Semi-Autonomous Digital Twins to Support Sustainable Outcomes in Construction 4.0

The construction industry is more and more implementing the key principles of the Industry 4.0 paradigm supporting the so called “Construction 4.0”. On the other hand, the construction sector is looking at achieving some sustainable solutions to reduce their carbon emissions. One of the key aspects of Construction 4.0 is the possibility to make the decision-making process more reliable and sustainable, using data sets collected from the actual performances of buildings and infrastructures as well as understanding how the users interact with the built environment. The chapter presents different case studies from research and industry including agent-based simulations in Italian schools to enable better user experience as well as the integration of IoT for office buildings in the UK to improve customer service. The rationale stays with focusing not only on the built asset centrism, but also moving towards the Service as an Experience, enabled by the behavioural data. The trend is to steadily move from the cognitive features of the buildings to allow them to reach a sort of semi autonomy. The case studies discuss the current challenges as well as the opportunities for AEC professionals and ICT experts in using Digital Twins.