flexiblefullpage -
billboard - default
interstitial1 - interstitial
Currently Reading

What AEC professionals should know about digital twins

BIM and Information Technology

What AEC professionals should know about digital twins

With technology getting smarter and AI on the rise, what are the benefits of digital twins for your clients’ facilities? And how do AEC firms fit into their design and implementation?


By Quinn Purcell, Managing Editor | May 8, 2023
Man with augmented reality headset in front of 3D city hologram
As AEC firms engage with building digital twins, they can help advance their clients’ goals, as well as gain knowledge to plan, design, and build better themselves in the future.

The elusive “digital twin.” A virtual space that doesn’t quite live in the metaverse, but is definitely more than just your average BIM model. While their use cases are continually developing, a growing number of AEC firms and building owners are finding value in implementing digital twins to unify design, construction, and operational data.

But what are the benefits, both by sector and overall? And where do architects, engineers, and construction professionals fit in?

AEC Firms Engaging With Digital Twin Tools

A digital twin is the digital replica of a physical building that holds its information in one place—like a “shoebox.” Though they can be two-dimensional or 3D, digital twins offer a tell-all locale for a facility’s systems, from electrical work to its structural layout. More importantly, digital twins pave the way for analytics-driven action.

With some building owners beginning to include digital twin requirements in project RFPs, AEC firms are beginning to build digital twins for their clients, according to Robert Bray, VP and General Manager, Autodesk Tandem.

“This is creating new business opportunities for AEC firms, driving meaningful conversations about outcomes and data, and is creating the potential for longer term engagements with their clients,” says Bray.

As AEC firms engage with building digital twins, they can help advance their clients’ initiatives like monitoring and meeting sustainability goals—as well as gain knowledge to plan, design, and build better themselves in the future.

Artificial intelligence

With the influx of artificial intelligence-influenced workflows, digital twins could soon be getting smarter as well. Predictive models might analyze construction data or building conditions to better manage assets, according to Tiago Ricotta, Customer Experience Team Manager at Trimble, an industrial technology company.

“This could give really good inputs for early conceptual design,” he adds.

Digital twins as a live link

For an organization looking to create a digital twin for its building—or AEC firms beginning to build digital twins for their clients—clear objectives should first be set. Without this, it can be difficult to establish what level of detail is needed and whether or not there will be a live link between the model and real life.

“A digital model that nobody accesses or that doesn’t provide information doesn't have many purposes,” says Ricotta. “It should be designed in a way that helps gather the information that will help people understand and use the data it provides.”

This data could track systems in the building, like water and energy usage, with sensors installed that connect it to the digital twin. The twin can map out areas for maintenance teams, providing vision and training before entering restricted/dangerous areas. Other insights from discovering potential issues to reviewing trends would be consolidated into one place—making the digital twin a one-stop shop for facility management.

Enhancing User Experience for Digital Twin Users

While the benefits behind the scenes are plentiful, one of the biggest advantages of buildings with a digital twin is enhancing the user experience for its occupants. Currently, corporate offices are the largest sector that has embraced digital twins. However, we’re seeing use cases in hospitals and retail environments begin to grow, according to Morten Brøgger, CEO of MapsPeople, an indoor mapping tech company.

Digital twin uses across builder sectors

Across multiple sectors, digital twins can help people connect with space. Some practical examples include:

  • Stadium parking. Attending fans have the ability to book a parking space from their phone, and can plan their route inside the stadium before they’ve even left the house.
  • Airport traversal. Airline travelers can receive real-time airport updates as they’re walking to their gate, from restaurant wait times to flight ETAs.
  • Preserving historic buildings. Through Historic Building Information Modeling (HBIM), detailed 3D models of historic buildings aid in preserving heritage, community spaces, and future renovations.
  • Navigating large buildings. Walking through hospital wings, university buildings, or convention center show floors could be made easier with indoor mapping.
  • Hotels. Hotels can offer accessible routes and services to guests with special mobility needs. 
  • Corporate office layouts. In a hybrid work-from-home world, employees who may be less familiar with their office’s environment could get a helping hand from digital twins.
  • Retail spaces. Retailers can empower shoppers to find products more quickly.

The end goal? Help facility owners and its stakeholders to rectify issues before they become problems, and make decisions based on data rather than guesswork.
 

Related Stories

| Jun 13, 2017

Accelerate Live! talk: Is the road to the future the path of least resistance? Sasha Reed, Bluebeam (sponsored)

Bluebeam’s Sasha Reed discusses why AEC leaders should give their teams permission to responsibly break things and create ecosystems of people, process, and technology.

| Jun 13, 2017

Accelerate Live! talk: Incubating innovation through R&D and product development, Jonatan Schumacher, Thornton Tomasetti

Thornton Tomasetti’s Jonatan Schumacher presents the firm’s business model for developing, incubating, and delivering cutting-edge tools and solutions for the firm, and the greater AEC market.

| Jun 13, 2017

Accelerate Live! talk: The future of computational design, Ben Juckes, Yazdani Studio of CannonDesign

Yazdani’s Ben Juckes discusses the firm’s tech-centric culture, where scripting has become an every-project occurrence and each designer regularly works with computational tools as part of their basic toolset.

| May 24, 2017

Accelerate Live! talk: Applying machine learning to building design, Daniel Davis, WeWork

Daniel Davis offers a glimpse into the world at WeWork, and how his team is rethinking workplace design with the help of machine learning tools.

| May 24, 2017

Accelerate Live! talk: Learning from Silicon Valley - Using SaaS to automate AEC, Sean Parham, Aditazz

Sean Parham shares how Aditazz is shaking up the traditional design and construction approaches by applying lessons from the tech world.

| May 24, 2017

Accelerate Live! talk: The data-driven future for AEC, Nathan Miller, Proving Ground

In this 15-minute talk at BD+C’s Accelerate Live! (May 11, 2017, Chicago), Nathan Miller presents his vision of a data-driven future for the business of design.

Big Data | May 24, 2017

Data literacy: Your data-driven advantage starts with your people

All too often, the narrative of what it takes to be ‘data-driven’ focuses on methods for collecting, synthesizing, and visualizing data.

AEC Tech | May 23, 2017

A funny thing may happen on the way to AI

As AI proves safe, big business will want to reduce overhead.

Building Technology | May 5, 2017

Tips for designing and building with bathroom pods

Advancements in building technology and ongoing concerns about labor shortages make prefabrication options such as bathrooms pods primed for an awakening.

BIM and Information Technology | Apr 24, 2017

Reconciling design energy models with real world results

Clark Nexsen’s Brian Turner explores the benefits and challenges of energy modeling and discusses how design firms can implement standards for the highest possible accuracy.

boombox1 - default
boombox2 -
native1 -

More In Category




Sustainability

Increased focus on sustainability is good for business and attracting employees

A recent study, 2023 State of Design & Make by software developer Autodesk, contains some interesting takeaways for the design and construction industry. Respondents to a survey of industry leaders from the architecture, engineering, construction, product design, manufacturing, and entertainment spheres strongly support the idea that improving their organization’s sustainability practices is good for business.

halfpage1 -

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021