International cost management and advisory firm WT, in an industry-leading innovation, has proven that quantity surveying data can be incorporated successfully into a digital twin.
Digital twins are the latest frontier in the construction industry’s digital transformation, but their potential has rarely been embraced by quantity surveyors. WT is leading the field, having developed a proof of concept for a digital twin of a commercial building in partnership with CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency.
“As the only quantity surveying business involved in the program, we brought a unique cost and quality perspective to increase the value a digital twin can offer the property sector,” said Ian Baddock, WT Australia’s Chief Information Officer.
WT was selected from more than 50 candidates to develop the digital twin as part of CSIRO’s Early Adopter Program.
As part of the Early Adopter Program, WT worked closely with CSIRO’s Terria team to co-design and develop a proof of concept demonstrating the opportunity to digitally transform the economic modelling process for commercial property development.
“WT’s digital twin is an excellent outcome from CSIRO’s Data61 Early Adopter Program and confirms that placing digital, data and workflow automation at the core of operations can deliver greater efficiencies, insights and competitiveness,” said CSIRO’s Terria Group Lead Ana Belgun.
Bringing together a wealth of data in virtual space
The proof-of-concept digital twin demonstrates the evolution of a building from design through to the construction phase. It is based on a structural building information model (BIM) enhanced with rich 3D (geometry), 4D (time) and 5D (cost) data as well as photogrammetry and point cloud reality models, government datasets and WT’s own proprietary metadata.
The digital twin shows current as-built structures with colourised point cloud data and overlays of localised datasets. More than 45 datasets were configured and made accessible in the project catalogue. These included six datasets managed by the Terria Spatial Digital Twin platform developed by CSIRO, and 40 federated datasets from numerous providers including open data from the City of Melbourne, the Victorian Government, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in addition to commercial 3D data providers.
“What elevates our digital twin beyond a BIM model is that it doesn’t merely represent the building as an isolated structure,” said Ian. “The digital twin reveals how the building sits within the real world, such as its relationship to the surrounding buildings, subsurface utilities, landscape characteristics, weather data, and transport patterns, to name just a few.”
“This enriched perspective is powerful for assessing any project’s feasibility and operations over its lifecycle, and for property owners and managers to better understand their entire portfolio.”
An iterative journey of discovery
Collaborating closely with CSIRO, WT’s digital specialists helped to shape the digital twin platform over more than six months of testing and feedback.
“By testing and iterating approaches among the technical teams, we were able to overcome the challenges of data transfer and complex workflows,” explained Ian. “The resulting digital twin is a virtual reflection of a physical asset, bringing together a wealth of interactive information in a user-friendly, immersive environment.”
WT claims the digital twin has the potential to transform cost optimisation and information delivery, and capture meaningful feedback from clients and stakeholders.
“It will enable developers, consultants and contractors to engage deeply with their property projects, interrogate their own and others’ information, collaborate more easily, and make faster and better informed decisions throughout a project’s lifecycle,” said Ian.
About WT
WT empowers clients to grow, inspiring confidence through independent cost management and advisory services. Operating for nearly 75 years, WT’s expertise spans the building, construction, infrastructure and defence sectors. The firm supports clients with an award-winning team of specialists in cost management, quantity surveying, digital solutions, sustainability, asset and buildings, portfolio and program advisory, PMO, PPP and facilities management.
About CSIRO’s Data61
CSIRO’s Data61 is the data and digital specialist arm of Australia’s national science agency. We are home to one of the largest collections of research and development expertise in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data science in the world, and host cutting-edge facilities including the Mixed Reality Lab, Robotics Innovation Centre and AI4Cyber Enclave. Our research expertise includes AI, robotics, cybersecurity, modelling and analytics.
Contact
Fabio Menezes, Marketing and Communications Lead, WT Australia
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M: 0424 154 049
