DATA AND DIGITISATION
Bright interior spaces designed for patient comfort.
Digital twins also support long-term carbon strategies. By gathering performance data from day one, estates teams can establish robust baselines and measure progress over time. This makes it easier to justify future investments, track ROI, and ensure targets are grounded in real operational data. When it comes to ESG reporting, one of the more complex and evolving aspects of building performance, the insights generated by digital twins can be hugely valuable.
Paul Cooper
Paul Cooper is a seasoned Building Services engineer with over two decades of experience, specialising in the delivery of complex healthcare projects across the UK. Since beginning
his career in 1999 as a Trainee Building Services engineer, Paul has progressed to become director and Healthcare lead at Wallace Whittle. He has played a key role in the successful delivery of numerous large hospital developments, bringing a deep understanding of healthcare design requirements and delivery models. Paul’s approach is
rooted in efficiency, drawing on lessons learned to ensure that both client briefs and programme targets are consistently met. His expertise spans all aspects of building services engineering, with a particular focus on healthcare environments. As Healthcare lead, Paul is actively involved in projects from inception to completion, attending meetings and working closely with technical teams to exceed design and performance expectations.
present data in ways that are understandable and usable for the people who rely on it day to day. User-friendly dashboards are essential. Rather than displaying raw sensor readings, a digital twin must visualise key metrics, such as energy trends or asset performance, clearly and concisely. Alerts must highlight issues before they escalate. The aim is to provide useful, actionable information, rather than overwhelming users with unnecessary detail. Training and education are equally important. Many
healthcare estates teams are used to managing facilities with manual processes or legacy systems. A digital twin represents a significant shift in how buildings are operated and maintained. Supporting teams through this transition is vital. Cultural change is also required. Teams need to
understand how to interpret the twin’s outputs and how those insights translate into real-world actions. When this is done well, the twin becomes a tool that empowers staff to improve building performance proactively. Digital twins are also playing a key role in enhancing patient experience. At Monklands, the digital twin will personalise the environment to meet specific needs. Something as simple as automated temperature or lighting adjustments can reduce anxiety, particularly for patients with sensory sensitivities or long-term conditions. The result is a more human-centred healthcare environment, powered by data.
Sustainability at scale Sustainability is a key driving force behind the adoption of digital twin technology in healthcare. Hospitals are under pressure to reduce carbon emissions and energy use while maintaining round-the-clock operations. A digital twin offers real-time visibility into system performance. This enables facilities managers to identify areas of waste, fine-tune performance, and test sustainability interventions virtually. Instead of installing a new control strategy and waiting to see if it works, the impact can be modelled in advance and implemented only once the outcome is clear. This not only reduces emissions and energy bills but also supports compliance with sustainability frameworks such as NABERS and BREEAM. These frameworks increasingly require performance to be verified in operation, not just at design stage. A digital twin provides the data to meet those requirements. Sustainability teams benefit from being engaged early
in the process too. Their input helps determine what data should be collected and how performance should be benchmarked. At Monklands, this early collaboration is helping to ensure the twin supports both regulatory compliance and environmental performance targets.
114 Health Estate Journal October 2025
At Wallace Whittle, we support clients across sectors through our sustainability reporting platform PathWWay, which helps bring clarity and consistency to ESG data. By connecting digital twin insights with structured reporting tools, clients are better equipped to track progress, meet regulatory demands and drive continuous improvement across their estates.
Challenges and opportunities Delivering a digital twin at Monklands has not been without its challenges. One of the biggest issues has been defining the
right scope. It has taken months of engagement with stakeholders to agree on what should be monitored and why. However, getting this right at the outset has been crucial. Without that clarity, there is a risk of either missing critical data or collecting more than is needed, driving up cost and complexity. Another challenge is scale. The volume of data involved
in a large hospital project is enormous. Each discipline has its own terminology and data structure, which must be unified into a single, coherent system. This is essential to ensure the twin is consistent, compliant and usable. Despite these challenges, the opportunities are significant. Our digital twin will give estates teams the ability to manage buildings in real-time, to act before issues become failures, and to continuously improve building performance. They will support better patient experiences, more efficient use of resources, and meaningful carbon reductions. The patient interface twin will also represent a step-
change in how hospitals respond to individual needs. These are not theoretical benefits. They are practical tools that will support the day-to-day running of the UK’s first digital-first hospital. Monklands is a great live example of how a digital
twin can shift from concept to operational reality within healthcare estates. By focusing on early engagement, targeted data capture, and close coordination across disciplines, the project is showing what it takes to deliver a digital twin that adds lasting value. As the industry continues to evolve, the lessons from
Monklands will help shape how digital twins are applied across the sector. From improving the performance of critical systems, to supporting more efficient maintenance, and creating better patient environments, the potential is clear.
Digital twins are not a one-size-fits-all solution.
Their success depends on clear scope, structured data collection, and committed collaboration throughout design and delivery. Monklands is helping define what excellence looks like in this space, not just for today, but for the digitally connected hospitals of tomorrow.
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