Digital Building Lifecycle: Digital Twins
In our previous article in this Digital Building Lifecycle series, we talked about how integrating comprehensive product and supplier data into building information models (BIM) is giving AECO teams more control over building information management (BIM) and digital supply chain before, during, and after construction.
Today, I want to share a use of BIM that’s even more exciting—the integral role it plays in achieving the long-anticipated potential of digitally-driven real estate: digital twins.
There’s been a lot of buzz around digital twins for the AECO industry, and rightly so. With the power of BIM operating from a cloud platform such as Microsoft Azure, a digital twin unites the rich static data of as-built with the dynamic status data collected via sensors operating on the model’s physical counterparts throughout the real-world environment.
This “federated” framework provides essential data about physical artifacts in a digital format that can be manipulated, isolated, and modeled in line with performance expectations defined within the BIM. Its two-way exchange of live and static data gives AECO teams a platform for collaboration, as well as more automated and insightful management of their physical assets against the digital as-is.
A standardized framework for digital twins is emerging from the Digital Twin Consortium. This global group is working to define the foundational terminology, taxonomy, use cases, business cases, and so on for digital twins.
Their efforts are still a work in progress, so we don’t have many solid answers yet. However, by gaining an understanding of the importance of BIM and its integral role in the success of digital twins, AECO teams can prepare the way to apply this important technology once it is fully fledged.
Nearly Unlimited in Data Scope
The Digital Twin Consortium defines digital twin as “a synchronized virtual representation of real world entities and processes.” I think of it more simply as a “consolidated visual representation of static data and dynamic data.” That is, digital twins simulate real-world phenomena digitally as they occur physically.
For example, with a digital twin, a human being doesn’t need to be physically onsite to witness an event. Instead, a sensor feeds the data into a digital twin that then visualizes the event as a business intelligence dashboard and as a digital replica of the physical asset. The person monitoring the digital twin can see what is happening in real time and take required action remotely. In this way, a digital twin supports proactive decision-making and predictive planning for actions. It also prevents minor issues from escalating to debilitating problems through early detection.
As a single source of truth, a digital twin hosts information from all entities connected to it. So while a digital twin naturally integrates the building information models we’ve been talking about, it's also enriched by data streaming in from real-world systems such as the Internet of Things (IoT), the Internet of Actions (IoA) , and the Geographic Information System (GIS).
Toss in the information stored in hundreds of databases that smart cities are now providing for city developers, plus the “reality captures” from photogrammetry, laser scanning, and other technologies, and a digital twin can be used to create snapshots in time of practically any aspect that exists in the physical world right now.
With Incalculable Uses
The Digital Twin Consortium goes on to explain that “Digital twins are motivated by outcomes, tailored by use cases, powered by integration, built on data, and implemented in IT systems.” In other words, the value of digital twin is limited only by how each end user wants to configure it.
You can think of digital twin use cases almost like a smartphone as a platform. Two people buy the same kind of phone, and within five minutes their experiences are completely different because each has tweaked the features to suit their needs and downloaded the apps that serve their desires. Any time they need a new feature in the future, however, both will call upon the same baseline capabilities, which they can again customize for their use.
Digital twin use cases are similar, in that depending on what information or intelligence is required of the digital twin, each user can choose the most relevant components for their purposes and access additional baseline data sources any time their needs change.
Two classic use cases for AECO are facilities management and future renovation planning:
- Facilities management. In a building with a digital twin, the BIM models provide thresholds for technical performance values, and the digital twin compares the static and dynamic values and simulates the system of systems. Monitoring this live data helps facilities managers make informed decisions for daily operations, assess the extent of a component or system failure, steer decisions about maintenance and repairs, and prolong the technical lifecycle of the building.
- Future renovations. All digital data captured and created during construction can remain as baseline source data for any remanufacturing that happens in the future. This is especially valuable as building practices become more sustainable and the industry continues to accumulate the calculatory renovation debt. For example, when renovating a legacy building, teams might reuse the materials data and fabrication methods data to reproduce unique and complicated physical details, but retrofitting them with additive manufacturing (3D printing) from the data linked or stored in the digital twin.
Preparing Now for a Digital Twin Future
The Digital Twin Consortium is working hard to accelerate the development of digital twins, but it is the responsibility of individuals to start adoption. The built-environment industry is already anticipating a cloud-empowered digital disruption as soon as digital twins are fully developed.
AECO organizations can start preparing now by moving to a BIM-centric approach to project delivery and digital real estate management. Bridging the traditional data siloes via Common Data Environments (CDE) among AECO players and partners is equally crucial.
It is also worth brushing up on your digital twin knowledge, for which I recommend reading The Case for the Digital Thread, Transforming Business Using Digital Twin, and Digital Twin Consortium Defines Digital Twin.
Previous articles in this series
- The Digital Building Lifecycle: Taking the Long View
- Digital Building Lifecycle: The Data-Driven Feasibility Study
- Digital Building Lifecycle: How Technology Can Transform Schematic Design
- Digital Building Lifecycle: The Benefits of Data-Driven Design Development
- Digital Building Lifecycle: Analyzing Costs and Simulating Performance with Data and 3D Models
- Digital Building Lifecycle: Using BIM for Onsite/Offsite Construction Planning
- Digital Building Lifecycle: Using BIM for Offsite Construction
- Digital Building Lifecycle: Taking BIM to the nth Dimension
- Digital Building Lifecycle: Forging New Links in Supply Chain Management with BIM
Senior Customer Success Account Manager at Microsoft
3 年Hopefully digital twins should not be controversial topic for long, but a standard practice. Interesting examples Imerso - Digital Twins for Property Development and Blogic srl - Vcad (BIM) for Power BI Francesco N., Sarah Muller
Architect
3 年Interesting installment. "a synchronized virtual representation of real world entities and processes.” I don't like this definition. It is too limiting and already out of date. It is based on the old SCADA use case, where the DT is a passive reporting tool. The 'cosmological' nature / potential of a DT implies that the DT can be used to step back as well as forward in time. Synchronisation is not the same as simulation which is much much more powerful and useful. "As a single source of truth, a digital twin hosts information from all entities connected to it. " Again, I think that this emphasis of SST is also out of date and stems from the old BIM (mis)thinking. DTs will underscore that 'parallel universes' are inherent to everything. Your structural engineers DT may be based on a FEA universe while your wind tunnel engineer may need a CFD universe and your traffic engineer may need an agent-based universe... etc etc Platforms: all roads lead to the cloud. Even for edge devices and media consumption formats MR, VR, AR etc. The key challenge is an 'OS' that can scale and bind everything together... Nvidia Omniverse, SpatialOS etc?
GOVERNANCE4 & Smartspace.ai ~ Fractional Client Engagement | Community Builder | People & Culture | Technology | MC | Mental Health Advocate
3 年What a great overview - i look to reading your series and better understanding your digital lifecycle definitions. In adsition to F.M. including renovations a big benefit (In the vicinity of $1.2T from a $12T market pre-covid) a Design Digital Twin can enable is removal of remedial constuction work - both client changes and errors (ie clash detection).
Digital Twin and VR Consultant
3 年Really great article. We are beginning to have conversations with clients about this as they are adding building assets or needing to document what they have for facility management and ongoing renovations and upgrades. Thanks for a succinct and timely article.
Chief Enabling Officer | Executive Director
3 年Great insights, Salla! I feel like we continue back and forth between “what” a DT is and “how” to achieve it. I like your focus on “why” adopt a DT strategy. Hope to have you on a future #DigitalTwin #VirtualRoundtable again w/ Kelly Doyle!