Digital built environment maturity model: Digital twins advancing smart infrastructure asset management

Infrastructure Asset Management (IAM) is the process by which decisions are made and resources allocated to ensure organisational or societal assets continue to deliver, as required. IAM is an evolving field. We discuss this evolution and present our perspectives on the future direction of IAM. IAM was born as a response to the poor state of maintenance of infrastructure, largely due to lack of resources, and emphasizes the need to prioritize maintenance and renewal using risk-based approaches. The demands on IAM have also continued to evolve as asset systems have become more complex, with multifunctionality, adaptative capacity and nature-based infrastructure, all issues that IAM must now consider. These challenges underpin the changing context of Water Infrastructure Asset Management (WIAM) and the opportunity for WIAM to harness new technical developments from other IAM domains. WIAM will need to continue to evolve, responding to these challenges and take advantage of these opportunities through research and application in collaboration with a relevant education and capacity development agenda.

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Digital Twins for the built environment: learning from conceptual and process models in manufacturing

Advanced Engineering Informatics ◽

10.1016/j.aei.2021.101332 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 49 ◽

pp. 101332

Author(s):

Juan Manuel Davila Delgado ◽

Lukumon Oyedele

Keyword(s):

Built Environment ◽

Process Models ◽

Digital Twins

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Gemini Principles-Based Digital Twin Maturity Model for Asset Management

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13158224 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (15) ◽

pp. 8224

Author(s):

Long Chen ◽

Xiang Xie ◽

Qiuchen Lu ◽

Ajith Kumar Parlikad ◽

Michael Pitt ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Case Studies ◽

Asset Management ◽

Questionnaire Survey ◽

New Technologies ◽

Maturity Model ◽

Maturity Models ◽

Digital Twin ◽

Project Level

Various maturity models have been developed for understanding the diffusion and implementation of new technologies/approaches. However, we find that existing maturity models fail to understand the implementation of emerging digital twin technique comprehensively and quantitatively. This research aims to develop an innovative maturity model for measuring digital twin maturity for asset management. This model is established based on Gemini Principles to form a systematic view of digital twin development and implementation. Within this maturity model, three main dimensions consisting of nine sub-dimensions have been defined firstly, which were further articulated by 27 rubrics. Then, a questionnaire survey with 40 experts involved is designed and conducted to examine these rubrics. This model is finally illustrated and validated by two case studies in Shanghai and Cambridge. The results show that the digital twin maturity model is effective to qualitatively evaluate and compare the maturity of digital twin implementation at the project level. It can also initiate the roadmap for improving the performance of digital twin supported asset management.

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Circular Digital Built Environment: An Emerging Framework

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13116348 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (11) ◽

pp. 6348

Author(s):

Sultan Çetin ◽

Catherine De Wolf ◽

Nancy Bocken

Keyword(s):

Built Environment ◽

Circular Economy ◽

Digital Technologies ◽

Geographical Information ◽

Digital Platforms ◽

Blockchain Technology ◽

Digital Twins ◽

Starting Point ◽

Building Information ◽

Framework Development

Digital technologies are considered to be an essential enabler of the circular economy in various industries. However, to date, very few studies have investigated which digital technologies could enable the circular economy in the built environment. This study specifically focuses on the built environment as one of the largest, most energy- and material-intensive industries globally, and investigates the following question: which digital technologies potentially enable a circular economy in the built environment, and in what ways? The research uses an iterative stepwise method: (1) framework development based on regenerating, narrowing, slowing and closing resource loop principles; (2) expert workshops to understand the usage of digital technologies in a circular built environment; (3) a literature and practice review to further populate the emerging framework with relevant digital technologies; and (4) the final mapping of digital technologies onto the framework. This study develops a novel Circular Digital Built Environment framework. It identifies and maps ten enabling digital technologies to facilitate a circular economy in the built environment. These include: (1) additive/robotic manufacturing, (2) artificial intelligence, (3) big data and analytics, (4) blockchain technology, (5) building information modelling, (6) digital platforms/marketplaces, (7) digital twins, (8) the geographical information system, (9) material passports/databanks, and (10) the internet of things. The framework provides a fruitful starting point for the novel research avenue at the intersection of circular economy, digital technology and the built environment, and gives practitioners inspiration for sustainable innovation in the sector.

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Hybrid Approach for Digital Twins in the Built Environment

Proceedings of the Twelfth ACM International Conference on Future Energy Systems ◽

10.1145/3447555.3466585 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Yu-Wen Lin ◽

Tsz Ling Elaine Tang ◽

Costas J. Spanos

Keyword(s):

Built Environment ◽

Hybrid Approach ◽

Digital Twins

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Life-cycle Asset Management in Residential Developments Building on Transport System Critical Attributes via a Data-mining Algorithm

Buildings ◽

10.3390/buildings9010001 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Umair Hasan ◽

Andrew Whyte ◽

Hamad Al Jassmi

Keyword(s):

Data Mining ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Built Environment ◽

Transport System ◽

Asset Management ◽

Public Transport ◽

Categorical Variables ◽

Data Mining Algorithm ◽

Large Set ◽

Mining Algorithm

Public transport can discourage individual car usage as a life-cycle asset management strategy towards carbon neutrality. An effective public transport system contributes greatly to the wider goal of a sustainable built environment, provided the critical transit system attributes are measured and addressed to (continue to) improve commuter uptake of public systems by residents living and working in local communities. Travel data from intra-city travellers can advise discrete policy recommendations based on a residential area or development’s public transport demand. Commuter segments related to travelling frequency, satisfaction from service level, and its value for money are evaluated to extract econometric models/association rules. A data mining algorithm with minimum confidence, support, interest, syntactic constraints and meaningfulness measure as inputs is designed to exploit a large set of 31 variables collected for 1,520 respondents, generating 72 models. This methodology presents an alternative to multivariate analyses to find correlations in bigger databases of categorical variables. Results here augment literature by highlighting traveller perceptions related to frequency of buses, journey time, and capacity, as a net positive effect of frequent buses operating on rapid transit routes. Policymakers can address public transport uptake through service frequency variation during peak-hours with resultant reduced car dependence apt to reduce induced life-cycle environmental burdens of buildings by altering residents’ mode choices, and a potential design change of buildings towards a public transit-based, compact, and shared space urban built environment.

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