The buildings and construction sector is the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases worldwide, accounting for almost 40% of total emissions. Unfortunately for businesses, construction is often unavoidable.
Whether you’re carrying out work in the sector or creating new offices for your organisation, it’s vital to shift the focus towards more sustainable practices. Luckily, we’re not the only ones who feel this way.
There’s an increasing pool of tech designed to mitigate construction emissions and create a more sustainable future for our buildings. One such innovation comes in the form of a digital twin, and it could revolutionise how we plan, design, and build in business.
What Are Digital Twins?
Digital twins are virtual 3D mock-ups of real spaces, primarily used in the planning and design phases of construction.
When creating a digital twin, the area or building is scanned using high-tech lasers in a process known as reality capture. This initial scan is translated into a point cloud dataset and then transformed into a structured BIM model, creating a realistic portrayal of the space.
Digital twins are known for being exceptionally accurate and data-rich. They enable construction teams to view features and analyse spatial relationships in 3D without physically being in the construction area.
Your team can add additional layers on top of the digital twin, too – like operational or sensor data – in order to make it more useful.
Once complete, digital twins provide design and construction teams with a precise, up-to-date representation of the site that goes far beyond the capabilities of static, 2D models.
How Do Digital Twins Reduce Waste and Rework?
Reality capture and digital twins bring a wide range of benefits to construction, making them a popular choice for innovative businesses. Even when narrowing our focus solely to sustainability, there are multiple perks here.
Digital twins help construction teams:
- Reduce material waste
- Minimise costly rework
- Improve planning accuracy
- Streamline communication
- Lower transport emissions
- Make faster design decisions
Two of the most beneficial for businesses across industries are the chance to reduce waste and cut down on rework. Let’s take a closer look at how this happens.
Validate Ideas Before Building
Creating a digital twin from laser scans gives entire teams access to accurate maps of the construction site. They can check out the digital twin from anywhere in the world, at any time, as long as they have authorised access.
This simplified availability of site data helps everyone make more informed decisions.
Let’s say, for instance, that an architect is considering solutions to a complex issue. They can work with the data to analyse measurements and test out different configurations, overlaying them on the existing digital twin. Rather than relying on old figures and guesswork, choices are made based on up-to-date data.
Being able to validate designs in a digital environment makes it far easier to avoid issues down the line. Problems like incorrect measurements or poor functionality can be identified early on, and solutions put in place to ensure the building work’s ready to go ahead without issue.
In terms of rework, this is transformative. Better planning leads to fewer errors, which means fewer materials ripped out and dumped due to mistakes. It also reduces the hidden ripple effects that rework creates across a project, like extended equipment use and extra transport.
Here is a insightful video from the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research with more information.
Enhance Cross-Team Collaboration
When building using digital twins, everyone has access to the same data source. It’s a single, remotely accessible tool that’s useful across specialisms, from architecture to plumbing.
This is far easier than relying on fragmented drawings, emails, and outdated files. Compared to paper documents, it’s worlds apart (and worlds better).
With everyone viewing and accessing the same data, collaboration becomes streamlined. You can have plumbers liaising with electricians on where lines may clash, and architects working alongside interior designers to pinpoint ideal solutions in a complex space – and all of it’s done remotely.
Everybody has the same measurements, is aware of the same features, and is working from the same digital template.
By improving communication, digital twins help prevent potential misunderstandings that are often responsible for costly mistakes. There’s less back-and-forth and a much lower risk of errors making their way onto the construction site, which is good news for your sustainability.
Use Materials More Efficiently
With accurate data and better planning, teams can order materials with far greater precision. Instead of overestimating quantities, materials are as closely aligned with the actual space as possible, and more components are likely to be correct on the first order.
This reduces excess materials sitting unused on-site or being discarded at the end of a project. It also minimises the risk of shortages caused by miscalculations, which often lead to rushed orders, delays, and additional transport emissions, none of which are ideal for the planet.
