The document advocates for adopting a digital twin to enhance operational efficiency in smart buildings by achieving data interoperability and real-time decision-making. It outlines the transition from traditional building data systems to a cohesive digital environment that integrates multiple systems, potentially reducing costs while improving energy savings and user experience. A successful implementation creates a universal language for data management, allowing for better collaboration and data-driven decisions across stakeholders.

1. WHY SHOULD YOU
ADOPT A DIGITAL TWIN ?
October 2021
By Sebastien Coulon - s.coulon@spinalcom.com - www.en.spinalcom.com
All rights reserved

2. 2
SEBASTIEN COULON
COFOUNDER
Experience :
25Y in the digital industry
5Y in the digital twin applied to O&M

3. Data Management
for the built world
3
MAKE DATA-DRIVEN DECISIONS AND DRIVE SYSTEMS
IN REAL TIME TO GENERATE SAVINGS OR NEW REVENUE
& TRULY TRANSFORM THE USER EXPERIENCE

4. SMART BUILDING EXPECTATIONS ARE NOT MET
4
JUST A FEW OF THEM!
OWNERS
OPERATORS
SAVE
TIME
SAVE
MONEY
SAVE
ENERGY
SAVE
SPACE
INCREASE
REVENUE
IMPROVE
ATTRACTIVENESS
SAVE
MAINTENANCE

5. SMART BUILDING DEFINITION HAS EVOLVED
FROM : A lot of devices generating data for only one application
TO : Building as-a-service requiring inter-system interoperability and data convergence
5
Analogue
Automated
Smart
Connected
Digital
As-a-
service

6. THE OT – IT CONVERGENCE CHALLENGE
6
From automated/connected/smart
to digital buildings

7. CONVERGENCE
Time step: Real time
OPERATIONAL
TECHNOLOGIES
Physical world
Time step: Non real time
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGIES
Digital world
7
OT
Supervision systems
Control systems
Process equipment
IT
Storage systems
Computing technology
Business applications
Data analysis
BMS
Safety
Security
IoT
Maintenance
Space
Tenant exp
Analysis
Convergence
Challenge

8. SEMANTIC INTEROPERABILITY CHALLENGE
8
OT Silo A
BACnetIP +
ITSilo B
API B +
OTSilo C
BACnetIP +
ITSilo D
API D +
Referential = building description for each silo Connector = language translation incl. referential to run asynchronously
WITHOUT
WITH

9. The Problem
BMS
IWMS
EMS
CMMS
Technical
data room
Analytics
Ressource
B booking
Ressource
A booking
Tenant
Experience
Middle
ware
BMS
Space
EMS
CMMS
Technical
data room
Analytics
Ressource
B booking
Ressource
A booking
Tenant
Experience
Multiple connectors = x building descriptions to update
= x languages to learn = high setup & run cost = …
= no connected experience
Less connectors = 1 building description to update =
universal language = lower setup & run cost = AI
ready = connected experience = unlimited nb of apps
on any use case
The Solution
Spaghettiware

10. DATA ONTOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE
10
Natural language OT language Tagging languages BIM Digital twin language
Complete ontology Very poor ontology Poor spatial ontology Complete ontology
21°c in room #202 located
on the 2nd
floor, north side
of the building
Analog value 21_Temp Analog value
21_Temp_2_202_n
Contextualize information
easy to understand for
humans but not executable
by computers
Impossible to understand
without mapping the value
on a 2D plan/Excel sheet
Very hard work
Extra work required to be
used by humans/computers
Readable for trained human
and executable by a
computer
Costly to implement &
update. Provided context is
not precise (no links
between the data)
Readable for trained human
and executable by a
computer.
Complete context provided.
Easy to implement & update.
Inter-system connected
experience is possible.
AI compatible language
Building
Floor
Room Endpoint
Ticket …
Device

11. DIGITAL TWIN TYPES
11
Informational
Component
Product
Process
System
Multi-system
Level of sophistication & more diverse types of info
Digital Twin levels
OT
IT

