What is Urbio?
Urbio is a one-stop-shop district heating planning software designed to be reliable, intuitive, and fast. Think of it as a SaaS platform that turbocharges decarbonization efforts—up to 10 times faster—using generative AI. It’s tailored for real estate professionals and utilities aiming to make the smartest investments, whether for a single building, an entire portfolio, or even a whole city. Imagine Google Maps, but for energy: Urbio makes energy data accessible at the building scale and automates the design of energy assets like solar panels, heat pumps, and heat networks. Born from Swiss climate-tech university EPFL, with founders boasting PhDs and over a decade in renewable energy, Urbio is backed by a team of data and energy experts and leading VCs, helping customers across Europe accelerate the energy transition.
Main Benefits of Using Urbio
Urbio offers a suite of powerful features that digitize and speed up district heating planning workflows. Here are some key highlights:
- Centralizes dozens of data sources—including your own files—into personal or company-wide collections.
- Checks data completeness and accuracy with dedicated map visualizations.
- Leverages machine learning models to gain deeper insights into building attributes.
- Displays key statistics dynamically, updating values based on filtered subsets of buildings.
- Filters thousands of buildings quickly by criteria like roof size, building age, and roof material.
- Creates insightful maps to visualize trends and communicate project details effectively.
- Automates design of heat pumps and identifies carbon-saving potentials.
- Enables fact-based decision-making by comparing scenarios across dozens of criteria.
Data Factory: Centralizing and Validating Information
At the heart of Urbio lies the Data Factory, a powerful tool that brings together multiple data sources in one place. Whether it’s your own files or external datasets, everything is centralized for easy access. But it doesn’t stop there—Urbio also helps check the completeness and accuracy of your project data through dedicated map visualizations. This means you can spot gaps or inconsistencies quickly, ensuring your planning is based on solid ground. Plus, with machine learning models integrated, you get deeper insights into building attributes that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Digital Twin: Visualizing and Filtering Buildings
Urbio’s Digital Twin feature lets users display key statistics about their project perimeter with ease. Want to zoom in on a subset of buildings? Just apply filters based on your preferred criteria—like roof size, building age, or roof material—and watch the statistics update dynamically. This makes it super simple to identify the most promising buildings for your project. And with the ability to create insightful maps, communicating trends and project progress becomes a breeze.
Generative Design and Heating Networks
One of Urbio’s standout capabilities is its generative design function. It identifies optimal network trajectories in areas with high heat density, helping users determine the financial viability of projects early on. On top of that, the software automates the design of heat pumps and uncovers carbon-saving potentials, including increased self-consumption of photovoltaic energy. By comparing multiple scenarios against dozens of criteria, decision-makers can confidently choose the best path forward.
Project Impact: Supporting Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy – by promoting efficient district heating solutions.
- SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure – through cutting-edge AI and digital twin technologies.
- SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities – enabling smarter urban energy planning.
- SDG 13: Climate Action – accelerating decarbonization of buildings and energy systems.
Customer Experience and Support
Urbio isn’t just about software—it’s about ensuring success from day one. The support team is there every step of the way, from onboarding to daily use, making sure users get the most out of the platform. Customers across Europe have leveraged Urbio to accelerate their energy transition projects, benefiting from a comprehensive, multi-fluid approach that truly meets their needs. As Philippe Corboz, Smart City Project Manager, puts it: “Urbio’s solution was extremely attractive from the start because it offers a truly comprehensive, multi-fluid approach. That’s exactly what we need to provide our customers with the service they expect.”
