Digital Twin Lands Win For Airport Operations
SITUATION
A digital twin pilot delivers value for facility management & planning
An airport was planning for extensive renovations and decided to pilot the effectiveness of a 3D model. VTS was tasked with laser scanning the international terminal that spans over 2.1 million square feet. An airport of this size is the equivalent of a small city, with its own bureaucracy, government agencies and multiple departments.
Facility managers need to have a complete understanding of building systems such as plumbing, fire protection, energy use, air quality, equipment functions and maintenance levels. The initial assignment was for an energy and environmental study. The 3D model of the terminal and buildings would be used to run simulations to improve energy consumption.
Facilities managers are often forced to rely on static systems like paper drawings or PDF files. And all too often, blueprints and schematics are out of date or inaccessible. A digital twin can be accessed from a computer or tablet and used for real time modeling and design. Today, the 3D model is highly valued across every airport department and agency for maintenance, operations and asset monitoring.
What is a digital twin?
A digital twin in construction, engineering, and architecture is a dynamic, up-to-date replica of a physical asset, such as a building, facility, city, or a railway. It brings together design, construction, and real-time operational data in one model. Digital twins are a visual asset management tool, and used to simulate, predict, and inform decisions.
CHALLENGE
Laser scanning complex facilities such as airport terminals requires a lot of scheduling and project management. An international terminal has additional levels of complexity and bureaucracy. Government agencies including Border Patrol, Customs, TSA, and Airport Police have a presence. The airport fire department, facilities maintenance, concessions, airline personnel and security teams were involved in the project.
Since agencies and departments only allowed access to specific places on certain days, gaining access to the different areas required a lot of coordination and communication with department managers.
VTS handled all the operational and logistical challenges for the VTSPro scan crew to gain access to the terminal buildings, parking deck and perimeter.
SOLUTION
The VTS 360Pro Manager Ron Hughes determined that the FARO Focus Series laser scanner would be the right technology to create the point cloud and 3D deliverable. A high level of detail was needed for accurate pre-construction documentation.
With the laser scanner, the crew moved from section to section from early morning to night to meet the logistical and scheduling protocols. Scanning the 2.1 million square feet took just over three weeks. Six weeks later, the data was processed into a point cloud to create the 3D model.
“When we started, the 3D scans were for the airport environmental group to use for energy simulations. Today, facility operations, concessions, TSA, security and all the agencies are using the digital twin to improve operations. ”
WIN
The environmental team of engineers and project managers were extremely impressed with the technology and used the 3D model right away for the energy studies and simulations. The digital twin is transforming airport operations, monitoring and maintenance.
Immediately after it was delivered, multiple agencies and departments got on board within the airport and wanted to utilize the 3D model. Concessions, security & facility operations managers found the model easy to navigate and far superior than paper blueprints.
The digital twin model included visuals and dimensions of the HVAC, plumbing, electricity, and infrastructure, equipment essential to facilities maintenance. The facilities team found immediate value with the 3D model for remote asset management within the massive facility.
Concessions used the 3D model for an ongoing record of assets and found the floor plans of the existing retail space useful for planning. The security team leveraged the model and virtual tour to identify where changes had been made such as walls and doors added. The floor plans and virtual walk through helped with planning and revising emergency protocols.
What started as an energy and environmental study, transformed to an invaluable asset management and planning tool across every major department and agency within the terminal.
Airport management are in the process of securing funding to scan and create 3D models of the remaining four terminals.
“Using IoT and digital twins in facility management is estimated to generate up to a 20% reduction in both energy and maintenance costs.”
