2 PDEng candidates for project: Design of a digital platform and a digital information chain for modular and industrial renovation projects at University of Twente

To achieve the environmental and climate objectives, every building in the Netherlands should be heated from sustainable sources by 2050. At the moment, less than a thousand buildings are made energy-neutral or positive every year. In order to realise the 2050 targets, we need to accelerate the renovation of existing buildings to a thousand houses each day.

Speeding up the renovation speed is an enormous challenge. A promising avenue to realise (parts of) the renovation challenge is the modular construction approach. In this approach, standardised modules are being used to develop a project based solution. After that prefabricated components are constructed off-site using industrial product lines and then assembled at the construction site. This shortens the construction period on-site, minimizes nuisance for environment and residents, and optimizes construction processes.

The concept of modular and industrial construction has been implemented in the construction sector for a while and proven promising. Nonetheless, effective implementation of this concept necessitates digitalisation of activities and a robust management of information throughout the building lifecycle and across the supply chain. Digital (product) platforms have been used in other industries to address this need. A digital platform aims to capture and digitize the underlying knowledge and information in the modular construction of buildings to assist stakeholder in the supply chain with decision making and information (re)use through (1) configuring modular solutions based on the specific needs in a specific building, (2) enhancing communication and data exchange, and (3) improving predictability using physics- and data-driven simulation. Such digital platforms can establish a new ecosystem within the construction sector enabling improved innovation and standardization. However, such a digital platform for modular construction and renovation is missing now. The main challenges towards the design and development of such a platform are twofold:

clear understanding of the characteristics and requirements of such a digital platform from the perspective of different stakeholders in the supply chain is missing;
assuming that such a digital platform exists, the optimum strategy for streamlining the interaction and information exchange across the supply chain is not known.

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2 PDEng candidates for project: Design of a digital platform and a digital information chain for modular and industrial renovation projects at University of Twente