The Point Innovation Community

Location: Draper, Utah

Client: Utah State Government

Timeframe: 2021-2023

Firm: AECOM

Status: Completed

Role: Deputy PM and Digital Twin Simulation Lead

Project Description

The Point is widely recognized as one of the most significant quality-of-life opportunities in Utah’s history. Spanning 600 acres of state-owned land, it is being developed into Utah’s Innovation Community—an area designed to foster innovation and technological advancement, provide parks and open spaces, support economic opportunities, and enhance the quality of life for Utahns.

AECOM was selected to develop sustainability strategies for The Point, focusing on energy and carbon management, water strategies and modeling, transportation, smart mobility and smart city initiatives, waste management, and ecosystem services.

Tom served as the deputy project manager and digital twin simulation lead for AECOM, responsible for coordinating with the client and subject matter experts, as well as creating a “digital twin” to evaluate the effectiveness of sustainability strategies in support of the decision-making process.

Using an interactive “gameboard” approach, different scenarios were developed, each integrating various strategies—baseline, good, better, and best options—for each system. The cumulative and net impacts were measured across key performance indicators (KPIs) at varying levels of sustainability performance, cost, and investment to determine the optimized sustainability solution.