The Digital Twin, challenges and uses in two dimensions

The " Digital Twin" is an increasingly topical topic for those responsible for operating real estate. It is supported by a whole series of players and proposals for new technologies.

The diversity of discourses and solutions can lead to a certain confusion when choices have to be made. The contradiction of concepts between them is not uncommon.

It is important to study the position of each technology with regard to the use cases envisaged. Do these processes have to cover a set of buildings (global approach) or, conversely, are they associated with a particular building and its components (vertical approach)?

The use cases of a BOS technology will be all the stronger if they have been designed at the same time as the implementation of the equipment and elements that make up a new building (in particular the building's BMS system). If we make the analogy between the BOS and the on-board computer of a car: the latter will only allow autonomous driving and the optimization of energy consumption if it is integrated into physical components that are themselves intelligent. Strong integration with the equipment is necessary, which means that the on-board computer cannot be transferred to another vehicle model. In the same way, the BOS/EBI is designed for a building.

Moreover, a technology for controlling the technical equipment of a building or the establishment of a digital twin of data cannot replace a tool that covers functions that are by nature global. To be clearer, a BOS/EBI is not intended to support maintenance, occupant services, or hybrid work management processes that, more often than not, span multiple locations.

The digital ecosystem of a heritage is therefore composed on the one hand of one or more global tools that carry processes and on the other hand of technologies associated with certain buildings in a unique way.

If we want to promote the integration of "Smart Building" technologies in buildings (vertical approach) with the more global technologies that support real estate processes, there is only one watchword: standardization. Your IT formats, your technologies, and your data organization will have to be as standardized as possible.

For example, it is imperative that all BIM data is in editable and standard format for the entire portfolio. This data must be shared on dedicated spaces such as Autodesk Construction Cloud. Pseudo "open" formats such as IFC should be avoided because they cannot be exploited in the long term.

Any "solution points" will be reserved for very specific processes that are not directly linked to the company's core repositories (real estate, spaces, occupants, assets, etc.). We will also favor the robustness of the publisher and the standard side of the underlying technology.

Any new building must be more digital and smarter than its predecessors, especially when it comes to a head office, a company's showcase.

But more digital and more intelligence necessarily requires more upstream thinking to properly combine vertical and horizontal. The term "Smart Building" covers a variety of ideas, and its challenges deserve to be challenged for the best benefit of owners and future users.