13 mins
A MODEL OF CONSTRUCTION'S NEW NORMAL
Building Information Modelling (BIM) and digital twin processes have been used for decades, but modern technological capabilities have made the assets more valuable today. MITCHELL KELLER reports on the burgeoning market
ALESSANDRO PAGANO PRESENTS FOR A WEBUILD MILAN, ITALY, PROJECT AT THE 2024 BENTLEY SYSTEMS GOING DIGITAL AWARDS
IMAGE: BENTLEY SYSTEMS
T
here’s an old saying: life’s only guarantees are death and taxes.
History says American Benjamin Franklin penned a version of this statement to French scientist Jean-Baptiste Le Roy in 1789, and it has remained (painfully) true throughout the centuries since.
After millennia of designing and building on paper (or stone or dirt, if we go back far enough), modern technology has advanced so fast that what was once seen as a necessary and demonstrable discipline (2D design) is on the way to becoming obsolete, while the use of BIM and digital twins has become almost a guarantee, certainly on larger scale projects. Estimated at a global value of around US$27 billion in 2024 (BIM and digital twins,combined), analysts expect the pair of processes could reach a worldwide market value more than $350 billion by 2032. That amounts to a stunning compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 38%.
PROICERE DIGITAL’S DAN ASHTON PRESENTS A PROJECT AT ANY AWARDS COMPETITION HELD IN VANCOUVER, CANADA
IMAGE: BENTLEY SYSTEMS
WEBUILD’S CONSTRUCTION OF THE LANDMARK BRIDGE FOR THE NEW ENI HEAD QUARTERS IN MILAN, ITALY
IMAGE: WEBUILD
With expectations sky high, the construction industry – which has been slower to adopt BIM and digital twins compared to other similar segments – is guaranteed to see immense usage growth in modern 3D modelling technology and 4D planning.
“We’ll never go back,” has become the motto of BIM, digital twin, and 3D-modelling advocates, and there is a growing pool of evidence to back up this claim.
SAVINGS NOT ALWAYS ABOUT MONEY
While one of the biggest drivers of adoption can be monetary savings, using BIM and digital twin technology is also about ensuring accuracy, safety and reducing project timelines. Dan Ashton, who lands firmly in the “not going back camp”, is the programme and project services director at UK-based Proicere Digital, a digital and artificial intelligence (AI) focused consultancy. He took that motto a step further at Bentley Systems 2024 Going Digital Awards. “It’s almost criminal that 4D planning is not standard practice on all major infrastructure projects,” he said during his awardwinning presentation. The project Ashton was showcasing is the Sellafield Products and Residue Store Retreatment Plant, which features William King Construction, Balfour Beatty Kilpatrick, Enigma, Severfield, KBR, Jacobs, Morgan Sindall and Doosan on the build.
With so many firms involved, the $1.5 billion plutonium treatment plant construction in Cumbria, UK, needed to streamline its data and information sharing processes. Ashton said the complexity and number of stakeholders required an advanced combination of tools like BIM and digital twins. After seeing how succinctly it helped rationalise the scheme, he’s a true believer that construction can and should make the move to full 3D modelling, starting at project conception.
“When contracting [out], our primary purpose was to support the timely delivery with no compromise on quality. So cost, although still important, wasn’t the driving factor behind this project,” he said, explaining some of the complex safety initiatives that made using modelling technology and 4D planning so important.
DR JIMMY ABUALDENIEN
EXCLUSIVE Q&A
WITH DR JIMMY ABUALDENIEN, HEAD OF DIGITAL TWINS AT NEMETSCHEK GROUP
Is adoption of BIM and digital twins accelerating? What are some catalysts?
In the past year, we have witnessed that BIM adoption is rising tremendously, yielding into semantically rich digital representations that are ready for supporting digital twins as their backbone of information and knowledge regarding building systems, materials, spatial program and more.
Hardware technology has also noticeably advanced over the last few years, and IoT devices became simpler to setup and cheaper to purchase. This makes it easier to compare costs vs. ROI.
People also learned that having a digital twin doesn’t always require a fully detailed BIM model. BIM models in the context of digital twins need to be fit to purpose, showing relevant building elements and their essential alphanumerical information and relationships.
What are some important points on data that construction firms should be aware of?
Data collection and consolidation is a major benefit from most technology advancements, especially AI. The efforts needed to create digital replicas and keep them up to date has been much reduced, motivating users to adopt them.
The continuous capture and maintaining of data across multiple years has many advantages. Before handover, it supports continual analysis of data quality and deliverables and analysis of areas of improvements or cost performance. During operations, it supports the ability to understand how the building changes over time, helps understand the relationship between both sides of BIM (including materials and product information) as well as operations performance (maintenance, inspection, products replacement, utilisation, etc.), and supports decisions for refurbishment and performance-based design changes.
BIM and digital twins are proving to be assets for more than just design and construction. How’s it helping other departments?
