How AEC businesses can make the most of digital twins

To understand the current state of digital twin adoption, Hexagon interviewed 660 global executives across 11 industries, including AECO, for its Digital Twin Industry Report. Across all industries, the survey confirmed that digital twins enable companies to achieve sustainability goals by reducing emissions, while typically surpassing expected cost reductions. 77% of organisations reported that implementing a digital twin helped reduce carbon emissions. The average reported emissions reduction was 15%. Many businesses are targeting net-zero by 2050, digital twins can form a significant component of this.

Deep dive: digital twins in AECO

AECO companies which have adopted digital twins reported comparable benefits as other industries in emissions savings and cost reductions. Examples of impact are seen throughout the entire project lifecycle, ranging from optimising the design of assets by using their digital twin to simulate energy consumption scenarios, to planning field operations for improving construction productivity.

Developing and maintaining a digital twin generally turns out to be less costly than is commonly believed. For AECO leaders and every other sector in the survey, “cost overruns” were one of the lowest reported challenges when implementing a digital twin — financial benefits accrue incrementally over the lifespan of a building. Given the fiscal constraints affecting most businesses and governments, turning to digital twins can be a prudent strategy to keep costs in check.

Despite these benefits, the report identified the AEC sector as a beginner in digital twin adoption.

So, what’s holding AEC back? Some regard digital twins as overhyped — doubting if the technology can deliver. But responses in the report indicate the contrary.

Here are four ways AECO organisations can capitalise on the potential of digital twins:

Define the use case. Defining the target outcome and use case of the digital twin early on is critical to ensure the right digital twin is built.

Select the right technology. Modern digital twin technologies are reliable and user-friendly. They can be integrated in workflows and largely automated.

Be pragmatic. Start small with one use case and expand as the project progresses and more data becomes available.

Partner and get help. Technology providers offer support throughout the journey of defining a digital twin strategy as well as services for implementation and maintenance.

You can download the full report and take your digital twin self-assessment here.