Partnership to provide visualisation technology

At the Seoul C40 Large Cities Climate Summit 2009, Autodesk announced it is partnering with the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI), a project of the William J Clinton Foundation, to provide visualisation technology for Project Two Degrees.

Project Two Degrees is an internet-based application that provides cities with a set of tools to measure, compare and reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a local level.

Autodesk is joining CCI and Microsoft Corporation to help sponsor the Project Two Degrees initiative. The sponsors, working with Project Two Degrees stakeholders, are developing the Project Two Degrees emissions tracking software.

The project's web-based software enables cities to calculate the carbon footprint of both municipal operations and the communities they service in a uniform way.

Additionally, Project Two Degrees enables cities to plan meaningful actions that save energy and money and that make a profound impact on the fight against climate change. In the initial pilot phase, participants in the C40, a group of the world's largest cities committed to tackling climate change, will be the first to be invited to use the Project Two Degrees emissions tracking software.

"One of the most significant contributions Autodesk can make to address global sustainability issues is to provide the citizens of the world — through collaboration with our customers — with state-of-the-art design, visualisation and simulation tools for sustainable design," Jay Bhatt, Senior Vice-President, AEC Solutions, Autodesk, said.

"By helping customers better understand the environmental impact of their designs early in the design process, they can make smarter, more sustainable decisions and reduce their carbon footprints. We are pleased to partner with the Clinton Climate Initiative on Project Two Degrees and to support its mission of making a difference in the global fight against climate change in measurable and significant ways."

Autodesk will provide the technology — initially based on Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise — that will act as the model-based visualisation environment used to view, evaluate and compare the results of analysis and monitoring in the C40 city.

To complement Project Two Degrees tools, Autodesk will also provide building performance analysis tools to help cities take meaningful actions in curbing local and regional impacts from climate change and can help save money, conserve energy and track tangible progress.