Automated Deployment of Simulation Software for Sustainable Construction

About the Client

The client is a Swedish company operating at the intersection of construction and green technologies, developing advanced simulation software. This technology was invented in the mid-1980s at the Swedish Institute of Applied Mathematics as part of a Statoil project. And, since the early 1990s, the company has been developing various simulation software for buildings, tunnels and energy-saving systems based on IDA technology and become a world leader within this area.

Objective

The primary goal of this cooperation was to help the customer with the DevOps operations, mainly to implement infrastructure deployment systems; as well as to develop an effective and continuous management system of the software with PowerShell/Bash scripts.

Solution

The main solutions which are offered by the сustomer include:

1) simulation software designed for road and rail tunnel projects. It supports a full range of ventilation and fire design tasks, offering computed results that are visualized within a 3D representation. Key features include:

• simulation of airflow, pressure, temperature, and pollutant concentrations in tunnel systems;
• modeling fire scenarios, including smoke production and heat transfer processes;
• integration of dynamic traffic models to simulate real-world phenomena like congestion and multi-lane traffic;
• a graphical user interface for designing tunnel models with schematic components such as platforms, fans, and branches.

2) simulation tool that accurately models a building, its systems, and controllers to optimize energy consumption and occupant comfort. The software supports:

• advanced design issues, such as energy efficiency and thermal comfort optimization;
• results through robust algorithms that simulate the interaction between building systems and environmental factors;
• analysis tools for minimizing energy usage while improving indoor conditions. 

Achievements of the Altabel team and project progress:

Initially, Remote Desktop Services (RDS) infrastructure was based on Azure Virtual Machines (VMs), with automation included installing and configuring RDS roles on several Azure VMs (including Active Directory server). In 2022 the project transitioned to the Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) service, enabling Azure to handle certain role activities such as RDS Gateway and RDS Broker functionalities.

Current activities:

• using automation tools to set up and manage cloud systems like remote desktops and virtual machine templates;
• optimizing AVD performance;
• CI/CD pipeline optimization;
• moving the image scaling system to use Azure Compute Gallery, instead of simple images.

Result

The collaboration effectively migrated the client's cloud environment to Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), automating deployments, and optimizing CI/CD pipelines for faster updates. State-of-the-art monitoring via DataDog offers reliability, with long-term DevOps support ensuring scalable, secure operations. The client upholds its green construction technology leadership through optimized, future-ready cloud solutions.