FEATURE Smart Buildings
Digital twins will be at the heart of smart buildings of the future
AmBX, the smart lighting and building software firm, interviewed Dogu Taskiran, a smart city thought leader and CEO of Stambol Studios in Canada, about digital twins of buildings and their link to smart cities. AmBX SmartCore software uses a digital twin to create a virtual replica of each space within a building, allowing for the fast setup and re-configuration of building and lighting systems
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he global digital twin market was valued at $3.1bn in 2020, expected to reach $48.2bn by 2026, at a CAGR of 58%.
What is a digital twin? There are many defi nitions of a digital twin, but the fi rst reference was encountered in 2003 in the academic course on product lifecycle management by Michael Greaves of the University of Michigan. Greaves described it as a virtual digital equivalent to a physical product. There are three main prerequisites for something to have a digital twin: it must be a physical product in real space, a virtual product in virtual space, and have data and information tie them together. A digital twin can inform the user how a building or factory is used and its existing state. For example, it can show whether a specifi c door is open or closed and, with the help of virtual or augmented reality, it will enable the user to ‘see’ that door and even walk through it to other parts of the building.
The digital twin can be used to control physical assets or gather information and simulate changes, predicting what will happen in the future. Historical data collected from the digital twin allows anomalies to be highlighted, enabling tailored a predictive-maintenance program, which should extend asset life and improve operational effi ciencies. With AI this can be handled automatically, where it decides on the actions, such as, say, turning on or off lights or aircon in certain areas.
How does digital twin connect to Contruction 4.0? Construction 4.0 is also part of the fourth industrial revolution, and is seen as one level above agriculture.
Building information modelling, or BIM, is an interesting concept and the main driver to processes, until the construction and handoff of a building are completed. It begins with a design concept, turned
24 December/January 2022 | Automation
into constructible plans – at this point still being a ‘static’ model – and ends once a building is completed. However, if merged with a digital twin, its life extends from concept to the building’s end of life. Integration with IoT devices, machine learning (ML) and other assets will allow users to harness BIM to visualise contexts. Storing and gathering data about every asset makes predictive analytics and operational excellence easier to achieve. It will allow adverse environmental eff ects to be anticipated: maintenance can be forecast and carried out much earlier to avoid breakdowns or ineffi cient running. For example, if a boiler in a shopping mall is going to break down within weeks, the facility manager will know this sooner rather than after it breaks, since AI and ML will analyse the sensor data to alert to it. BIM will hold information such as warranty, maintained logs and more, acting as a single source of information – a common database for everything that happens within the building’s life. In addition, all of the building’s aspects can be monitored remotely by the facility manager.
Why digital twin wasn’t adopted sooner in buildings? There are some factors that have hindered mass adoption, and standardisation is essential. Creating open, interoperable protocols is crucial, so that technologies don’t just evolve by themselves. No company will achieve full smart buildings and cities by themselves. Industry standards are necessary, to create a unifi ed approach. That way, any device/system can be integrated to provide and receive information. On a larger scale, a digital twin can
benefi t urban planning because it allows planners to predict what would happen if a building was constructed in a particular area; say, how traffi c and pedestrian fl ows can be optimally re-routed or even blocked, for example. All these simulations can take place before construction begins.
Some cities are visionary, they have taken the BIM model from every architect in the city and created a virtual replica of it. Singapore is one innovation leader, with sensors being given to its citizens, to understand the pedestrian pathways and how they’re used in the city. This allows necessary changes to be made at the planning stage, which in turn reduces carbon emissions. This also makes traffi c – vehicular or pedestrian – safe and optimal, certainly when it comes to managing streetlights. Traffi c lights can turn on or off depending on the level of traffi c and needs, say to allow an emergency vehicle to pass through whilst stopping other traffi c. Optimally-managed traffi c will improve journey times and reduce commuting, which will also help with carbon emissions. The only downside is that people do not like being monitored and their data captured – especially their faces. Hence, it will be important that people are aware of what the data is for, how it is collected, used and stored. That transparency will go a long way.
What will future smart cities be like?
The best technology is invisible, you don’t even notice that it is there, such as walking into a room and the environment knowing that the person prefers a certain temperature and adjusts it accordingly. In the next 5-10 years, we will see cities with digital replicas that will collect meaningful data and make meaningful decisions. It’s a much harder guess what we’ll see in 20 years’ time. To start with, there will be ambient immersive user experiences that will automatically do everything for the occupant. However, as with many things, you have no idea you need certain functionalities, or what will exist until the moment it does.
CONTACT:
amBX
www.ambx.com
automationmagazine.co.uk
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