Digital Twin-Enabled Building Demolition Waste Trading: A Demonstrative Case

Abstract

With the increasing demand for housing renovation and demolition, the amount of building demolition waste is rising year by year. However, due to the low recycling and reusing rate, a large proportion of waste is disposed of by landfill, which has a great impact on the environment. In addition, compared with other industries, the level of digitalization and intelligence in the construction industry is still relatively low. Facing these problems, this paper aims to explore a market-oriented circulation channel for building demolition waste and to achieve it from a technical perspective. Firstly, a digital twin-enabled building demolition waste trading workflow is proposed. The digital twin model could integrate, analyze, and display demolition-related data in real time, which is the basis of building demolition waste trading. Through the two-way information sharing mechanism, contractors and recyclers could quickly get in touch and know each other’s products and needs. Secondly, an innovative building demolition waste trading platform has been developed utilizing cutting-edge technologies, including robotics, big data, IoT, and 3D printing. Furthermore, to cater to the diverse needs of various stakeholders, a dedicated management platform for logistics providers and a comprehensive monitoring platform for the government are developed.