SDU Smart Campus, Denmark
The University of Southern Denmark (SDU) campus in Odense, established in 1966, serves as the university’s main campus. It accommodates approximately 23,000 students and 3,200 employees within 32 interconnected buildings. SDU is committed to sustainability and has implemented various energy-efficient systems across its campus. Photovoltaic panels are installed on rooftops to harness renewable energy, and the campus is integrated into the district heating network for efficient heating solutions. To optimize heating and ventilation, SDU utilizes Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Building Operation system, that provides centralized monitoring and management of building operations.
At SDU’s main campus, the project partner, SDU Center for Energy Informatics, operates two building living labs—OU44 and OU33—that serve as real-world testbeds for advancing digital twin technology in building energy management. Building OU44, constructed between 2014 and 2015, is a 9,600-square-meter mixed-use facility with classrooms and offices. Designed with a strong focus on energy efficiency, it features a 12kW rooftop photovoltaic system, district heating integration, and a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery. Building OU33, completed in 1999, is a 2,560-square-meter office building that, like OU44, functions as a living lab for sustainable building operations. Both buildings are extensively instrumented with room-level indoor climate sensors measuring temperature, humidity, and air quality, as well as building-level electricity, heating, and water meters that provide real-time consumption data for energy optimization.
The image above provides a comprehensive overview of how digital twin models are deployed to optimize building performance. The upper-left section of the image showcases real-time monitoring dashboards, integrating weather data, energy prices, and building energy performance metrics. These data streams, collected from metering devices and sensors installed in the buildings, feed into a centralized digital twin system, enabling continuous monitoring and analysis of energy flows and indoor climate conditions.
The upper-mid and upper-right sections display Building Information Modeling (BIM) representations of OU44 and OU33, illustrating their detailed structural layouts. These BIM models serve as the foundation for the digital twin, allowing researchers to simulate energy consumption, ventilation efficiency, and the impact of occupancy patterns on indoor air quality. The lower-right section presents an advanced network analysis platform, where all connected smart devices and IoT gateways within the living labs are monitored, ensuring seamless communication between the physical and digital environments. By integrating big data analytics, real-time sensor inputs, and predictive simulations, the SDU Center for Energy Informatics’ Digital Twin Lab develops and tests software-driven solutions for intelligent building operation. These digital twins enable scenario-based optimizations, allowing researchers to evaluate energy-saving strategies, HVAC control algorithms, and renewable energy integration in a dynamic, virtualized setting before applying them to real-world operations. Through this approach, SDU is pioneering the transformation of buildings into intelligent, self-optimizing energy prosumers, actively reducing their environmental footprint while enhancing occupant comfort and operational efficiency. By bridging the gap between research and application, these living labs serve as a vital platform for advancing energy informatics, fostering innovation in smart building technologies, and shaping the future of sustainable, data-driven urban environments.