Las Vegas has unveiled a digital twin of its downtown area to help city planners deal with future growth and other issues, like climate change. It’s a virtual modeling system by a Chicago-based company called Cityzenith. It says that Las Vegas has completed an initial set up phase, and is now headed into phase two.Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you like our podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review.Cityzenith says its SmartWorld Digital Twin technology will help Las Vegas analyze issues involving mobility, air quality, noise pollution, water use, and carbon emissions coming from large downtown buildings. City planners will be able to analyze those emissions as they call for changes to reduce greenhouse gases to a net zero level. (1)Las Vegas Begins Phase TwoCityzenith CEO, Michael Jansen, says of the Las Vegas project: “The base twin is now complete, and in the second quarter of this year, stakeholders from Las Vegas will be invited to join phase 2 of the Digital Twin project.” Stakeholders include real estate owners, government agencies, university researchers, data partners, architects, and casino operators.Jansen says that just 1.7% of American office buildings are “green.” But he says that building owners won’t have to shell out a lot of money for upgrades because Cityzenith has partners that will provide risk-free, no money down financing for retrofits. He says the digital twin platform combined with “creative financing” will make it easier for property owners to transition their buildings.Clean Cities, Clean FutureThis is just a first step for Cityzenith. It says on its website that the Las Vegas project is part of a much larger “Clean Cities, Clean Future” initiative. The company hopes to implement the digital twin platform in major cities throughout the world. Other cities adopting this technology include Los Angeles and Phoenix, but Cityzenith says that more than a dozen other cities and property owners are lined up to do the same.Cityzenith isn’t the only one providing this technology. Ernst and Young issued a report last year called “Digital Twin: The Age of Aquarius in Construction and Real Estate.” It predicts that the use of digital twins will become an important part of the real estate industry. (2)The report lists four ways that digital twins provide significant value:1 - The first is to help with building maintenance and operations. It says the technology can increase efficiency by as much as 35% by determining wasteful expenses and hidden cost savings.2 - The second is a substantial improvement to a building’s environmental footprint. The report says the technology can identify how buildings impact the environment and help reduce emissions by as much as 50%.3 - The third value proposition is a 20% increase in health and wellness. That would happen by improving unhealthy indoor environments that can lead to illness and lower productivity. 4 - And fourth - improvements to the way people use indoor space and interact within a building. The report estimates a 15% increase in space utilization, thanks to digital twin modeling.Built Environment with Real-Time DataThe technology combines spatial data from the built environment with real-time data that is collected with sensors, and the internet of things. That also allows researchers to run “what if” scenarios, and predict what actions may be needed to address any future issues or events.The CEO of data company, Terbine, that works with Cityzenith, talked about the virtues of this technology in a Construction Dive blog. (3) David Knight says: “Transitioning our home city into a clean, sustainable, and more attractive place to live and visit is a fantastic opportunity.” He says: “What we’re building here represents a model for how other cities can enable sustainability and a better quality of life for their citizens.”If you’d like to know more about this topic, check for links in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. You