SUA

The initial situation

Increasing urbanisation, global economic growth and the consequences of climate change are increasing pressure on water resources and technical infrastructures. At the same time, the climate crisis requires a far-reaching transformation towards CO₂-neutral energy and resource management. Against this backdrop, it is becoming increasingly urgent to develop sustainable and resilient concepts for urban spaces that fulfil both ecological and social requirements.

The approach

The Smart Urban Areas (SUA) project aims to develop innovative concepts for cities and neighbourhoods in the digital age. The focus is on climate-adapted urban development with the inclusion of intelligent water and building technologies. The Vietnamese capital Hanoi will be used as an example to demonstrate how modern infrastructure can be combined with ecological construction methods. The technologies used include high-efficiency pumps, green roofs and facades and systems for treating grey, black and rainwater.
In collaboration with WILO SE Hanoi, the local partner VinHomes and other local stakeholders, an integrated approach was developed that combines technical innovations with urban planning and ecological aspects.

The objectives and measures

The central aim of the project is to realise a closed water cycle at building level and thus create a model for sustainable building management in large tropical cities. Two test areas (TestBed 1 and TestBed 2) were constructed for this purpose.
TestBed 1 focuses on the use of rainwater for automated irrigation via a reversible plant container system with native plants, supported by weather stations and sensor technology.
TestBed 2 extends this approach with a green façade and a newly developed filter system that treats all the water flows of an eight-storey residential building (rainwater, grey water and black water) and feeds them back into the cycle via an intelligent pump. This is the first time in Vietnam that a closed water cycle has been realised at building level.

The findings are being incorporated into a project simulation for the 39-storey TONKIN 2 residential tower block in the VinHomes Smart City. Digital tools such as ENVImet, AR and VR technologies and cost analyses are being used to investigate the effects of shading, surface temperatures and microclimate on the quality of life.
Initial results show considerable potential for sustainable construction in high-density neighbourhoods and for retrofitting existing buildings. The settlement of bird species on the greened areas underlines the ecological added value and confirms the holistic approach of planning for urban neighbourhoods in the global South.