that growing trend in tracking building and energy efficiency. AI can simply the management of buildings and analyze a large amount of data, increasing the efficiency of resources. It also can play a key role in the use of renewable energy.

Las Vegas is the second city to participate in the Cityzenith initiative after New York City. The company says Phoenix and other major cities are expected to participate soon.