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Proposing a sustainable urban 3D model to minimize the potential risk

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DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152312

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Discussion

Proposing a sustainable urban 3D model to minimize the potential risk

associated with green infrastructure by applying engineering tools
J.F. Fernández-Alvarado, J.F. Coloma-Miró, J.P. Cortés-Pérez, M. García-García, S. Fernández-Rodríguez
⁎
Department of Construction, School of Technology, University of Extremadura, Avda. de la Universidad s/n, Cáceres, Spain

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: The goal of this study is to estimate the potential risk of exposure to urban green infrastructure by calculating and improv-
Received 7 September 2021 ing of AIROT index, adding meteorological factors as wind direction and updating the index to be more accurate for
Received in revised form 29 November 2021 smaller urban green areas. To achieve this objective, BIM methodology has been applied by creating a 3D BIM model
Accepted 7 December 2021
from the reality capture of a street with LiDAR. The BIM model contains the parametric data needed to apply AIROT
Available online 23 December 2021
index and it allows to map results in a graphic environmental sustainability study. The importance of location of green in-
Editor: Pavlos Kassomenos frastructure is one of main conclusions obtained in order to minimize aerobiological risks in future new buildings or even
in maintenance tasks of urban green infrastructure. A valuable result obtained from the developed methodology are walk
Keywords: simulations in the 3D model with the aim to identify high risk of potential exposure of urban green infrastructure with al-
BIM. LiDAR. Sustainability lergenic interest for allergic patients in order to supply health itineraries of pedestrians in a proposal of Smart City.
Urban green infrastructure
Risk map
Urban planning

1. Introduction
Recently the development trend of informatization and digitization ex-
ists in all walks of life, e.g. BIM (Building Information Modeling) is the most
advanced digital information technology applied to the urban environment
in the construction industry (Wan and Yu, 2020). Built environment digiti-
zation is being widely applied in deterrence applications and future devel-
opments in a digitized Architecture, Engineering, Construction and
Operations (AECO) sector (Parn and Edwards, 2019). Furthermore, the Ar-
chitecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry is experiencing a
technological revolution driven by booming digitization and automation
(Huang et al., 2021). Sustainable and resilient construction has a current
status and future challenges (Murtagh et al., 2020) and BIM is being used
for sustainable environmental applications in cities, showing a potential re-
search line to develop. BIM technology may contribute to improve the sus-
tainability in cities (Olawumi and Chan, 2018).
Actually, BIM is taking on bigger role in engineering by smart road ap-
plications related with the design and construction stages (Barazzetti). This
methodology also integrates different dimensions for different purposes
and uses (Jung and Joo, 2011). BIM 6D is related with sustainability and
green building (Habib and Kadhim, 2020). Despite this, significant progress
has been made in the sustainability line research, e.g. a study on material
alternatives to select the most sustainable building material using BIM
(Ahmadian Fard Fini et al., 2017) or studies about integrating Life Cycle
⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: santiferro@unex.es (S. Fernández-Rodríguez).
Assessment (LCA) with BIM tools and the use of BIM to reduce energy con-
sumption (Santos et al., 2019).
BIM technology is being recently used for urban green infrastructure man-
agement (Fernández-Rodríguez et al., 2018; Tang et al., 2020). A case study of
a BIM model was created with the aim to develop the simulation study time of
the construction process and to simulate different construction scenarios in
urban park (Subsomboon et al., 2019). BIM has also been applied to simulate
the behavior of vertical greening systems in buildings and their impact on the
environment by creating a smart mesh of green points of vertical greening in
cities (Hung and Peng, 2017). Hence, BIM methodology has proved to be a
powerful tool to manage information and databanks of green areas, number
of planted trees and their distribution (Dantas et al., 2019). These features
are directly related to social well-being, human health and urban sustainability
(Jalaei et al., 2015; Jrade and Jalaei, 2013), urban green infrastructure (trees)
and air quality (aerobiological and chemical particles).
Urban green infrastructure provides benefits with positive impacts on
human physical and psychological well-being (Lafortezza et al., 2009), e.g.
absorbing carbon through photosynthesis (Davies et al., 2011), reducing re-
gional and local temperatures in cities during warm weather (Armson et al.,
2012) or minimizing noise and improving air quality to remove air pollution
(Nowak et al., 2006; Roy et al., 2012). Urban green infrastructure has a key
role in improving the quality of life of citizens improving their health by re-
ducing stress (Cariñanos et al., 2014; Lafortezza et al., 2009). On the other
hand, the presence of trees in urban green spaces has also a negative impact
on the health of part of the population because aerobiological particles (as
pollen grains) from some trees causes respiratory irritation in allergy sufferers
(Pecero-Casimiro et al., 2020c; Stas et al., 2021). Furthermore, aeroallergens

