BimScaler Blog – How can digital twins help construction? In simple terms, a digital twin is a virtual copy of a physical building or infrastructure project.
It’s like a living, breathing blueprint that’s always up to date with real-time info from sensors, drones and other sources.
This gives you a unique insight into how the project is performing, any potential issues, and what the future might hold.
So, why should this matter to you? They’re helping companies save time and money, improve safety, and create more sustainable buildings.
If you’re in the construction industry, now is the time to get to grips with this amazing technology.
How Can Digital Twins Help Construction?
In their research article, “Construction with digital twin information systems,” Rafael Sacks, Ioannis Brilakis, Ergo Pikas, Haiyan Sally Xie, and Mark Girolami explain how digital twins create real-time virtual replicas of physical assets, processes, and systems, allowing for enhanced visualisation, collaboration, and efficiency. So, how does it work?
One of the best things about digital twins is that they provide detailed 3D models which give you a really immersive view of construction projects.
These models can also monitor and adjust things as the project goes on, because they use real-time data.
As well as making it easier to visualise things, digital twins also help architects, engineers, contractors and project managers to work together better.
They provide a shared platform for data and model access, which is really useful.
This unified approach means that everyone involved can work with the same information.
Adding sensors and IoT devices to construction sites lets you collect data all the time and monitor things in real time.
This helps project managers keep track of what’s going on, make sure they’ve got the resources they need, and deal with problems as soon as they come up.
Real-time monitoring also helps with predictive maintenance, which means less downtime and longer life for equipment and infrastructure.
Plus, digital twins help companies save money by letting them test out different scenarios and make sure they’re using their resources in the best way.
This helps stakeholders identify ways to cut costs, make workflows more efficient, and avoid wasting resources, which can lead to big savings over the project lifecycle.
Also, if you keep an eye on how your equipment and infrastructure are doing, your digital twin can tell you when it’s time to do some maintenance, so you can avoid any breakdowns and keep your downtime to a minimum.
For the engineering industry, you can find out more in “Digital Twins in Engineering: The Engineer Cheat Code You’re Waiting For.“
Challenges of Implementing Digital Twins in Construction Projects
While digital twins have a lot to offer construction, there are still a few hurdles to overcome.
De-Graft Joe Opoku, Srinath Perera, Robert Osei-Kyei, Maria Rashidi, Tosin Famakinwa, and Keivan Bamda go into these obstacles in their paper “Drivers for Digital Twin Adoption in the Construction Industry: A Systematic Literature Review.”
The first obstacle is about combining data from different sources and making sure everything works together smoothly. Yup, this is a real challenge.
Making sure that data formats and protocols are standardised is really important for making sure that things can work together effectively.
And having solid API integrations is vital for making sure that data is available in real time and that compatibility issues are minimised.
It’s crucial to make sure the data used to create digital twins is accurate and complete, as inaccurate data can lead to flawed models and poor decision-making.
Setting up data validation processes and solid data governance can help to avoid these issues.
Building and keeping up digital twins for big projects can be pretty technical.
To handle this complexity, we need high-performance computing and advanced modelling techniques. The solutions also need to be scalable to manage the vast amounts of data generated.
Another big issue is protecting sensitive data and making sure it’s safe from cyber threats.
You’ve got to implement comprehensive data protection measures, encryption techniques and access controls to keep data safe and secure.
The lack of widely accepted standards and governance frameworks can make it tricky to get people on board with digital twins.
It’d be great if we could work together across the industry to develop and implement these standards. That way, we can make sure they’re consistent and reliable across projects.
How to Implement Digital Twin Technology in Construction Projects
If you want to get digital twins up and running, take a look at these steps, as discussed by Ran Bi in “A Study of Smart Construction Based on the Digital Twins” and Rafael Sacks et al. in their research.
First, it’s key to identify what the project needs and what it’s trying to achieve. This helps you choose the right tech and data sources.
Knowing what the project is about helps to make sure that it’s going to help you achieve what you want, as Ran Bi said.
The next thing to do is collect and integrate the data. It’s really important to use IoT devices and sensors to gather real-time data from the construction site.
This data has got to be accurate and seamlessly integrated into the digital twin platform.
That’s why it’s good to have a clear plan for how data will flow and where it will be integrated. That way, we can avoid disrupting existing processes.
Another important step is to create a detailed and dynamic 3D model of the construction project.
This model should use advanced simulation and analysis tools to replicate the behaviour of the physical counterpart as accurately as possible, with continuous updates reflecting real-time changes and conditions.
To get useful feedback, it’s vital to have a constant link between the digital twin and the physical site.
This feedback loop helps the project run more smoothly and lets us deal with problems before they become big issues.
Collaboration and training for stakeholders are also important. All the people involved in the project should be trained on how to use the digital twin technology effectively.
Training programmes should focus on data updating, using reports effectively and working well together, to get the most out of digital twins.
Challenges and Solutions
Having a good grasp of what the project entails and knowing what’s expected of everyone involved is key to keeping things transparent and making sure everyone sticks to what they’ve agreed to.
Setting up some rules about who owns the models and who can make changes to them can help to avoid this problem.
Investing in data management capabilities and making sure that IT and OT systems work well together is really important.
Having solid data governance policies and training programmes in place is a big deal for effective data management.
We also need to get on board with Building Information Modeling (BIM). This shift calls for new skills and a move from 2D to 3D modelling tech, which training and development programmes can help with.
While it might cost a bit to get started with digital twin technology, the long-term benefits make it worth it.
If you can show the return on investment through a few pilot projects, it’ll help you get the funding and support you need.
Having a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for data exchange and issue resolution makes it easier to get everything up and running smoothly.
Clear SOPs help everyone involved in the project to have the same expectations and make processes more efficient, which makes digital twin technology in construction projects more effective.
To find out more about digital twins in manufacturing, kindly check “Digital Twins in Manufacturing: Why Your Rivals Use It & You Don’t?“
How to Find a Partner in Your Digital Twin Management
Starting with digital twins in construction can be a bit of a challenge because of the difficulties in data integration, accuracy, and the need for advanced skills.
BIM Scaler can help you out with customised solutions that make it easier to manage digital twins and BIM, so you can get over these hurdles.
What can we do to help you?
We’ll take care of all the technical stuff, so you can focus on your core business.
We also make it easy to integrate data from different sources, so we can create a comprehensive and accurate digital replica of your physical assets.
We’ll help you get the most out of your digital twin so you can make informed decisions that drive operational efficiency.
If you want to know more about how BIM Scaler can help you with your construction, kindly visit and read our CAD & BIM Management page.
Or, you can contact us today to arrange a lunch meeting. Absolutely! We’re all set for you.
In Closing
Even though there are some hurdles to overcome, like data integration and cost, the advantages of digital twins make them a valuable tool in modern construction.
As the industry keeps on going digital, the digital twins in construction are going to be a big part of shaping the future.
