How digital twins create more profitable and sustainable buildings

Christian Foss

20 July 2022

If you use digital twins in the management of your properties, you can halve greenhouse gas emissions, increase the value of buildings and drastically reduce the costs of labor and operation. You simply can not afford not to use digital twins.

I will get back to the benefits of digital twins a little later. First a little more about digital twins. In this context, digital twins are digital reconstructions of buildings. The building is recreated in 3D, using BIM (building information modeling). The genius fact is the ability to exchange data between the two objects, the property in reality - often called asset - and the 3D model, through sensors. Without sensors, there is no digital twin. The sensors make it possible to exchange data. You have access to all the information in the same solution: documentation, data and geometry.

Read more about digital twins here: What is a digital twin in the construction and real estate industry? 

Five benefits of digital twins 

The consulting company Ernst & Young prepared a report in May 2021 which stated that digital twins have five obvious benefits for the construction and real estate industry.

The report shows that: 

  1. Operating efficiency increases by 35% because you can make data-driven decisions. The analysis possibilities of digital twins help to identify future deviations. This reveals opportunities to save expenses you did not anticipate you had the opportunity to do something about.
  2. You increase sustainability, because greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by 50%.
  3. You get 50% lower labor costs, because the digital twin gives you all the information you need about the building in real time.
  4. Productivity increases by 20%, because the users of the building get a better working environment with the health benefits it brings.
  5. In addition, the use of digital twins means that space can be utilized 15% better.

If you choose this strategy, you have the opportunity to achieve more sustainable operations, while making more money. But what is the reason why not everyone in the construction and real estate industry is already using digital twins?

A conservative industry with few requirements for sustainability

Part of the reason is that the authorities have not set requirements for digitalization and sustainability and have largely left this to the industry itself. The construction and real estate industry received its first environmental certification, BREEAM, in 2012. It contains requirements for how climate- and environment-friendly buildings are to be designed and is a tool for environmental certification of buildings. BREEAM helped to raise the industry's environmental focus and to require environmental documentation and focus on sustainable buildings. But the industry is still far behind.

10 years after BREEAM was introduced, construction and real estate are still characterized by documentation (pdfs) and systems that do not talk to each other. There is a need for an umbrella system, and this is where the digital twin comes in. Having an overall solution that brings everything together in one place is a huge advantage.

Makes it possible to make smart decisions

By using digital twins, you become more data-driven and can make informed decisions. This is a prerequisite for achieving the great goals of digitalization and sustainability, while saving money. The smarter and more data-driven you become, the more efficient you become. Technology is a premise for achieving the five benefits mentioned above.

Read more in this article: Efficiency and smart operations with digital twins

The more sustainable your real estate portfolio is, the more it is also worth to investors. This helps you create health-promoting buildings and a better workplace for tenants and employees. Here there are great opportunities to gain an edge over the competition for property owners who not only talk about, but use new technology and digital twins.

Get a head start by being one of the first

The opportunities for efficiency, increased profitability and not least sustainable choices for your real estate portfolio are enormous. The construction and real estate industry as a whole has not yet taken over the power that lies in digital twins, nor do the authorities keep up with the digitalization. The question is whether one is willing to invest to capture future returns. Those who are out the earliest will reap the greatest benefits and gain a competitive advantage. It is smart to be one of the first already before the demands come.

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