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152312
0048-9697/© 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
J.F. Fernández-Alvarado et al.
particles present in pollen grains can cause asthma diseases and their symp-
toms related as shortness of breath, wheezing, and coughing (De Roos et al.,
2020). Also, it can increase the risk of suffering respiratory problems as
asthma or allergic rhinitis at childhood and adolescence, mostly in zones
with high presence of allergenic trees and large grass areas (Erbas et al.,
2018; Markevych et al., 2020). Usually, the main criteria on urban green in-
frastructure planning are based on selecting species with high tolerance to en-
vironmental stress and climatic conditions (Sæbø et al., 2003) and ease of
management (Cariñanos et al., 2014). Instead, potential exposure to urban
green infrastructure related with pollen levels (Hruska, 2003) and the spatial
distribution of green infrastructure are factors which are not usually taken
into account.
Air quality mapping in 2D is a recurrent topic treated from different points
of view, from mapping chemical airborne considering SO2 and O3 (Rohde and
Muller, 2015), CO, volatile organic compounds (VOC) and particulate matter
(PM) (Coloma et al., 2019) or for mapping nitrogen oxides (NOx) (Santiago
et al., 2020), to aerobiological exposure mapping related with pollen grains
levels or tree distribution (Maya-Manzano et al., 2017a). In this case,
urban green infrastructure based on plane trees was identified and
georeferenced (Maya-Manzano et al., 2017b) relating the number of
plane trees around the spore trap location and several meteorological
parameters. These aerobiological studies raise the possibility of reduc-
ing outdoor potential exposure to urban green infrastructure by analyz-
ing zones in the city with the related with allergenic pollen particles.
Urban aerobiological risk maps provide information in 3D about the
zones with the highest exposure to allergenic particles from urban
green infrastructure, being the production of these graphical results a
new step and performance in this line research.
On the other hand, BIM application for air quality mapping related to
chemical pollution and suspended particulate matter (SPM) represents a
potential tool in order to improve the mapping quality by allowing more ac-
curate calculations in smaller areas and obtaining a visual representation
with high level of detail close to environmental reality (Jeanjean et al.,
2017; Kumar et al., 2016). Integration of meteorological data in a 3D
model based on BIM could help the inhabitants by showing meteorological
information of cities at a large local scale allowing them to understand the
microclimate effect (Wong et al., 2011). The BIM opportunity for sustain-
ability uses is the possibility of 3D models to contain information for high
resolution uses (Santiago et al., 2020), a result that is not feasible at the
small scale of whole countries (Spezzano, 2021).
To produce this type of map tool for urban environments, Laser Imaging
Detecting Ranging (LiDAR) technology, a method that emits infrared wave
pulses to measure distances between the laser and targets is widely used
(Liu et al., 2018). LiDAR system is gaining importance in photogrammetry
for applying in data acquisition to 3D city models (Álvarez et al., 2018),
due to the high-resolution information that LiDAR may provide on the height
features and surfaces elevation (Amolins et al., n.d.; Yan et al., 2015). LiDAR
technology is an useful tool for green infrastructure such as predicting wood
quantity and quality of trees (Luther et al., 2014), for estimating volume and
carbon content in trees (Vonderach et al., 2012) or mapping forest above
ground biomass (Brovkina et al., 2017; Tanhuanpää et al., 2017). Other
LiDAR applications are related with the automatically estimation of the loca-
tion, height, and crown diameter of green infrastructure (Falkowski et al.,
2006; Popescu and Wynne, 2004), tree detection (Alizadeh-Khameneh,
2012) or tree species classification (Heinzel and Koch, 2011; Hollaus et al.,
2009).
A LiDAR application on BIM for sustainability purposes related with pol-
len exposure over the projection on a building considering the meteorolog-
ical parameters has been developed (Fernández-Rodríguez et al., 2018). On
the other hand, an aerobiological index, Aerobiological Index of Risk for
Ornamental Trees (AIROT) has been proposed (Pecero-Casimiro et al.,
2019), which measures the potential risk of urban green infrastructure re-
lated with pollen exposure for individual streets, obtaining a single value
for the entire street in the studied city. Our study continues this line re-
search based on LiDAR technology (Pecero-Casimiro et al., 2019),
which a Digital Elevation Model and a Digital Surface Model had been
2
Science of the Total Environment 812 (2022) 152312
used to measure parameters of the index in several cities of SW Iberian
Peninsula producing areas with the highest potential risk and to create
recommended healthy itineraries. In our research, the detail of 3D
urban section at microscale considering also meteorological parameters
was studied.
The aim of this study is to develop a methodology to produce 3D map-
ping of potential exposure to urban green infrastructure related with risks
of pollen by applying AIROT index in a BIM model. The methodology al-
lows to calculate the aerobiological information more precisely, making it
possible for every point in a studied urban area in a large local scale. To
achieve this, a method for calculating the AIROT index was developed
with 3D model of urban street by using different BIM methodology and soft-
ware. This research proposes with detail the potential base for future
works for applying it at any urban green zone, allowing to produce air
quality information as potential risk of urban green infrastructure in
order to reduce the potential exposure for pedestrian in an urban sec-
tion, being able to be extrapolated to a wider urban environment. This
research may help to develop a currently underdeveloped BIM dimen-
sion in urban planning of civil engineering as BIM 6D related with
sustainability.
2. Materials and methods
The methodology is based in the application of an aerobiological index
(AIROT) which has been improved to integrate a new environmental (me-
teorological) parameter related to wind and to be more accurate in smart
urban sections. The index has been applied in a real study case by using
BIM methodology. Real dimensions of the study case have been obtained
through LiDAR which has been used to create a 3D BIM model using Istram
software (https://istram.net) and exporting it to Revit software (https://
www.autodesk.com/products/revit/) (Fig. 1). Using Revit, and its inte-
grated programming tool Dynamo, measurements needed to apply the
AIROT index have been done. All the data have been used to calculate ex-
posure in the study case by using Excel and the results have been plotted
in a 3D map using Istram.
2.1. Application of Aerobiological Index to create Risk maps for Ornamental
Trees (AIROT)
This study applies AIROT based on the measure of the distance from
each individual specimens of urban green infrastructure related to aerobio-
logical particles of air quality to a potential pedestrian and the influence of
wind direction. Interaction between proximity of the sampling site and the
sources influences on the dispersion of pollen in wind calm periods (Silva
Palacios et al., 2007), being the geographical location of the sources
and their distribution important factors that affect to pollen concentra-
tions (Fernández-Rodríguez et al., 2014b) and the wind, the way of
transporting pollen particles from certain sources (Silva Palacios et al.,
2000).
The reference method to apply the potential aerobiological risk of
ornamental trees is AIROT (Pecero-Casimiro et al., 2019). This index
was developed to be applied across entire cities differentiating a
value for each street or avenue. In order to achieve a higher level of
index accuracy, considering meteorology effects and allowing to
produce 3D sustainability maps, AIROT index has been modified as
shown in eq. (1):
PDdi ∙ PDwi ∙ N i ∙ M i ∙ SH i ∙ H i
AIROT m ¼ ∑ni¼1 (1)
ST
where
AIROTm = AIROT modified index.
PDdi = Potential Dispersibility for distances (from 0 to 10);
PDwi = Potential Dispersibility for the wind (from 1 to 10);
Ni = Number of specimens by distance (trees/ha) (from 0 to 10);
J.F. Fernández-Alvarado et al. Science of the Total Environment 812 (2022) 152312

Fig. 1. 3D risk maps creation work scheme.

