This article is part of a blog series on Digital Twins, exploring what Digital Twin means and what it can do for the construction industry.

The construction industry will benefit a lot from the use of digital twin technology in the future. Some challenges to the adoption of that technology have to be overcome first.

Implementing the systems to create and manage digital twins is very expensive and unattractive for companies running on a shoestring budget. Implementing digital twins software and the various technologies required for construction projects can be daunting.

Challenges with digital twins

Using digital twins in new projects is very complex and to be beneficial, it requires:

• good communication
• collaboration amongst all stakeholders
• up-front work
• real-time updates

Investing in digital twins

To overcome the challenges of implementing digital twins in construction requires investment both in human resources and capital. But it is very worthwhile and will bring you a very high Return on Investment ROI.

Digital Twins are already used extensively in other industries like manufacturing, production, and operations management. Its concept’s adoption is still very slow in construction projects.

A complex concept

The concept is a mix of technical and managerial processes coupling real and virtual environments to:

• manage and process data
• control physical systems
• compile statistics
• conduct simulations
• predict future behaviors
• ease the decision-making process
• automate processes
• develop appropriate solutions

Information management

In project management, using a digital twin to manage information is challenging.

You have to:

• find the right data and sensors to make sure that the constructed asset is in line with the design concept during the construction phase
  
• monitor the behaviors of the construction in the facility management phase- compare the information in the database, with the real objects.

To be successful you need to:

• track the work
• monitor cycles
• produce reports
• set alerts for your management teams.

Respond intelligently to events

Construction project management uses digital twins to solve specific difficult issues such as:

• budget and construction time overruns
• worker safety and environmental impact.

Smart construction model

To simulate reality and predict technical and economic risks is complex and having the right digital twin model in place should simplify the process since you are able to:

• intelligently analyze the design
• compare on-site project implementation with the design concept
• simulate the building's operation and usage.
  

Defining a model for digital twins

It is demanding to define and integrate well-used methodologies with emerging and future approaches. This requires that you search various digital technologies that are adequate for:

• reducing costs
• tracking health and safety hazards
• managing existing buildings
• controlling the multi-operation of the facility: utility management, maintenance, and repair.

Conformity with digital twin standards

You are able to optimize interventions by using digital twin data that reflects the technical reality of the building and management processes to:

• provide virtual operations
• make “what if” scenarios that support future visions
• predict the operational environment.

Limits of merging data in both directions

It may be possible that changes have to be made to the digital system without changing the real building and vice versa. If the digital twin model is not operated by specialists you need to set boundaries and protections to avoid issues and mitigate risks that may occur.

Building control techniques and applications

Interaction between digital and physical twins is critical to feed the model with reliable data from the IoT sensors when digitalizing operations to monitor the work status and progress of automated processes.

Avoid wasted time and mitigate risks

A digital twin’s results are, impressive and cost-efficient, but it requires updating your existing systems, automatically auditing the work in progress, and comparing it to the plans. You will need to identify problems and find solutions, and solve issues in a timely manner.

The use of technologies

Complex technologies, such as artificial intelligence, deep learning, and data mining have the ability to perform contextual analyses. Digital twins can fully manage the activities and stages of the construction, to implement self-ruling solutions, by setting up performance measurements essential for the building to function properly.

Poor connectivity

The use of BIM and digital twin methods created with the use of as-built data culminates in a real twin connected to the internet of things (IoT). You will be able to monitor work progress by:

• collecting and sharing data across the entire construction workflow
• using tools such as managed content, project management software, and a common data environment
• ensuring details don’t get lost in translation as the model progresses.

Obsolete information

Very often, design models are not changed by contractors via change orders, and real-time data are not implemented, so a digital twin can’t work as intended. Correlating the design model with as-built structures will help identify discrepancies.

Tools to be used are a 3D laser scanner and point cloud data. Information collected that way would make future decisions easier and advise on what adjustments are required.

Digital twin benefits

The benefits of digital twins are various and will depend on the stage of construction and where it is used.

A digital twin's benefits include increased reliability and availability. For example, if you use digital twin:

• to monitor a wind turbine or an oil pipeline, you can reduce maintenance troubles and significantly reduce your costs
• for prototyping and manufacturing an object, you could eliminate defects and shorten the time to market
• for process improvements, you could optimize the level of staff required to deliver the right output or coordinate the supply chain and maintenance requirements.

Monitoring and simulating performance improvements can mitigate risks of:

• accidents
• downtime through failure
• poor maintenance, predicting failure before it occurs
• missing production targets
• scheduling maintenance, repair, and ordering of replacement parts.

Digital twins are the best tools to:

• simulate how a customized model works
• ensure quality through performance testing in real-time
• offer continuous improvements
• maintain assets and prevent systems failure
• monitor a building life cycle usage
• provide feedback
• monitor and predict the well-being of your buildings’ users.

Impacts on the construction industry

Integrating technologies into your construction processes like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and software analytics with data, and digital twins will help you to:

• simulate a model
• update systems of physical buildings
• automate the development of a construction life cycle from design to construction, and decommissioning.

By mirroring physical construction, frameworks, and operations, digital twins:

• produce continuous data
• anticipate systems downtime
• react to changing circumstances
• test design improvements.

Digital twins are key to the development of Industry 4.0. allowing the construction industry to:

• automate processes
• exchange data
• improve manufacturing processes for prefabrication and modular construction
• mitigate risks
• monitor operations in real-time
• provide alerts of possible failures
• allow for real-time performance optimization
• improve productivity.

Where is it Used?

Digital twins are used in a wide variety of construction projects for a range of applications and purposes.

Here are some examples:

Prefabrication and modular manufacturing

Digital twins can make manufacturing more productive, streamline the processes, and reduce time.

Building operation

Gathering and analyzing operational data from a construction project allow you to assess its status in real-time and inform you of repairs or required improvements.

Commercial building

In the retail sector, modeling the building usage will allow you to improve the customer experience, whether at the level of a shopping center or for individual stores.

Healthcare building usage

The medical sector has benefitted from the digital twin, modeling the flow of people through hospitals, and tracking where infections may exist and who may be in danger through contact.

Improved sustainability

Reducing the effect of gas emissions will alleviate the global climate change issues. Digital twins improve the creation of smart buildings to reduce the urgency of response plans to the climate change issue.

Smart cities

Digital twins help cities become more economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable. Virtual models can guide planning decisions and offer solutions to the many complex challenges faced by modern cities. For example, real-time responses to problems can be informed by real-time information from digital twins to allow assets such as hospitals to react to a crisis.

In conclusion

Besides all of the benefits, digital twins are not always suitable as they can increase complexity. You should determine if your business problems need a digital twin or can be solved without the associated investment in time and cost.

Digital twins are emerging as an essential tool in construction and the built environment:

• Las Vegas unveiled a digital twin of a 7-square-kilometer section of its downtown in January 2022
• the U.S.'s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021 specifically calls out investment in digital construction tools, including 3D modeling and digital twin technology.

Driving Vision can help you to decide if you need to invest in technology. Our technology diagnostic looks at the best way to incorporate new technology into your workflows and how to move your organization to cloud computing so you can open up new possibilities for your daily planning tasks and make sure your data never leaves the optimally secured data center.

The technology appraisal report will help you to explore what investment is required to improve your projects’ productivity and collaboration as well as the ROI you can expect.

A Driving Vision expert will conduct the interviews online and will issue a report and discuss our findings with you. Together we will decide the best way to implement the solutions at your pace and according to your budget.

Implementing BIM can be daunting, but Driving Vision is here to help you at the pace you are comfortable with. Get started by getting in touch now