ASHRAE Journal - August 2020 - 22
INDUSTRY 4.0
Part 1
Digital Twins: Answering
The Hard Questions
BY DAVID QUIRK, P.E., MEMBER ASHRAE; JOHN LANNI, P.E.; NEIL CHAUHAN
Digital twins in the built environment are digital representations of real-world infrastructure using building information modeling (BIM) software. Applying these tools
in a disciplined manner can help built environment professionals find answers
sought by building owners and operators pertaining to optimization of capital, efficient operations, change management, resiliency and much more.
Despite the promised utility and widely acknowledged
benefits of digital twins, barriers to adoption have been
significant. Perhaps the least understood impediment is
the influence of multiple corporate stakeholder groups
involving both sides of the balance sheet.
The decision by committee modus operandi in the corporate environment is, in the author's opinion, the
primary reason for the lack of integrated software solutions in the built environment industry. Adding to this
situation is a gross lack of well-defined use cases that
support the end goals of a digital twin environment with
actionable metrics.
In Part 1 of this column, we will introduce the use
cases necessary to drive compelling change for adoption of digital twins in the built environment marketplace. In Part 2 we will examine some of the details of
deployment.
Digital Twin Use Cases
Use cases define the reasons to deploy digital twins
David Quirk, P.E., John Lanni, P.E., and Neil Chauhan are managing principals of DLB
Associates Consulting Engineers, in Eatontown, N.J.
22
ASHRAE JOURNAL
ashrae.org
AU G UST 2020
within the built environment by answering some obvious business case questions. Use cases must define the
reasons for deploying this new technology and ultimately
how to measure the return on investment. Without
viable use cases, stakeholders and decision makers will
be paralyzed because investment in digital twins (or any
integrated software solution) is typically based on capital
PHOTO 1 For the mission-critical environment, digital twins take on additional
importance by providing improved alignment of information technology evolution
and infrastructure to potential mismatches in the data center.
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ASHRAE Journal - August 2020
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASHRAE Journal - August 2020
Contents
ASHRAE Journal - August 2020 - Intro
ASHRAE Journal - August 2020 - Cover1
ASHRAE Journal - August 2020 - Cover2
ASHRAE Journal - August 2020 - 1
ASHRAE Journal - August 2020 - Contents
ASHRAE Journal - August 2020 - 3
ASHRAE Journal - August 2020 - 4
ASHRAE Journal - August 2020 - 5
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ASHRAE Journal - August 2020 - Cover3
ASHRAE Journal - August 2020 - Cover4
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