Mi = Maturity degree for each specimen (1, 5, 10); Hi = Height above sea level (1, 5);
SHi = Incidence and presence of high buildings, narrow streets and ST = total surface of measured area in km2;
squares (1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10); i = Measuring points.

3
J.F. Fernández-Alvarado et al.
The results applying the index to the different measuring points
(urban infrastructure) were normalized between 0 (the minimum pos-
sible value representing the minimum risk) and 1 (as the maximum
possible value for the maximum risk of exposure). PDdi has been mod-
ified and PDw i has been proposed as new. The rest of parameters of
equation were applied by original AIROT index (Pecero-Casimiro
et al., 2019).
2.1.1. Potential Dispersibility for distances (PDdi)
This parameter has been modified to create a more accurate index in
smaller urban areas. The parameter considers values from 0 to 10 depend-
ing on the proximity of the sources of urban green infrastructure. Potential
Dispersibility for distances (PDdi) at specific point is 10 when the distance
to an element of urban green infrastructure is the shortest possible distance
(0 m), on the contrary, the parameter value is 0 if the distance to urban
green infrastructure is large enough to have any significant effect at a spe-
cific point. This is based on the way the airborne pollen records are highly
related to proximity to the tree pollen sources (Maya Manzano et al., 2017;
Pocknall, 1982). To establish a maximum influence distance, our study is
based to determine that the highest densities of pollen concentrations
occur at 50–100 m from the pollen sources (Sharma and Khanduri,
2007). For this reason, it has been stablished 100 m as the maximum influ-
ence distance in an urban environment. At one point situated at 100 or
more meters from a source of urban green infrastructure the Potential
Dispersibility for distances (PDdi) parameter is 0. For the intermediate dis-
tances, from 0 to 100 m, the value of the parameter is the result of interpo-
late between 0 and 1 for the measure distance.
2.1.2. Potential Dispersibility for the wind (PDwi)
This parameter has been created to introduce the wind effect into the
potential exposure levels with AIROT index. Wind direction has an impor-
tant role the dispersion of aerobiological particles belongs into the air qual-
ity in urban environments (Fernández-Rodríguez et al., 2018; Fernández-
Rodríguez et al., 2014a; Silva Palacios et al., 2000).
It has been considered that at one point where the wind arrives in a cer-
tain direction and intercepts potential particles as pollen grains (from urban
green infrastructure), their concentration levels becomes higher than at a
measurement point where wind has not intercepted a pollen source
(Bishan et al., 2020; Rojo et al., 2015). On one side, wind is established in
the model as a vector which represents wind direction. Whilst direction be-
tween every measurement point of an urban section and every source of
urban green infrastructure is represented with vectors. Angles between
wind direction vector and measurement vectors (vectors between measure-
ment points and green sources) were calculated. If the direction of a mea-
surement vector is similar to the direction of wind (and in the same
sense) exposure to green infrastructure will be higher at a specific point,
and consequently PDwi will be higher.
To limit the effect of wind over one specific point of an urban section, a
maximum variation angle between wind direction vector and measurement
vectors is established. When angle of variation between wind direction and
Fig. 2. Wind influence in Potential Dispersibility for the wind representing: (a) maximum influence, (b) minimum influence and (c) intermediate influence. MP
(Measurement point). WD (Wind Direction).
4
Science of the Total Environment 812 (2022) 152312
measurement vector is 0, PDwi parameter will be 10 (the maximum possi-
ble value) (Fig. 2a). If the angle of variation between wind direction and
measurement vector is greater than a stablished maximum angle of influ-
ence. The PDwi parameter will be 1, not having the wind a potential effect
over the measurement point of the urban area. The same applies when the
wind direction and measurement vector are in opposite sense (Fig. 2b). This
maximum angle of impact was established as 30° due to the lack of studies
in this area. In this study case, 30° was established as a limitation value be-
cause it is considered as a wide enough spectrum in which wind has an in-
fluence over particle dispersion. Out of this value, it's considered that the
impact decreases. It could be changed easily in the calculation process in
order to obtain different or more precise results. The intermediate angles
from 0° to 30° will be interpolate between 1 and 10 representing the
PDwi (Fig. 2c).
2.1.3. Number of specimens by distance (N)
This parameter measures the density of trees for each street with urban
green infrastructure per hectare (trees/ha), being normalized from 0 to 10.
For the normalization of the parameter is applied the maximum value con-
sidered of 153.1 trees/ha (2020) registered in the street of César Díez Vara
in the city of Badajoz (Spain). 0 trees/ha correspond to 0 for the parameter
value and 153.1 trees/ha correspond to 10 and intermediate densities are
normalized between both values to obtain the parameter. This normaliza-
tion makes the AIROT modified index a more effective index to comparison
in different scenarios, acquiring the potential to be scalable to more urban
environments.
2.1.4. Maturity degree for each specimen (M), Incidence and presence of high
buildings, narrow streets and squares (SH) and Height above sea level (H)
These parameters were applied following the indications from the
original index (Pecero-Casimiro et al., 2019). The values of the “M” pa-
rameter (1, 5, 10) for each species were established. For hedges, a value
of 1 was given because although they may be old enough to have a
higher score within this parameter, pruning is controlling their pollen
production. The assigned values for “SH” were local residential/
office/commercial/industrial street: 1; parkway: 2; boulevard: 4; main
street: 6; wide avenue: 8 and parks or public squares: 10. Finally,
(Pecero-Casimiro et al., 2019) grouped the sampled locations into
those of height > 1500 m or height < 1500 m above sea level
using values of 1 for higher altitudes (sampling points within the
city >1500 m.a.s.l) and 5 for lower altitudes (places within the
city <1500 m.a.s.l). This research took place in Badajoz which is
185 m.a.s.l, hence the value assigned to “H” parameter is 5.
2.2. AIROT by BIM
It is important to know the purposes and uses of the model in order to
obtain the necessary information for a specific application of the BIM
model (van Eldik et al., 2020a). Also, level of detail needs to be defined ac-
cording to application of the model (Hong et al., 2020). In this research, a
J.F. Fernández-Alvarado et al.
Fig. 3. Reality of the studied area and 3D BIM model in IFC format.
mesh of points every 5 × 5 m is created based on the BIM model, obtaining
measurements points to apply AIROT in an urban area.
2.2.1. Reality capture. Case study
The case study has been developed over a real urban section in Badajoz
(Spain) placed on a section of Adolfo Suárez avenue beside the Agricultural
Engineering School of the University of Extremadura (38°53′47′′N, 6°58′
10′′W) (Fig. 3).
LiDAR technology was applied to acquire high-density point cloud of the
studied area with TOPCON IP-S3 HD1 device: a mobile mapping system that
integrates a high definition laser scanner with a spherical 30 megapixels
