BIM-Based Digital Constructions

Dear Colleagues,

The architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) industry is changing its traditional business methods, with information now exchanged digitally rather than in paper form. The development of openBIM concepts does not only focus on the technical aspects, but also covers the joint efforts issues, including the legal, semantic and organizational aspects, to reach a high level of collaboration and integration. Consequently, the topic of BIM should be handled at the digital transformation level.

On the other hand, the concept of a digital twin has been around for several years, a theory based on having a virtual model that simulates the existing situations of the real model, having drawn a lot of interest from researchers. However, the digital twin still requires a framework to follow. BIM, which is a combination of policies, processes and technologies, can support digital twins, for example, by being represented as a digital data management platform able to form the starting point for digital twins. Consequently, BIM and digital twins can complement each other, since bringing such integration can help in testing and simulating different scenarios before execution, which can improve the decision-making process.

However, due to interoperability issues, this integration is still accompanied by several challenges, such as the lack of insight when it comes to an understanding of the structure of BIM and digital twins, the relationships between these concepts, the tools backing their development and the vagueness of how they are linked and what level of integration these concepts are currently at in the AEC industry. Therefore, this Special Issue invites the submission of manuscripts regarding all topics in the form of reviews and original research papers, topics including, but not limited to, the examples addressed above. We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. HaiJiang Li
Dr. Guoqian Ren
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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