Mystic River Industrial Area Thermal Comfort Study, Boston
In 2025, Planète GreenLeaves collaborated with the ULI Boston Chapter to conduct a detailed microclimate and thermal comfort analysis of the Mystic River Industrial Area in Boston. The project aimed to assess current outdoor conditions and explore climate adaptation strategies for a future regenerative design initiative. CityDigitalTwin was used to build a high-resolution digital twin of the site from OpenStreetMap data, capturing buildings, roads, vegetation, and water bodies. The model represented real-world conditions with layered detail, forming the basis for hourly simulations. The simulation focused on July 28, 2020 — the hottest summer day recorded between 2019 and 2023 — running from 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM at hourly intervals to analyze outdoor thermal comfort using UTCI (Universal Thermal Climate Index). Baseline results revealed widespread thermal discomfort across most pedestrian areas, with UTCI frequently exceeding 95°F and thermal comfort frequencies below 20% in key locations. This highlighted the vulnerability of the site to urban heat, particularly in paved, unshaded zones. Scenario analysis tested reflective (cool) roofs and pavements as an intervention. Results showed a UTCI reduction of up to 6°F in affected areas, significantly improving pedestrian comfort. The analysis demonstrated how passive design strategies, like reflective surfaces, can help mitigate urban heat island effects and enhance outdoor usability. CityDigitalTwin enabled stakeholders to visualize, quantify, and compare current and improved conditions quickly and effectively. This study not only informed immediate design priorities but also illustrated the value of data-driven, pre-design analysis in meeting broader sustainability goals. The Mystic River project exemplifies how urban planning can integrate climate resilience and human-centric design through advanced simulation technology.
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CityDigitalTwin
CityDigitalTwin is a web-based platform for architects, urban planners, and cities to simulate microclimate, outdoor comfort, and energy use. It enables scenario studies of climate adaptation and resiliency interventions — trees, green infrastructure, shading, cool materials, building design, and renewables — to inform pre-design decisions.
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The primary reason CityDigitalTwin was chosen for the Mystic River Industrial Area project was its ability to provide fast, accurate, and actionable insights into microclimate and thermal comfort conditions at the urban scale. The project required a robust simulation tool capable of modeling outdoor conditions on the hottest summer day and identifying key problem areas with high heat stress. It also needed to test the effectiveness of proposed interventions, such as reflective roofs and pavements, and provide clear, quantitative metrics like UTCI (Universal Thermal Climate Index) and thermal comfort frequency to guide design decisions. CityDigitalTwin stood out because it is specifically designed for pre-design analysis of urban environments, seamlessly integrating microclimate simulation and outdoor comfort assessment into a single, intuitive web-based platform. Traditional methods for such studies often rely on disconnected workflows using multiple software tools, static thermal maps, or expensive, time-consuming CFD models. These approaches can take weeks or even months to deliver results, limiting their usefulness for fast-moving projects. CityDigitalTwin, by contrast, allowed the team to upload a detailed 3D site model generated from OpenStreetMap data, define both baseline and intervention scenarios, and visualize impacts at high spatial and temporal resolution—all within just a few days. The decision to use CityDigitalTwin was driven by its unique combination of speed, scientific rigor, user-friendly outputs, interoperability with standard 3D models, and its clear focus on climate resilience and human-centric design outcomes. This made it an indispensable tool for informing sustainable, actionable decisions early in the planning process.
CityDigitalTwin was used during the Planning and Programming (Pre-Design) phase to assess current conditions and evaluate design strategies prior to detailed concept design.
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CityDigitalTwin delivered significant business value by improving efficiency, enhancing the quality of insights, and supporting informed decision-making throughout the planning phase. Compared to traditional CFD simulations or manual analysis approaches, which typically require significant time and resources, the platform reduced the turnaround time for actionable results from several weeks to just a few days. This accelerated timeline enabled the project team to iterate quickly, testing intervention scenarios and refining strategies in advance of the regenerative design workshop, which was critical for meeting tight deadlines and stakeholder expectations. The cost savings realized were substantial. By eliminating the need for expensive third-party simulation contracts, complex custom modeling, and lengthy internal processing, the project achieved a much faster return on investment. The ability to run multiple simulations at minimal additional cost also gave stakeholders confidence in selecting the most cost-effective and impactful interventions. For example, reflective surfaces demonstrated a measurable UTCI reduction of up to 6°F, clearly illustrating their value in improving outdoor thermal comfort. CityDigitalTwin further improved collaboration and communication among the multidisciplinary project team by presenting complex microclimate and thermal comfort data in an intuitive, visual format that was easy to share with non-technical stakeholders. This transparency enhanced engagement and aligned design decisions with broader sustainability, resilience, and climate adaptation goals, while also supporting potential LEED and WELL certification pathways. Overall, CityDigitalTwin enabled a faster, more cost-efficient, and more informed design process, ensuring better outcomes and higher confidence in climate-resilient urban planning decisions than traditional methods could deliver.
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