camera. It is combined with a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) re-
ceiver to stablish the geospatial position of the data and an Inertial Measure-
ment Unit (IMU) to get altitude. LiDAR data was used to create the 3D BIM
model based on the dimensions of reality capture as tree height, crown di-
ameter or street width. It was also used to georeference the model allowing
to obtain coordinates in the future 3D model.
2.2.2. 3D BIM model creation
Software used on BIM as Revit and Istram are useful for repetitive itera-
tions and calculations saving time (Basta et al., 2020). Revit is used to analyze
the model by taking advantage of its potential in data storage, treatment and
organization. The 3D BIM model was created using the Istram software.
Dimensions were extracted from LiDAR point cloud measurements and
from a Google satellite image of the studied area, in order to obtain a model
as close as possible to reality. Tree specimens were introduced in the model
with UTM coordinates considering individual height and crown dimensions
for each one. Some specimens that were not located strictly over the studied
area were also introduced in the model to consider their effects on the pollen
exposure levels of the area (Fig. 3). 3D BIM model was exported into Industry
Foundation Class (IFC), an open standard format that allows data extraction
and interoperability in the BIM environment (Kim et al., 2016). The IFC
model of the studied area was imported in Revit software.
2.2.3. Measurements in the BIM model
The programing tool for Revit (Dynamo) was used to establish measure-
ments points in the model by creating a mesh of points every 5 m. A grid of
points with a spacing of 5 meters was obtained from the coordinates of
measurement points. On the other hand, distance measurement between
measurement points and trees was done in Dynamo (Fig. 4) for future
calcultation of parameters.
A further calculation process is to obtain angles of wind direction vector
with every vector between specimens and measurements points of the mesh
of points. The first step is to obtain the implicated vectors in Dynamo (wind
direction vector and measurement vectors), the next step is the automatic
calculation of every angle in a list and the last step is to verify if the mea-
sured angles are under or over 30°. This information (obtained measures)
needs to be exported to .xlsx tables, being done with Dynamo (Fig. 1).
5
Science of the Total Environment 812 (2022) 152312
2.2.4. AIROT index calculation
Performance AIROT index for each measurement point of the mesh of
points of the studied area was calculated though Excel tables due to versa-
tility that offers in the treatment of big amount of data. Calculations were
carried out using Excel tables to obtain the parameters of AIROT for every
measurement point and then, by applying the index, AIROT values were
obtained.
Based on the information obtained from BIM model, AIROT values for
the mesh of points of the studied area were obtained. Sources of urban
green infrastructure (potential pollen risk) located more than 100 m to a
measurement point (Sharma and Khanduri, 2007) or in an angle bigger
than 30° were nor taken into account in the calculation of a particular
point, considering these factors as limits of exposure to urban green
infrastructure.
The calculated index for every measurement point was normalized be-
tween 0 (minimum influence) and 1 (maximum influence). The maximum
value for the AIROT index was calculated by obtaining an AIROT result of
giving to each parameter of the calculation formula values that maximize
the index. It was supposed that the most adverse conditions that could
exist in reality and it was assumed 8 for PDd, PDw and N parameters, 10
for M and SH parameters and 5 for H parameter. 0.0048 is the surface of
the studied area in km2, resulting:
8 ∙ 8 ∙ 8 ∙ 10 ∙ 10 ∙ 5
AIROT m ¼ ¼ 53, 333, 333:33
0:0048
The maximum impact value for the AIROT was rounded to 50 million to
limit it to an exact value considered as a very high AIROT value that hardly
could exist in a real disposition of urban green infrastructure without as-
suming unrealistic values of non-sense situations, as a disposition of all
specimens of urban green infrastructure at a very close distance and in a
close to 0° angle of variation respect wind direction. Due to the implemen-
tation of changes in the way of measuring, some parameters and the new
introduced parameter, AIROT modified index, may vary respect results ob-
tained when applying original AIROT index. For this reason, it has been
considered that a general comparison between results obtained from the
application of both indexes could be interesting to know the relevance of
changes introduced.
2.2.5. AIROT index representation
To produce risks maps of exposure to urban green infrastructure it was
necessary to research back in the Istram infrastructure software (Fig. 1). Ob-
tained information (from Excel calculation tables) was introduced in Istram
software by creating a layer or surface over the existing 3D BIM model. This
is due to Istram development is not designed for this use. The results were
introduced in Istram software as a coordinates list in .csv format, with X, Y
and Z values, in which X and Y were the planar coordinates of the measure-
ments points, and Z values were the AIROT normalized index. In this way, a
J.F. Fernández-Alvarado et al.
Fig. 4. Measurement process in Dynamo.
Digital Terrain Model (DTM) was created in which elevation of the points
was represented by colors depending on the risk of exposure of the index
for each point.
3. Results
3.1. Main wind directions in the case study
The proposed methodology was applied for studying Adolfo Suárez av-
enue of the Agricultural Engineering School of the University of Extrema-
dura in Badajoz (Spain) (Fig. 3). A wind study was done to determinate
the main wind directions during pollen season in Badajoz. Results of the
study are shown (Fig. 5), obtaining 3 main wind directions: West (W,
270°), South (S, 180°) and West-South-West (WSW, 247,5°).
3.2. Values for AIROT
Table 1 shows a calculation example of 3 of the 38 trees in the model
and for 3 measurements points of the mesh of points of the studied area
6
Science of the Total Environment 812 (2022) 152312
to understand the calculation process for the combination of 256 points
and thirty-eight trees. Table 1 contains measurements of distances between
each point and urban green sources as well it contains angles of vectors be-
tween measurement points and green sources. These measures are com-
pared with its limit values (100 m for distances and 30° for angles
variations) and they are evaluated with 1 representing true (lower mea-
sures) or 0 representing false (higher measures). Depending on 1 or 0
values, a specific urban green source could be taken into account for the
AIROT calculation of a point. PDdi and PDwi parameters were calculated
for every point and every urban green source to calculate an average
value for every measurement point that represent the influence of all near
urban green infrastructure over it. An AIROT value can be calculated and
normalized for every point of the mesh of points of the studied area by cal-
culating some parameters (PDdi, PDwi and N) and setting others (SH, H,
ST).
On the other hand, the main obtained results from the application of
AIROT in the studied area are shown (Table 2). For West and West-South-
West winds, lowest AIROT values are close to 0 (0.0014 and 0.0013 respec-
tively) while for South winds lowest values are bigger (0.0214). Maximum
J.F. Fernández-Alvarado et al. Science of the Total Environment 812 (2022) 152312

