Construction companies are picking up disruptive trends like digital twins to make construction process easy and safe

The construction industry is one of the most fast-evolving sectors that see immense growth over years. But deny it or not, construction companies have fallen behind in digitisation, especially in using futuristic technologies to streamline the building process. Fortunately, in the 21st century, more and more construction companies are picking up disruptive trends like digital twins to make the construction process easy and safe.

A digital twin is a digital representation of a physical object or system. The technology behind digital twins has expanded to include large items such as buildings, factories and even cities, and some have even anticipated that people and processes can also have digital twins, expanding the concept even further. The construction industry is one of the largest sectors in the world. By 2030, it is expected that the volume of construction output will grow by 85% to US$15.5 trillion. As frontrunners, China, India and the US will lead the way accounting for 57% of that growth. However, emerging issues like poor product profitability, performance, shortage of skilled labour, etc are limping the progress. Unlike traditional construction models, digital twin replicates every detail of the original objects. It provides the ability to create virtual replicas of potential and actual physical assets, processes, places, systems and devices that can be used for various purposes. 

Automated Progress Monitoring

Construction sites are not always confined to a small area, some are extremely spread across a vast landscape. Henceforth, these major construction sites are off-limit for human progress monitoring. The monitoring process verifies that the completed work is consistent with plans and specifications. Going to every corner of the physical site for observation can be time-consuming and laborious. Fortunately, digital twins can help in such critical situations. With the help of digital twins, we can reconstruct an as-built state of a building or a structure and use it to monitor progress. Construction companies even use the model to compare digital twins and as-planned

execution of the building. Digital twin can also be used to collect data and make the construction models error-free.

Eliminating concrete and moving to Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT)

While the construction industry is undergoing unexpected growth, environmental concerns should also be addressed. Concrete works in the building works involve a large part of the carbon in it. With the globe going through a climate and environmental crisis, and population expansion on the other hand, the construction industry was in need of a substitute solution. Thankfully, digital twin enables this kit-of-parts approach, but it works the other way too. It leverages the modular and more readily configurable solution to reduce the carbon impact. As more and more people move into urban areas every day, the population is exploding in cities. Henceforth, more than thinking digital twins as a luxury, construction companies are seeing it as a necessity.

Safety monitoring and tracking of workers

The construction industry is one of the most dangerous sectors in the world since they deal with heavy equipment, construction materials and high sites. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the United States, more than four hundred construction workers died on-site between 2008 and 2012. With the help of digital twins, we can save these lives. The real-time site reconstruction feature digital twins allow the construction companies to track workers and keep an eye on hazardous places on a site. This prevents the inappropriate behaviour, usage of unsafe materials and activity of hazardous zones. Especially, some countries have imposed tough regulations on how to monitor people’s presence on a construction site.