Save costs and accelerate jobs with Digital Twins
Digital Twins provide a highly accurate, high-resolution 3D model that can help everyone involved in a project save time and costs by providing detailed site information without the need for a site visit.
For project managers and building owners the need to have contractors or consultants visit a site to quote on jobs or make expert recommendations adds both expense and time to a project.
Digital Twins help reduce costs by providing a detailed, 3D representation of the site that provides both a visual understanding of materials and spaces and 99% accurate measurements for design and quoting purposes.
Digital Twins are created using the Matterport system to take a 360-degree scan at multiple locations within the building, capturing high-definition imagery and creating a 3D, walkthrough model of the space. For large scale or external spaces drones are used to create a fly-over of the space and point cloud data is used to supply accurate dimensions and elevations.
Torque IP Building Technologies Consultant Mike Yates says creating accurate Digital Twins of a site ensures up-to-date plans and record of assets and materials exists prior to work commencing on a project. Digital Twins can be used to document the site, produce floor plans and understand what materials are in use, saving time and costs by being used to brief contractors on the site remotely before they commence work.
Measurements can be taken directly within the Digital Twin and data can also be exported to other applications like BIM or CAD software to create 2D scaled drawings. Architect Matt Fleming of Thema Ltd says using Digital twins to prepare proposals lets you see the spaces involved and walk through them as if you were there. “Doing a site visit to prepare a proposal is an expense. The Digital Twin allows me to do that work from my office and have confidence in the accuracy of the data I’m working with. It’s faster, cheaper and the result is the same.”
Accurate measurements can be taken from within the Digital Twin, allowing for jobs like quantity surveying or job quoting to be done without a site visit.
Understanding the materials used in a location can be crucial to a consultant's ability to do a job. Wayne Tacon, Ngā iti Kahurangi programme manager at the Ministry of Education, says that when it came to analysing acoustic performance within a classroom and making recommendations for changes, Digital Twins proved their value. “With a Digital Twin, we can have an engineer look at the model, see the materials in the space and within a few minutes come back with an assessment of what’s wrong and what the solution should be. It’s been an effective way of reducing costs.”
For asbestos management specialists SQN, Digital Twins have proven a fantastic tool for quoting on work, says Finance and Business Manager Heather Obruchkov. “Being able to walk through the buildings, see where access hatches are available and measure the floor-to-ceiling height have been game changers. Having this information at the quoting stage means we can determine what equipment is needed while during the report reviewing stage, we use the Digital Twin to confirm if the identified materials are quantified correctly and if the materials are identified in the correct locations.”
Contractors can be familiarised with work sites prior to arriving, with notes added to the Digital Twin to highlight things like access points or services.
Rex McGill, Project Manager at carpet installation and building refurbishment specialists QHL, says the Digital Twins have proven invaluable when managing multiple sites. “The Matterport system is a real timesaver for both job quoting and management. I can be confident of the result when I take the measurement within the Digital Twin. In some cases, it has meant not losing a day to return to a site, especially important on projects that are well off the beaten track. I can just do it from my desk.”
Whether it’s to streamline quoting, brief project teams or maintain an accurate record of a building portfolio, Digital Twins offer a high-value for money solution to what have traditionally been time-consuming and expensive tasks.