Fig. 5. Results of the prevailing winds study in Badajoz for: (a) 2019 period, (b) January to February period as the beginning of the pollen season and (c) March to April period
as the ending of the Main Pollen Season.

AIROT value for South winds is lower (0.2824) than for West and West- values of AIROT between 0 and 0.05 as almost non exposed points. For
South-West winds (0.3332 and 0.3174 respectively). In addition, ranges West-South-West winds case study, 28.13% of studied points are under
of values of the AIROT index have been calculated for measurement points 0.05 AIROT value and only 7.03% of points are over 0.2 AIROT value.
of the studied area, showing percentages for each range. Values higher than West winds are a similar case study with 33.98% of studied points as hardly
0.2 have been calculated as an indicator of high exposure to urban green in- non exposed ones (under 0.05 AIROT value) but with a 14.84% of points
frastructure. Low exposure to urban green infrastructure is represented by over 0.2, resulting on a more exposed to urban green infrastructure case
study. For South winds AIROT values are concentrated in a smaller
range of values with a 79.05% of values between 0.05 and 0.2 and a
Table 1
20.55% as high exposed points. In this case study there are no
Calculation of the modified AIROT index of three of the twenty-three trees and for
three measurements points of the mesh of points modelled in the studied area.
AIROT values higher than 0.3 while in West and West-South-West
winds case study, there are a 1.95% and a 0.78% of points over 0.3,
Point 1 Point 2 Point 3
respectively.
Distances
Tree 1 57.060 m 61.175 m 65.414 m
3.3. AIROT graphical representation in risk maps
Tree 2 84.817 m 79.824 m 74.831 m
Tree 3 73.313 m 68.322 63.332 m
A list is exported from Excel with the information of every measurement
Distance lower than influence distance
point coordinates and AIROT normalized index, obtaining a mesh of points
Tree 1 1 1 1
Tree 2 1 1 1 with AIROT values of the studied area (supplementary material, Table S1).
Tree 3 1 1 1 The graphical representation of the results and information is the main nov-
Angles elty of this study for making decisions. Fig. 1 summarizes the mentioned
Tree 1 130.307° 133.061° 135.463° workflow in the different software for developing 3D risk maps using BIM.
Tree 2 10.823° 10.644° 10.440°
Tree 3 10.391° 10.150° 9.871°
AIROT index for the 3 main wind directions was plotted in Istram by
colors (Fig. 6). Green tones were used for low pollen exposure zones
Angle lower than influence angle (AIROT normalized values from 0 to 0.10), yellows and orange for interme-
Tree 1 0 0 0
Tree 2 1 1 1
diate exposure (from 0.10 to 0.28 values) and red tones for high pollen ex-
Tree 3 1 1 1 posed zones (from 0.28 to 0.34 values). The purpose of the graphical
representation of performance AIROT index is to know the potential expo-
Potential dispersibility for distances point/tree
Tree 1 4.294 3.882 3.459
sure to urban green infrastructure related to allergenic interest associated
Tree 2 1.518 2.018 2.517 with pollen particles. On this way, conclusions about the environmental im-
Tree 3 2.669 3.168 3.667 pact assessment related with the potential risk of urban green infrastructure
Potential dispersibility for wind point/tree
distribution in cities can be obtained and, also, recommendations for pedes-
Tree 1 0 0 0 trians in general and allergic patients could be gained and supplied. Also, as
Tree 2 6.392 6.452 6.520 result of the application of developed methodology walks simulations in
Tree 3 6.536 6.617 6.710 studied zone can be done (Fig. 7). This tool can help to sensitize citizens to-
AIROT modified index point/tree wards using less exposed areas to urban green infrastructure. In this study
Tree 1 9,370,940.4 9,729,475.8 10,226,187.6 case, west sidewalk results a healthier care sidewalk to walk through
Tree 2 9,370,940.4 9,729,475.8 10,226,187.6 (Fig. 7).
Tree 3 9,370,940.4 9,729,475.8 10,226,187.6

