In the dynamic landscape of digital buildings, a persistent challenge remains in bridging the gap between digital construction and digital operations. My work often involves bringing together diverse expertise to tackle such issues, and a prime example of this was a recent collaboration published on 2 September 2024.
This initiative saw Sam Norledge, Head of Smart Buildings at LMG (a Digital Buildings Council member), explore how digital twins can break down silos and unlock valuable insights from building data in an article for PBC Today. This wasn’t just a standalone piece; it was a testament to my ongoing efforts in external communications, including providing feedback on member articles and actively seeking input from across our network.
Sam’s article, “Bridging the gap between digital construction and digital operations with twins,” featured significant contributions from fellow Digital Buildings Council members Daniel Watson at Hereworks and James Thomas at SES Engineering Services.
These insights, often visualised through diagrams within the article, highlight a key distinction: the static Asset Twin versus the more active Performance Twin. The Asset Twin provides a detailed record of the building’s physical components, primarily useful for design and construction. However, it’s the Performance Twin, continuously fed by live operational data, that truly unlocks wealth beyond practical completion, revealing how a building is performing for its users and owners.
This distinction is paramount for the “BIM to Smart enablement” project initiative, which we announced as part of a workshop at PropTech Connect. The reality is that the BIM and Smart Buildings communities often still operate in distinct silos, indicating substantial work is needed to bridge this divide – a challenge that is also a direct factor in the overarching project-operations gap. Understanding and addressing this gap is central to the challenges the Digital Buildings Council aims to solve, directly informing the “dot-joining” efforts I undertake.
This collaboration directly illustrates how I coordinate input from leading voices on output linked to key industry focus areas, ensuring a comprehensive perspective. Sam’s insights were also set to be highlighted at (PTC) in London, where he presented on BIM, Digital Twins, and the critical need to bridge this gap.
My role extended to actively promoting member activities. Sam’s presentation at PTC was strategically linked to a workshop the Digital Buildings Council was hosting at PTC earlier that same day, an event I helped to facilitate as part of the DBC’s event partnership. This demonstrates my approach to creating synergistic opportunities that amplify the work of key individuals and the collective agenda.
This coordinated effort built upon previous collaborations, including Sam’s earlier article, “The power of BIM-IoT integration to drive ESG and demonstrate true ROI,” which also benefited from input and diagrams from Dan Watson and Brian Coogan at Ethos Engineering. These continuous engagements underscore my commitment to fostering iterative knowledge sharing and collective progress within the industry.
To ensure wider visibility for these discussions, I compiled a comprehensive guide on LinkedIn. This guide provided details on when and where readers could engage with Sam, Dan, James, Brian, and other representatives from the Digital Buildings Council’s founding members participating in the PTC conference. This initiative aimed to maximise engagement and ensure these crucial conversations reached the broadest possible audience.
This project exemplifies my “Market Engagement” approach: curating compelling content, cultivating invaluable connections, and catalysing meaningful conversations to bridge critical industry divides and amplify expert voices.