We see digital twins as an orchestrator platform with various open capabilities to integrate data from diverse systems. During construction, there are many systems leveraging design data for executing activities on the construction site. Using BIM for discipline coordination is already helpful to collaboration, communication, and quality assurance.
With digital twins becoming more prominent, information from multiple domain systems is also enriching the coordination model with further contextual information about what is executed. BIM coordination helps a lot with unblocking multidiscipline activities.
CONSTRUCTION OF THE SELLAFIELD PRODUCTS AND RESIDUE STORE RETREATMENT PLANT IN CUMBRIA, ENGLAND
IMAGE: SEVERFIELD
“We’ve integrated [the software] to power our fire evacuation health and safety arm, which uses a little bit of AI to help us assist evacuations out of the building.
“With 300 [construction labourers] operating in a building, which is designed for 12, with limited access and egress to a building, which is not meant to be escaped from or broke into; this produces a challenge. We needed to address this issue in a more efficient way, and the [modelling] solution we came up with ensures optimal safety by determining the safest and fastest escape route on any given day.”
CONSTRUCTION NOT A LEADER, YET
AEC (architecture, engineering, construction) remains behind other industries when it comes to BIM and digital twins. Ashton says that – in some cases – this is to be expected.
“Say you’re replacing a stretch of pavement. You’re not going to have a 4D model for that,” he says. He adds that some professional ‘gatekeeping’ has also stalled more concerted adoption of BIM and digital twins.
“The reality of it is: the planners themselves don’t want this to change. They’ve been in a world where they can sit and type away in [planning software] and nobody really knows what they’re doing, whereas [4D planning] just makes it accessible to everyone.”
A FULL HOUSE AT THE EIGHTH ANNUAL BIM WORLD IN MUNICH, GERMANY
IMAGE: BIM WORLD MUNICH
BIM WORLD MUNICH CELEBRATES EIGHTH YEAR WITH MORE THAN 8,000
More than 8,000 visitors from 74 countries attended BIM World Munich in Germany in late November 2024, as more than 200 exhibitors and 250 speakers joined one of the largest BIM and digital twin exposition events on the planet.
The programme is in its eighth year and has shown considerable growth in a short period of time; turnout has more than doubled since 2018, when about 4,000 people attended the expo.
The event focused on three key topics: digital twins, AI and sustainability.
At the event, 37 finalists competed in the seventh Smart Building and Smart Construction Innovation World Cup, with a jury choosing Switzerland-based MOD Construction as the winner. MOD is an open-source platform that provides machine learning for the supply chain in the prefabricated house industry.
In a synopsis of the expo, BIM World says, “The digital twin was one of the key contents of the presentations, and it became clear that the use of digital twins needs to take place along the entire value chain, from design and construction to the operation of the building. This requires the consistent use of BIM, which in turn is the basis for artificial intelligence in the construction industry.”
Keynote speakers included Autodesk, Nemetschek and Oracle, who used real-life examples to demonstrate how these technologies are being used.
DEBATING BIM, AI AND DATA
The UK-based Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI), which provides monthly reports on repair, maintenance, and improvement activity in the country, held its annual BMBI Round Table Debate near the end of 2024.
In a topic, titled ‘Technology and digitisation’, the eight-person panel discussed emerging technologies like BIM alongside the growing functionality of artificial intelligence (AI).
Andrew Brewin, finance director for steel lintel manufacturer Keystone Lintels, opened the discussion by recognising the transformative nature of modern generative AI.
“AI is probably the thing we’re going to be looking back at in 25 years and saying that it changed life,” Brewin said. “It’s not science fiction. It’s working in businesses at the minute and… continues to grow.”
He said collaboration between BIM and AI technologies will lead to a huge boost and efficiency in productivity.
“Collaboration is going to be key in construction where the supply chain can just go from start to finish in a much more collaborative way,” he explained. “BIM is going to help that, and various sorts of tools that we can link through from the actual design through to the actual manufacturing and building and construction.”
John Newcomb, CEO of Builders Merchants Federation (BMF), a trade association representing the interests of builders’ merchants and suppliers in materials sectors across the UK and Ireland, agreed about modern digital technologies’ potential, but added that construction needs to catch up with manufacturing and other supplying industries.
Newcomb recalled analytical research that showed construction’s digital transformation was graded at a level just one value above the agriculture industry.
“It was just above farming and a long way behind some of the other sectors,” Newcomb said.
He explained construction is still short on data – the most valuable assets to BIM, digital twins and generative AI.
“The quality of the data from suppliers… is appalling in this industry,” Newcomb said frankly. “We’re started on the journey, but where we are currently as an industry is quite shocking.”
Brewin agreed, noting that in the modern world of leveraging potential high-value (and high-cost) technology, data is the priority. “Data is currency,” he added. “And we’ve got some gaps in data.”
