Digital Shadow Methodology—A Real-Time Measurement Technique for Thermal Comfort

This study aims to develop a methodology for evaluating strategies for retrofitting and urban regeneration of a specific category of buildings within the municipality of Milan. The research is part of a larger programme, MUSA, which is an Ecosystem of Innovation funded by the Ministry of University and Research within the PNRR, encompassing disciplines such as architecture, biology, medicine, economics, and computer science. The proposed methodology employs the Digital Shadow methodology, which involves analysing a typical case building and replicating its behaviour in a digital model. The explained procedure defines a thermal comfort environment where specific parameters as temperature and humidity are chosen and transmitted in real time to a Building Information Model (BIM) through an algorithmic procedure. The digital shadow framework includes data, information, and mathematical models, focusing on mathematical models to enable extended data and information fusion. The methodology is implemented using the Arduino digital ecosystem, which is open-source, cost-effective, and versatile, allowing for remote operation and adaptation of the inserted code without physically accessing the sensors. The acquired environmental data are transmitted to a digital model, developed in a Revit platform, which is the state of the art in BIM. Once the data transmission method and model update are implemented, real-time verification of environmental data trends can be possible for individual buildings and an urban-scale platform update, enabling global values comparison and parameter changes considering building interventions for urban regeneration.