Potential Dispersibility for distances 4.928 5.124 4.902 4. Discussion

(PDd)
Potential Dispersibility for wind (PDw) 6.994 6.984 7.083
The study of a section of urban area considering urban green infrastruc-
Number of specimens by distance (N) 3.264 3.264 3.536
Incidence of high buildings (SH) 8 8 8 ture applying BIM technology with the exposed methodology, is a powerful
Height above sea level (H) 5 5 5 application achieved in this research. In large urban areas, predict the po-
Total surface (ST) 0.0048 0.0048 0.0048 tential exposure to green infrastructure would not be a feasible task without
AIROT 9,370,940.4 9,729,475.8 10,226,187.6 the aid of the proposed methodology, due the non-homogeneous distribu-
Normalized AIROT 0.1874 0.1946 0.2045
tion of urban green infrastructure and the incidence of meteorological

7
J.F. Fernández-Alvarado et al.
Table 2
AIROT in the studied area for the different wind situations.
AIROT values West winds
Minimum 0.00144
Maximum 0.33317
Number of points Percentage
0–0.05 (low exposure) 87 33.98%
0.05–0.1 20 7.81%
0.1–0.2 111 43.36%
0.2–0.3 (high exposure) 33 12.89%
<0.3 5 1.95%
<0.2 38 14.84%
conditions and their potential impact on pedestrian routes at different sam-
pling points.
BIM methodology can be applied for different dimensions (D) related
with construction (Ding et al., 2014), being its technology in progress for
reaching new uses and applications in a fast way, due to the versatility of
the tools that integrates the methodology. Some advantages has improved
the AIROT method: first of them is the automation in the calculation pro-
cess that allows reducing human errors improving the measures quality
without the need to manually record data (Yarmohammadi and Castro-
Lacouture, 2018). Although previous works needs to be done to develop
the methodology, as modeling reality, creating a measurement methodol-
ogy based on Revit, a calculating process in Excel and representation
method in Istram with the application of BIM tools. A significant time
save could be achieved by obtaining parametric information from LiDAR
(Cheng et al., 2019), especially in variable models of the same area as this
case study. This research also achieved the possibility of introducing varia-
tion in conditions of the green infrastructure in the studied area and the
semi-automatic update of results and 3D model generation, e.g., changes
in number or location of tree specimens can be done easily or it is possible
to study different wind directions, as shown in our results. This is in concor-
dance with the obtained advantages, reached due to BIM methodology ap-
plication: the individualization of parameters and information of each
specimen in the model and its semi-automatic modification of calculations
and results. In this way, this is in line with the previous study (Pecero-
Casimiro et al., 2019), which proposed the update of risk maps due the pos-
sible tree replacement or elimination, or the growth of trees, adding in this
study the changing wind condition.
A potential benefit of this research would be its application in an early
phase of the construction life cycle as design phase, helping urban planners
and engineers to assess the potential risk of urban green infrastructure be-
fore the construction of a new urbanization. BIM has usually been applied
in all phases of the building's life but also in green infrastructure, by
allowing planning, space management or maintenance tasks (Khan et al.,
2017). The integration of BIM in early stages of buildings helps to reduce
working time in future phases and it allows to explore different future alter-
natives in a short period of time (Donath and Lobos, 2009). This would be
very useful in terms of minimizing risks by evaluating different alternatives
and setting the most suitable solution for a specific urban environment and
their conditions. Even, the exposure idea could be applied in the urban's re-
developments, planting or pruning works (Pecero-Casimiro et al., 2020a).
Results show that the most exposed areas will be those where wind flows
have been intercepted by some urban green infrastructure (Silva Palacios
et al., 2000), or certain areas surrounded by several trees due to high tree
density is proved to be one of the crucial factors affecting potential tree ex-
posure in previous studies (Cariñanos et al., 2019; Zong et al., 2020). How-
ever, the main achievement of our study is to quantify the potential risk to
urban green infrastructure related with the pollen grains through a numer-
ical indicator that allows to identify and compare levels of exposure, in
Fig. 6. AIROT modified index risk maps for the studied area for: (a) West (W) wind, (b) South (S) wind and (c) Wets-South-West (WSW) wind. Red
arrow represents wind direction. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of
this article.)
Science of the Total Environment 812 (2022) 152312
South winds West-South-West winds
0.02144 0.00136
0.28236 0.31741
Number of points Percentage Number of points Percentage
4 1.58% 72 28.13%
18 7.11% 18 7.03%
182 71.94% 148 57.81%
52 20.55% 16 6.25%
0 0.00% 2 0.78%
52 20.55% 18 7.03%
addition to represent them in a 3D model as help to obtain conclusions, rec-
ommendations and decisions making. This will not be possible without the
AIROT modified index application and it will be much more work and time-
consuming without the application of BIM technology. Similar results have
been obtained in other sustainability BIM-based research about the utility
of visual representation of sustainability parameters contributing to
decision-making (Kim et al., 2015) and time costs saving (van Eldik et al.,
2020b).
One of the achievements of the BIM methodology application in this re-
search is 3D representation of the exposure levels to green infrastructure
from AIROT, differentiating from the previous studies (Maya-Manzano
et al., 2017; Monroy-Colín et al., 2020; Pecero-Casimiro et al., 2019;
Pecero-Casimiro et al., 2020b), in which results on 2D maps were obtained.
This represents a progress following steps in sustainability area (Fernández-
Rodríguez et al., 2018) to develop the present study with the identification
of urban green sources, wind effect implementation and reality modeling to
represent the potential risk using colors over buildings and urban zones,
with special application in urban planning. 3D representation models of re-
sults obtained in sustainability studies are a very useful tool for analyzing
results of graphical way and to achieve conclusions. Similar representations
of potential risks using colors in 3D models with the aim to localize and mit-
igate them have been published (Fernández-Rodríguez et al., 2018; Tan
et al., 2019).
3D urban result mapping is an underdeveloped way of graphical results
in sustainability studies, instead of the 2D representation of results
(Fernández-Rodríguez et al., 2018; Pecero-Casimiro et al., 2019; Pecero-
Casimiro et al., 2020b). So we propose a new urban scenario with potential
to develop this research line related with sustainability studies. Walk simu-
lation in 3D model is a study area currently under development in BIM ap-
plications used for interior monitoring (Pour Rahimian et al., 2020; Roh
et al., n.d.). A step further has been achieved in this research applying
BIM walk simulations in an urban area (Fig. 7). It is helpful to know poten-
tial risk related with pollen exposure of urban green infrastructure of differ-
ent sidewalks in a more intuitive way for the population, in order to avoid
the most hazard zones for the allergic patients. These improvements in the
potential risk exposure study and its implementation with BIM technology
could help to develop a 3D model where real-time data showed and fre-
quently updated. Smart Cities projects are one of the most innovative
areas of urban planning, nowadays including sustainability, resilience and
livability terms (Chen and Han, 2018). Results in our paper could be devel-
oped as a help tool to know potential high allergenic risk areas in real-time
in order to avoid them and to help local authorities in decision making to
manage green infrastructure. Similar proposals were done in other Smart
City project (Kim et al., 2012), which energy usages was monitored and
represented by colors in a 3D city model, obtaining similar results to our
study.
The improvement of Aerobiological Index of Risk for Ornamental Trees
(AIROT) has been developed by creating a more accurate index capable of
8
J.F. Fernández-Alvarado et al. Science of the Total Environment 812 (2022) 152312