12. 12
BIM
MULTI-SYSTEM
DIGITAL TWIN
ENGINE
IT
OT
API Gateway
for cyber-
security
IT Manager
Maintainer,
Facility manager
Real Estate Manager
Tenant manager
Safety, Health...
Occupants
Owner, Asset Manager
Property Manager
UNIVERSAL
LANGUAGE
API
Data extraction &
transport
Data mapping
(spatial + sense)
& storage
Secured
data
distribution
Data visualization
Vertical applications
Analytics / AI
End users
Data management
MULTI-SYSTEM DIGITAL TWIN AS AN DATA INTEGRATION PLATFORM
Data
exhibition
Commissioning
As-built

13. HOW DT SUPPORTS THE REAL ESTATE VALUE CHAIN
13
1-2 years 2-3 years 60 years average for commercial buildings
Design Built Operation & Maintenance
Commissioning
Carbon savings
As-built data As-built data updates
Asset Management
Property Management
Facility Management
Energy Management
Tenant Experience

14. Single source
of truth
All spatial, static and
live systems data
gathered in the
same datahub
Semantic
interoperability
Data ontology fabric &
universal API (language) to get
data / enable bidirectional
interaction between systems
Inter-silos
orchestration
Create inter-
system/application
scenarios
Reduce cost
Simplification of
system integrations
& new applications
development
Green IT
Data convergence enables
to reduce the number of
devices deployement for
energy & carbon savings
Future proof
Upgrade with new
applications at a lower
cost & make your
buildings AI ready
14
MULTI-SYSTEM DIGITAL TWIN DATA MANAGEMENT VALUE

15. Improve
collaboration
Enable any
stakeholder to find
& update data,
documents
Facilitate
transactions
Smooth the sale/rental
process by providing the
digital notebook of your
building(s)
Reduce
risks
Make data driven
decision on AM, PM
or FM
Optimize
maintenance
Optimize your
intervention time by
eliminating the time
it takes to find
information
Manage
spaces
Assign your spaces, create
real estate charter,
calculate sq.m allocation
and export data to third-
party applications
Save
energy
Reduce energy
consumption while
maintaining an high
comfort
15
MULTI-SYSTEM DIGITAL TWIN DATAVIZ VALUE

16. The benefits of a digital twin
on the total cost of a digital project
16

17. Provide an infrastructure
that makes data
accessible, reliable and
easy to interpret
Have a digital building that
evolves over time with rich
data that is useful for
creating new services
● BIM models
● BMS supervision
● Distech Controls room controllers
● Room controllers repartitioning
● Parking sensors
● Energy monitoring
● eMission CMMS
● MonBuilding tenant experience app
● Analytics for PowerBI & Dashboards
● BIM for O&M hypervision
Objectives Silos to integrate
● Digital Twin used as a commission tool
● CMMS setup cost reduction
● Reduce the cost of updating several
systems at each modification of the
building compartmentalization
● Enable to upgrade the tenant experience
apps by providing bi-directional data
access to the CMMS & room controllers
● Provide real time & cross-silos indicators
giving a new vision for piloting the
building
Results
70 000 sq.m office building
Paris area, France
USE CASE
2Y payback just based
on that cost reduction

18. IMPLEMENTED ARCHITECTURE WITH A MULTI-SYSTEM DT ENGINE
18
Digital World / IT
Analytics
PowerBI
Tenant app BIM for O&M
CMMS
Other static data sources
BIM files (IFC, Revit)
Room controllers BMS supervision Parking
Physical world / OT
Digital Twin Studio
BacnetIP API API
API
Connectors
API API API API
API API API API
API API API
MULTI-SYSTEM DIGITAL TWIN ENGINE

19. SAME ARCHITECTURE WITHOUT A MULTI-SYSTEM DT ENGINE
19
PowerBI
Tenant app BIM for O&M
CMMS
Room controllers BMS supervision Parking
Analytics
Reconfiguration
Room controllers
Minimum of 13 connectors required without a multi-system digital twin
Additional connectors may be required in the future due to new use case / analytics
= higher implementation & update/maintenance cost
Digital World / IT
Physical world / OT

20. Q&A
Thanks
Sebastien COULON
s.coulon@spinalcom.com
www.en.spinalcom.com