PhD Study : Digital Twins platform for Dynamic Life Cycle Assessment of Buildings

Summary

With the pressure of decarbonisation, smart building/city solutions become urgently required to manage assets and resources more efficiently and sustainably. The UN SDGs “Sustainable cities and communities” (11), “Responsible consumption and production” (12), and “health & well-being in buildings” (3) have shaped various applications and research for such purpose.

This proposal is designed with consideration of these goals to provide an innovative solution for dynamic life cycle assessment of buildings utilising Digital Twins. In this regard, Public facilities (such as University Buildings) are expensive and complex facilities when managed to achieve such sustainability goals. Their management requires data that is huge and often scattered which may result in substandard design, construction and operation. On the other hand, the available buildings assessment tools has static configurations which do not detect possible dynamic changes in the status of building conditions. The approach of Dynamic realtime Life Cycle Assessment (DLCA) to monitor and assess the sustainability KPIs of buildings has been emerged to deal with this shortcoming. Digital Twin (DT) concept has emerged to provide a viable solution for such complex systems. DT has the capability to better integrate various facility models in a way to simulate and interact with the physical facility during all development and operation phases.

Considering the nature of knowledge required and the various outcomes of DT models, high quality and secure data can improve the efficiency of facility design/operation and bring sustainable savings for stakeholders, ensure societal benefits, and generate less disruption and waste to the environment.

With these objectives, this proposal aims to develop a digital twin platform for DLCA of building sutainability KPIs. The DT-based platform will utilise the greenBIM methodology to measure and endorse the assessment of different criteria. The traditional static KPIs will be developed and timely updated by the digital twin dashboard and then analysed using AI analytics tools in order to optimise the environmental impact of building systems. The proposed DT platform will create dynamic digital models that enable knowledge acquisition and status reporting about the physical counterpart from multiple data sources.

The project will target one of the University buildings (to be agreed with the University). The PhD student will conduct a user requirements analysis to identify the structure of the proposed Digital Twin, develop a methodology to construct and maintain it, and develop methods to link other forms of data into the geometric digital twin. The proposed DT platform is a key step to exploit the digital twin solution to support the decision processes in relation to building performance evaluation through the whole building’s life cycle.

The PhD applicants must have a relevant degree in architecture, engineering, or computing. Preference will be given to applicants who have research or project experience in programming skills.

Essential criteria

Applicants should hold, or expect to obtain, a First or Upper Second Class Honours Degree in a subject relevant to the proposed area of study.

We may also consider applications from those who hold equivalent qualifications, for example, a Lower Second Class Honours Degree plus a Master’s Degree with Distinction.

In exceptional circumstances, the University may consider a portfolio of evidence from applicants who have appropriate professional experience which is equivalent to the learning outcomes of an Honours degree in lieu of academic qualifications.

• Clearly defined research proposal detailing background, research questions, aims and methodology

Funding and eligibility

The University offers the following levels of support:

Vice Chancellors Research Studentship (VCRS)

The following scholarship options are available to applicants worldwide:

• Full Award: (full-time tuition fees + £19,000 (tbc))
• Part Award: (full-time tuition fees + £9,500)
• Fees Only Award: (full-time tuition fees)

These scholarships will cover full-time PhD tuition fees for three years (subject to satisfactory academic performance) and will provide a £900 per annum research training support grant (RTSG) to help support the PhD researcher.

Applicants who already hold a doctoral degree or who have been registered on a programme of research leading to the award of a doctoral degree on a full-time basis for more than one year (or part-time equivalent) are NOT eligible to apply for an award.

Please note: you will automatically be entered into the competition for the Full Award, unless you state otherwise in your application.

Department for the Economy (DFE)

The scholarship will cover tuition fees at the Home rate and a maintenance allowance of £19,000 (tbc) per annum for three years (subject to satisfactory academic performance).

This scholarship also comes with £900 per annum for three years as a research training support grant (RTSG) allocation to help support the PhD researcher.

• Candidates with pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, who also satisfy a three year residency requirement in the UK prior to the start of the course for which a Studentship is held MAY receive a Studentship covering fees and maintenance.
• Republic of Ireland (ROI) nationals who satisfy three years’ residency in the UK prior to the start of the course MAY receive a Studentship covering fees and maintenance (ROI nationals don’t need to have pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme to qualify).
• Other non-ROI EU applicants are ‘International’ are not eligible for this source of funding.
• Applicants who already hold a doctoral degree or who have been registered on a programme of research leading to the award of a doctoral degree on a full-time basis for more than one year (or part-time equivalent) are NOT eligible to apply for an award.

Due consideration should be given to financing your studies. Further information on cost of living