Nemetschek Group has partnered with Iowa State University to deliver dTwin technology as part of the school’s Iowa Innovative Housing Project (also known as the 3D Affordable Innovative Technologies Housing Project).
The Iowa State housing project is aimed at addressing the shortage of affordable housing in Iowa by utilizing 3D construction printing and other innovative approaches to lower construction risks, reduce material usage and waste, and in the end be more cost-effective, resilient, and sustainable.
dTwin Usage
In the present pilot phase of the housing project, Iowa State is leveraging Nemetschek’s innovative dTwin (digital twin) software solution. dTwin can enable a dynamic and interactive built environment using digital twins for each planned structure, providing the end user with dashboard visualizations for monitoring and data analysis.
Iowa State University central campus wall. (Image: Christopher Gannon/Iowa State University)
dTwin will be further leveraged as the project happens, using state-of-the-art 3D printing technologies, incorporating live sensors that will provide real-time data about air quality and energy consumption.
Pete Evans, AIA, IDSA, Assistant Professor of Industrial Design at Iowa State said:
Nemetschek’s dTwin solution has changed how we approach every new home in this project. We’re able to visualize every aspect of a planned structure in one seamless view. We can monitor air quality and energy consumption and compare this with buildings constructed traditionally, giving us incredibly valuable insights. We hope to use the dTwin platform extensively across every stage — design, construction, and property management — as we work to solve rural housing issues in an affordable and sustainable way.
The AEC/O industry generates tremendous amounts of data from its numerous stakeholder participants across a vast array of different yet isolated software systems. This intrinsically creates inefficiencies and waste in the overall process. The use of digital twins, which are a “digital replica” of a physical asset built or planned to be built, allows architects, engineers, and builders to see every aspect of the building. In the case of this study and all buildings not yet built, the digital twin can test various changes in the design through analysis, simulations, and optimizations.
Once the structure is actually built the dTwin digital twin software can be continuously fed data from sensors and systems, enabling real-time information of the physical asset. This helps AEC/O professionals bridge or close the gap between Design, Construction, and Operations.
Nemetschek and Iowa
The state of Iowa is facing challenges regarding housing affordability. For every 100 low-income renter households, there are 85 units available that are affordable to them. The median household income in the state is $37,573 per year whereas the median rent in the state is $689 per month. Currently, the state is short over 13,147 low-income housing units[1].
“Put simply, the usage of dTwin allows for more efficient construction and operation. By fusing all data sources of a building in one overarching view, decision makers can efficiently track, filter, and query all relevant information and derive purpose-tailored insights. Opportunities and challenges are seen in the digital twin of a build before they can manifest in the real world,” said Dr Jimmy Abualdenien, Head of Digital Twin Product at Nemetschek Group. “The team at Iowa State has a true vision to help ease the housing crisis, and we are proud to be a part of such an important project.”
