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As part of a company trip by LEG Thüringen in January 2022, Dipl.-Ing. Sven Daubert and M.Eng. Mara Geske from Bauhaus University Weimar visited the Expo site in Dubai. (Image rights: Sven Daubert)
As part of a company trip by LEG Thüringen in January 2022, Dipl.-Ing. Sven Daubert and M.Eng. Mara Geske from Bauhaus University Weimar visited the Expo site in Dubai. (Image rights: Sven Daubert)
Published: 24 January 2022

»smood« Joint Project at Expo 2020 in Dubai

The Thuringia Alliance, which the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar belongs to, is currently presenting an interactive exhibit that examines visionary ideas for environmentally friendly neighbourhoods. Interested visitors are invited to explore the exhibition in the German Pavilion until 31 March 2022.

How can existing neighbourhoods be converted to improve energy-efficiency without increasing rents? The »smood – smart neighbourhood« initiative - founded in 2019 by an association, 16 companies and four research institutions in Thuringia - provides the answers. The goal is to plan and implement liveable, efficient and environmentally friendly neighbourhoods with the help of digital technologies and renewable energies. 

smoodPLAN - establishing a holistic system to improve energy efficiency in neighbourhoods

As one of five sub-projects, »smood PLAN« serves as the foundation for the overall project. The sub-project has received funding of €1.1m from the BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) and is jointly supervised at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar by the professorships Modelling and Simulation of Structures (Prof. Dr. Guido Morgenthal), Building Physics (Prof. Dr. Conrad Völker) and Computer Vision in Engineering (Prof. Dr. Volker Rodehorst). Using reference objects from Thuringia as examples, innovative solutions for energy-efficient renovation are being developed. To this end, scientists are contributing their expertise in the digital monitoring of structures: with the help of drones, the building condition and energy losses of a neighbourhood are aerially determined. The image data obtained is then automatically analysed and transferred to a digital building model. In this way, time and costs are saved in construction planning. Initial findings can currently be viewed at the Expo 2020 World Expo in Dubai. The next aerial survey is planned for early February in Blankenhain.

The Expo 2020 World Expo is hosted by a different city every five years and attracts interested visitors and participants from all over the world. Under this year’s motto »Connecting Minds – Creating the Future«, 192 country Pavilions as well as numerous partner, organisation and special Pavilions are divided into thematic districts. The smood® exhibit is part of the Future City Lab and was designed by facts and fiction - a Cologne-based communications agency - in close coordination with the smood® consortium.

Photo: The smood project is represented at Expo 2020 with an interactive exhibit in the German Pavilion. (Image rights: Sven Daubert)
Photo: The smood project is represented at Expo 2020 with an interactive exhibit in the German Pavilion. (Image rights: Sven Daubert)

Further information can be found on the project website: www.smood-energy.de as well as in the MDR Thüringen Journal report from 19 January 2022.