Speakers were: Andrew Brewin, Ian Doherty, Charles Burns, Daniel Cheung, Andy Simpson, Callum Budd, John Newcomb and Mike Rigby. It was moderated by Tim Wood (BMN).
AN AI-GENERATED IMAGE OF A WORKER ENGAGING WITH DIGITAL TWIN SOFTWARE
IMAGE: ADOBE STOCK
The multiple layers of a construction project (from concept to design to planning to construction and delivery) also means a history of siloed collaboration – some firms may contribute to each but, in most cases, niche specialists from segmented industries work in parts within a project timeline.
Sweden-based software firm Hexagon’s 2024 report titled ‘The Digital Twin Industry Report’, notes some of these inefficiencies. “Why is the AEC sector at the beginner level?” the report asks rhetorically. “The different elements of the process – from architects and engineers to construction firms to the clients – often have different expectations for what a digital twin should comprise. This disconnect could be slowing adoption more widely.” Compared to industries like automotive or aerospace manufacturing, at least at the design level, there are simply ‘too many cooks in the kitchen’ in construction; some of which might be managing tasks across multiple sites in different regions.
Joshua Marriott, director of virtual design construction at US-based building firm Weitz Company, says a little patience and some planning, though, can return investment for AEC, particularly by reducing time values and increasing ease of communication. Weitz employs between 50-100 subcontractors at any given time, and up to 1,000 labourers.
“Giving them the ability to have data when they need it is extremely powerful,” said Marriott in the report. “They’re not spending their time looking up information or outdated plans.”
That simplicity is where construction industry professionals expect to see enormous gains and ROI.
FRONT COVER OF HEXAGON’S DIGITAL TWIN REPORT
IMAGE: HEXAGON
REDUCING A SCHEDULE
But where do those gains come from, and are they keeping up with the cost of implementing new technology? As always, it depends on the case and the contractor’s use of BIM or digital twins, but when applied appropriately some projects are experiencing dramatic time reductions and cost cutting.
One staggering example of time savings came from a project by Italian construction and engineering company Webuild.
In that project, the contractor was tasked with erecting a new headquarters for Milan, Italybased energy company ENI. The design called for a unique ‘landmark bridge’ connecting two sections of the structure at height.
Alessandro Pagano, Webuild’s BIM coordinator in the BIM management department, noted an initial solution for raising and placing the bridge was estimated to take 85 days. After running 12 different construction simulations through a 4D modelling programme, the project team found a solution that could reduce the time spent on this single aspect of the $185 million plan. “The team was able to shrink the duration of the bridge construction from an initial 85 days to the actual four days,” said Pagano.
He says that the photogrammetry process to build the digital simulations relied on drones. From there, the data captured helped highlight potential issues before construction even began. “Basically, you can see interference that otherwise you cannot imagine,” explains Pagano, who said after running digital models, the project team realised they could speed up the process by adding a mobile tower crane to the fleet of machinery on-site. “We saved one month shifting from this solution to a mobile crane.”
TECH IS INEVITABLE, ADOPTION IS NOT
Harkening back to life’s inevitabilities, it’s abundantly clear that construction, overall, is moving toward 3D design and 4D planning; BIM and digital twins will be the foundation.
So, it’s not ‘when’ will construction make this shift but, instead, ‘who’ will be joining the high-tech movement.
While large contractors and builders are nearing almost universal adoption (multiple surveys show 96% or more use BIM or digital twins), the question remains for mid-sized and small companies: will they modernise or fall behind? CT
STUDY AIMS TO ‘DEFINE’ THE DIGITAL TWIN
In a study published by the Journal of Information Technology in Construction – submitted by Dr John Messner (PhD) and PhD candidate Zahra Ghorbani from US-based Pennsylvania State University’s Department of Architectural Engineering – the researchers sought to better define the digital twin for the AECO (architecture, engineering, construction, operations) industry.
The stated purpose of their research was to demystify a growing practice in the built environment and categorise the complex network of technology specifically for the built environment.
“The purpose of this paper is to provide a digital twin definition along with a classification structure to create a common ground for understanding digital twins in the AECO industry,” notes the article.
In their research, Messner and Ghorbani adjusted UK-based consultancy Arup’s five-level classification system to better-define the technology for AECO purposes.
While the levelled-system still applies to the AECO industry, Messner and Ghorbani found – due to the dynamic nature of the work – categorising digital twins in the built environment is not exactly a oneto-one comparison.
Ultimately, researchers found that existing broad definitions were ill-fitted for construction environments, and Arup’s classification system doesn’t match AECO’s intricacies.
The authors suggested a three-level categorisation to better serve AECO’s dynamic and unique circumstances:
1.
Digital Twin Prototype (DTP) – A virtual representation of an asset designed to be connected to the physical asset in the future
2.
Digital Shadow (DS) – A virtual representation of an asset with data flow from the built asset to its digital twin
3.
Cyber-Physical System (CPS) – A virtual representation of an asset with bi-directional data flow between the digital and physical twins