Digital twins ensure materials are used correctly the first time around, too. By validating decisions in the planning process, there’s less likelihood of errors that result in wasted resources and the need for reorders.
How to Use Digital Twins in Construction
The process to create a digital twin building from a laser scan isn’t easy. To simplify it, work with professionals who know what they’re doing.
Digital twin companies are far more likely to record accurate data the first time around. They know how to correctly set up their equipment, use it properly, and then turn the data into a usable blueprint. For you, that means less time wasted on scanning and more accurate digital twins.
A professional team also has access to the (expensive) equipment required, and it’s ready to go when you need it.
Before diving into planning, offer your team some training on what digital twins are and how to use them. Not everybody is clued up on this relatively new tech, and a quick introduction ensures your entire team gets the most out of your scans.
Finally, be sure to enable cloud-based access. Part of the efficacy of digital twins lies in their ability to be accessed from anywhere, making project collaboration a breeze. Ensure your digital twin is available for remote access for maximum impact.
Why Rework Is a Sustainability Problem
Rework creates far more waste than many businesses realise. When mistakes happen on-site, materials often need to be removed, replaced, reordered, or transported again. All of this adds extra emissions to a project that could’ve been avoided with better planning.
Even smaller issues can create a knock-on effect. Delays may lead to longer equipment hire, extra journeys to and from suppliers, and more time spent using machinery on-site.
There’s also the issue of physical waste. Materials like plasterboard, insulation, timber, and concrete are often thrown away when measurements are wrong or installations need correcting.
This is where using digital twins for construction can make a real difference. By allowing teams to test layouts, confirm measurements, and spot clashes before construction begins, they help reduce avoidable mistakes later on.
For businesses trying to improve sustainability and work within a circular economy, reducing rework is one of the most practical places to start – digital twins are an effective way to accomplish this.
Final Thoughts
Digital twins aren’t the answer to the construction industry’s emission problem, but they do help. It’s these actionable steps to reduce waste and rework that’ll make a vast difference over time, and help all of us plan and build better for the planet, and for us.
As sustainability expectations continue to grow across industries, businesses are under increasing pressure to reduce unnecessary waste and improve efficiency wherever possible. In construction, small mistakes can quickly become expensive environmental problems.
That’s why digital twins are becoming such a valuable tool. By helping teams plan more accurately, collaborate more effectively, and spot issues before work begins, they create opportunities to reduce both emissions and costs at the same time.
Digital twins in construction also encourage a more proactive approach. Instead of reacting to problems on-site, businesses can identify and solve them earlier in the planning process, when changes are far easier and less wasteful to make.
For companies looking to future-proof their construction projects, digital twins are no longer just an interesting piece of emerging technology. They’re quickly becoming a practical way to support smarter, more sustainable building practices.
For more climate tech insights and practical advice for improving sustainability in construction, read the latest on ClimateSort.
References
Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research: Towards Safe Smart Construction via Digital Twins
Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE): Digital Twins for Future-Equipped Communities
Smart Built Environment: Digital Twins in the Built Environment: Swedish Strategy & Definition
MDPI Sustainability Journal: Integration of Digital Twin and Circular Economy in Construction
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between BIM and a digital twin?
Although closely related, BIM and digital twins aren’t exactly the same thing. BIM creates digital building models during planning and design. A digital twin goes further by creating a dynamic representation of a real-world space that can evolve with updated data, making it useful not only during construction but throughout the building’s lifecycle.
Are digital twins suitable for small construction projects?
Digital twins aren’t reserved solely for large-scale construction projects and developments. Smaller projects can also benefit from digital twins with improved planning, clearer communication, and more accurate decision-making. Using digital twins early in the planning process can help smaller teams work more smoothly and reduce costly surprises later on.
How are digital twins used after construction?
After construction, digital twins can help support ongoing building management, maintenance, renovations, and operational planning. Access to an accurate digital representation of the space helps make future upgrades and repairs easier to coordinate, without relying on outdated drawings or manual site checks.
