DBLs at the 4th Building Digital Twin International Congress
On 17 April 2024, Demo-BLog partner TUDelft was invited to speak at the 4th Building Digital Twin International Congress (BDTIC) organised by the Building Digital Twin Association (BDTA) at the Col·legi Oficial d’Arquitectes de Catalunya in Barcelona.
The executive programme of the congress offered over 20 sessions on the digital twin. TUDelft researcher and Demo-BLog member, Sun-Ah Hwang, presented a session about the importance of building interoperable digital data sources, including the digital twin, for digital building logbooks (DBLs) to generate an effective and high-impact energy renovation advice that is tailor-made to the home.
Based on her work within Demo-BLog and her PhD research, she highlighted that DBLs have evolved from mere data repositories to digital processors of building data that now have the capacity to analyse the condition of the home and suggest priority energy renovation activities. The collection of quality data is therefore central for DBLs to make an accurate analysis of the home.
Sun-Ah’s presentation touched upon the variety of sources a DBL can rely on for quality data. Such sources can range from technical plans and maintenance reports to European frameworks such as the Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) and the building renovation passports, (advanced) building monitoring systems such as digital twins and real-time meter data, as well as public databases such as government cadastral data. On the latter, she reflected on the Flemish Woningpas DBL as an example to illustrate how the collaboration between various government agencies at the regional level can ensure that all publicly available data on a home is presented to the homeowner to make informed decisions on for example energy renovations.
Sun-Ah also participated in the Digital Twin Simulations workshop in the morning of the congress and was inspired by how similar the digital twin and DBLs are in terms of data collection and usage. It was a key learning point for her to recognise the bilateral relationship between the two tools and the potential for convergence in the future.