9
J.F. Fernández-Alvarado et al. Science of the Total Environment 812 (2022) 152312

Fig. 7. 3D walk simulation in the studied area for West (W) wind.

measuring smaller areas considering the wind influence. Due to the need to Badajoz (Spain), even with the introduced limitation in the maximum
compare different healthy pedestrian routes in the same street, avenue or value that it can take for the normalization. In AIROT (Pecero-Casimiro
green area of a city in order to know where the most exposed zones are to et al., 2019) the normalization of the “N” (number of specimens by dis-
urban green infrastructure with allergenic interest to be avoid. This sup- tance) parameter is done with the maximum density of specimens obtained
poses an advance with respect to the original AIROT index published in each city. This case study is also applied to Badajoz (Spain), so “N” (num-
(Pecero-Casimiro et al., 2019). Another advantage achieved in the AIROT ber of specimens by distance) can be compared to obtained result in the pre-
index is the versatility to compare different exposed areas, both in very vious AIROT research (Table 3). The similarity between both “N” (number
close areas and in faraway cities. This is due to the change introduced in of specimens by distance) parameter is due to a common urban design in
the normalization method of the AIROT index. In our study, AIROT values the city of Badajoz in terms of green infrastructure which cause a similar
are normalized between 0 and 1 and the normalization is limited by a max- density of specimens regardless of the street or avenue studied. “M” (matu-
imum value of 50 million, considered as an approximation to the maximum rity degree for each specimen) and “SH” (incidence and presence of high
AIROT value for the most adverse urban green infrastructure distribution. buildings, narrow streets and squares) parameters are independent values
In the previous study (Pecero-Casimiro et al., 2019), this limitation for for each street and they have not suffered any modification in the measur-
the normalized AIROT value was given by the maximum AIROT value ob- ing method, but they are quite similar to the average values of the city of
tained for each city, considering a different maximum value for the normal- Badajoz (Spain). In the results of the AIROT index some differences have
ization for each city, being not possible a representative comparison of been noticed. Mainly, lower values for the normalized AIROT index in the
exposure risks in different cities. This limitation has been solved on this ap- studied avenue have been obtained by comparing with the average values
plication of the AIROT index with BIM methodology, by establishing a of Badajoz (Spain). This is due to the modifications introduced in AIROT
method that allows to measure and compare points located centimeters calculation method of this research to achieve a more accurate index in a
away (Adán et al., 2020) to points situated kilometers away in cities specific urban area and to add the wind effect in the calculation method
(Chen et al., 2018). of exposure. Table 3 shows that the improvement AIROT index is the geo-
A comparison has been done between average values of AIROT param- metric average of the values obtained for the measurements points in the
eters of Badajoz (Spain) (Pecero-Casimiro et al., 2019) and obtained results studied area while the value of the original AIROT index is the average
in our study (Table 3). “N” (number of specimens by distance) for the stud- value of the entire city, so a difference in results is expected. Also, this var-
ied avenue is quite similar with the average “N” parameter for the city of iation in results is due to the limitation of the maximum AIROT index for
Badajoz: 3.77 for this study case and 3.23 for previous AIROT values of the normalization applied in this study case, different to the original
AIROT normalization. So AIROT index has continued obtaining results
close to the average values of the city by the limits of representation of re-
Table 3
ality, being in line with the original AIROT index, in addition to achieving
Comparison of different AIROT index applications.
an index that can be extrapolated to any study zone.
Number of Maturity of Shape of AIROT
Considering other aerobiological indices such as the Urban Green Zone
Specimens (N) Specimens (M) Street (SH)
Allergenicity Index (IUGZA) (Cariñanos et al., 2014), the application of me-
Original AIROT index 3.23 9.87 8.45 0.34
teorological parameters as wind (direction and velocity) have been consid-
Modified AIROT index for 3.77 10.00 8.00 0.09
West winds ered in our study to estimate allergenic potential of urban green spaces.
Modified AIROT index for 3.77 10.00 8.00 0.16 Meteorological parameters are necessary to introduce in the urban green
South winds infrastructure related with pollen exposure calculations due to the lack of
Modified AIROT index for 3.77 10.00 8.00 0.09 representation in indexes. AIROT index line research has not included me-
West-South-West winds
teorological conditions to the index calculation, although it is considered as

10
J.F. Fernández-Alvarado et al.
an important factor in the dynamics of pollen particles (Fernández-
Rodríguez et al., 2018; Pecero-Casimiro et al., 2020b). IUGZA index
(Cariñanos et al., 2014) does not consider meteorological parameters, how-
ever a recent study includes this information in pollen index calculation
methods (Tseng et al., 2020). Wind direction is a meteorological parameter
considered as one of the most important factors in pollen spatial distribu-
tion (Silva Palacios et al., 2000), being introduced in the index by the crea-
tion of the Potential Dispersibility for the wind parameter (PDwi) as a
further step in the 3D development of potential risk related with urban
green infrastructure and their pollen production in urban environments.
To develop the Potential Dispersibility for the wind parameter (PDwi), a
maximum angle of influence needs to be established in order to measure
the wind effect in terms of exposure to urban green infrastructure. Maxi-
mum angle for wind influence was set as 30° in our case study, considering
more than 30° as an angle for which exposure to urban green infrastructure
decreases. It is considered that further research in this area needs to be done
to understand the real influence of wind directions in exposure to urban
green infrastructure. The wind projection is still not integrated in BIM-
based software (Delavar et al., 2020), so the obtained information from
BIM models need to be transform to exchange formats to use it in Computa-
tional Fluid Dynamics models simulations for wind purposes (Lu et al.,
2020; Weerasuriya et al., 2019). In our study, wind information to develop
the model is limited (only wind direction was considered) so the informa-
tion was directly included in the BIM model.
General recommendations may be made to reduce the potential expo-
sure to urban green infrastructure. The first of them is the importance of
the location and disposal of green infrastructure in an urban area in
which proximity to the green source plays a decisive role. It is necessary
to respect a minimum planting distance between trees for not increasing ex-
posure (Cariñanos and Casares-Porcel, 2011). Although the main goal of
our study is to know and to represent the potential exposure to urban
green infrastructure related with pollen risks, it is important to consider
the benefits that urban green infrastructure provides to urban inhabitants
to not drastically reduce its presence in urban areas. Some of benefits of
trees in urban areas are to mitigate pollution levels on cities (Yang et al.,
2008), to improve urban air quality (Roy et al., 2012), to reduce noise levels
(Klingberg et al., 2017) and to reduce heat island (Wang et al., 2021). The
relation of these benefits with pollen levels (Leung et al., 2011), even pro-
posing their integration with geographic information system tools to pro-
duce maps and for urban planning applications (Massetti et al., 2015).
Integrating developments of mentioned above studies with the developed
methodology on this research could be a future line of research to achieve
a balance point between benefits and disadvantages of urban green infra-
structure planning. Other important factor to green infrastructure exposure
reducing is the influence of wind in urban environments (Peel et al., 2014),
being recommended to avoid areas where wind direction had intercepted
green infrastructure, reducing PDw (potential dispersibility for the wind).
With this purpose the location of trees in new urban designs needs to be
properly adjust. Wind influence is related with urban configuration of
streets and buildings, influential factors on green infrastructure exposure
(Barwise and Kumar, 2020), and so with the SH parameter (incidence
and presence of high buildings, narrow streets and squares). In new urban
areas with high number of specimens, it is recommended to design an
urban configuration in which SH parameter tends to be low in order to re-
duce the potential exposure. Future application of the developed methodol-
ogy due to scalable model applied in new infrastructure case studies may
help to obtain more recommendations about green infrastructure location
in urban areas.
5. Conclusions
The application of Aerobiological Index of Risk for Ornamental Trees
(AIROT) in an urban section has been developed as an innovative application
of BIM methodology, measuring parameters (distance and meteorological
variables) to develop the index more accurate and local scale applicable. Me-
teorological influence (wind direction) was also included in the performance
11
Science of the Total Environment 812 (2022) 152312
AIROT index achieving an important improvement in parametric potential
exposure measurements. The case study used here showed that the less ex-
posed sidewalk of the avenue is the one located in the West. This is due to
the prevailing wind direction and to the location of the trees in the side-
walks. So, authorities based on decision-making about urban green infra-
structure management such as replanting, pruning or removing trees tasks
could propose to inhabitants the recommendation for walking through the
left sidewalk to avoid the risk of exposure to the urban green infrastructure
related with their corresponding pollen content during Main Pollen Season
period.
BIM application in urban sustainability could be improved with this
study that provides several benefits in the measurement of potential pollen
exposure, improving the accuracy in calculations or the ability to conduct
investigations of larger areas in future studies. Versatility and adaptability
of BIM technology is proved by BIM software in applications for which it
has not been used before. Multiple design and modeling software have
been applied for this purpose finding some interoperability barriers be-
tween them that should be solved in the future for a better implementation
of BIM in all building areas. In this way, BIM technology allows to represent
the potential exposure of urban green infrastructure in 3D models, being a
valuable tool for visual interpretation of results by pedestrians in order to
avoid potential risk related with allergenicity areas or for designing healthy
itineraries to improve the citizens health in sustainability urban planning
construction of Smart Cities.
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152312.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
José Francisco Fernández-Alvarado. To apply the methodology and to
write the manuscript. 45%.
Juan Francisco Coloma-Miro. To add the ISTRAM methodology and to
write the manuscript. 20%.
Juan Pedro Cortés-Pérez. To add the BIM methodology and to write the
manuscript. 10%.
Marta García-García. To revise the study in civil engineering. 5%.
Santiago Fernández-Rodríguez. To design the experimental idea and to
write the manuscript. 20%.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial inter-
ests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the
work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
This study has been made possible by European Social Fund in Youth
Employment Initiative (TE-0025-19) and the Ministry of Education and
Employment of Junta de Extremadura, and the research group aids
(GR18113) financed by Junta de Extremadura (Spain).
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