How to Avoid Wasting Water and Energy with the Help of BIM and GIS

LUCA CAPUANI: Hello, everyone. It's a pleasure to participate in Autodesk University 2023 with my colleague, Santi Sarica. I'm Luca Capuani, GIS specialist in technology. And in this class, we are going to explain how our workflow can save resources through BIM and GIS.

Here is the agenda for the presentation. Just a few words about us, then we will talk about the considered workflow integrating different solutions to actively support the monitoring of environmental impacts. And then, about the project, and the solution we have adopted concerning the water management of buildings and station site to reduce waste, and save costs.

A brief introduction of our company and our team-- FSTechnology is the tech company of the Ferrovie Dello Italiane group. It was created at the beginning of 2019, and its goal is to strengthen and support digital innovation among the companies of the group.

The BIM Competence Center is team within FS technology. Considering the core processes of the group, we mainly support linear infrastructure projects, and therefore we support Italferr, which is the engineering company of the group during the design and the construction stages from conceptual design, to handover. We also support Ferrovia Italia, the company, of the group owner of the entire railway network.

Here is the team. Our main objective is to research and implement new technologies to improve the processes, and the workflow for the management of the entire life cycle of infrastructure projects. I introduce to you, Santi Sarica, who helped us in many steps of the work. And of course, a special thanks to Autodesk and Esri for their support.

Our first class was presented by Marcelo Faraone and Stefano Bianchi at Autodesk Great Summit in 2018. Since then, our group started to investigate how to improve the integration from BIM and GIS with other platforms, and implement solution for remote-site monitoring.

This year at the University, in addition to this, the colleagues Stephan and Bianca Gascoigne will present another class monitoring infrastructure site through BIM and GIS. Before describing the workflow, I would like to explain the reasons why it was designed.

First, Ferrovie dello Italiane is the leading energy consumer in Italy, with a slice of around 2% of national demand. Therefore, an investment of 1.6 billion of euros will be allocated to plants installation to self-produce energy amounting to 40% of the overall consumption of the group to be achieved by 2027.

After that, we will continue to arrive to 100%. That FS group believes that an organization's long term success is built on a strategy that prioritizes the protection of natural balances. The group's greatest contribution to the creation of an environmentally sustainable development model is that it offers increasingly more efficient, and sustainable transport services that maximize the benefits of collective mobility.

This workflow aligns to the objective of the FS group. Incorporated the protection of the environment into its strategies and priorities by promoting and implementing a more rational use of resources. The prevention and reduction of environmental risks, and the use of renewable energy sources with the aim of gradually reducing the group's carbon footprint.

To be able to do this, we develop different workflows that respond to specific needs, but originate from the same data, which, as we will see, are all centrally stored on the Autodesk Construction Cloud platform. It's important to highlight the added value, and relevance of standardizing and automating the processes with the help of the leading edge technology.

This is the focus of our work-- set up a workflow with a continuous fine tuning depending on the outcomes achieved from the tests. So, we set up this workflow based on integrations and processes involving Autodesk platform, and software like ACC, Revit, civil 3D, together as resolution from ArcGIS Pro up to BIM.

It all starts with the survey. The data is saved on ACC, and as anticipated earlier, we notice the central role of the common data environment. From ACC, the data is read to begin the linear design with Civil 3D, and the design of punctual elements through Revit, but also to create collaboration with Esri, and ArcGIS.

Data prepared in RJS is used to create checklists useful in workflow for both maintenance, and construction works on site, and highlight the central role of the external database, in which we store all available information coming from the model, and all that are retrieved in the field with checklists. The data from the checklist are therefore used to complete the modeling with the information taken from the site.

OK, about the works progress. This part of the workflow was presented in 2022. We prepared an automated procedure to estimate the physical progress of the works on the construction site using the survey deliverables, and then a doc simplified model that represents the progress of the work using Navisworks. This enriches the database with further information that we will need in the future.

The results overlaid can be viewed and analyzed through ArcGIS Pro, Web Map, or inside the BIM, and the Linfield with the issue workflow that show in Unity for civil, society, purposes, or used with the augmented reality and virtual reality in-field. The use of artificial intelligence can complete the data of the dashboard, as well as the IoT with Tandem.

Focusing our energy on the possibility to avoid wasting water and energy, we will explain where we started, and what we have achieved so far. Just a brief introduction to the Water Management project. It started by the end of 2018.

This activity will last 10 years, and will allow the group to map all the sites in Italy, and keep them up to date with an integrated workflow, then save water from a sustainability point of view, and lastly, save several millions of viewers. The project aims to bring up to standard, and maintain, the utilities and equipment of grid medium and small stations, power substations, and several logistic facility sites.

The proposed case study also aims to use more advanced tools and procedures to improve, and increase the solution implemented so far, such as this to the web application, which has been the first solution representing all the monitoring sites and implementing the a few years ago.

It is the result of the transformation into GIS data, or the project plans of the water and wastewater networks originally designed in cut. Now, I leave the floor to Santi to explain the workflow adopted in this use-case.

SANTI SARICA: Thank you, Luca. Welcome, everyone. I am Santi Sarica, BIM Infrastructure Implementation Consultant, and I show you the workflow adopted in this use-case. Before starting, I also want to thank FS Technology team, and Autodesk for the opportunity to speak in this class of 2023. As we said before, everything starts with a survey. OK, but how we manage the project?

Our project file are shared and stored in Autodesk Construction Cloud, within a folder structure that reflect the work breakdown structure of the project. At the top level, there is the project phase. In this slide, you can see the example about the design phase in ACC.

Here, the folder of construction phase, and the main disciplines as civil works, infrastructure, technologies, environment, and others. In this construction phase subfolder, the main WBS elements as viaducts, tunnels, retaining walls.

At a lower hierarchy level, we also find that the survey is organized by survey date. And at an even lower level, we have all the outputs listed by type format. OK, now let's see how we use the data in the workflow for managing the utility network. This video shows the link, DWG file in Civil 3D from ACC.

This DWG file represents the output of the topographic survey. In this file, after a few steps, the survey data is transformed into a 3D surface. This surface will be useful, for example, to build the utility network model. At the same time, we imported the same DWG file with the topographic survey from ACC into Esri, and ArcGIS Pro, to use it as a base map using the field maps app to publish a web map service.

Well, the next steps is the detailed survey carried out by field operators to reconstruct the existing service network through indirect surveys, such as geophysical surveys, usually via radar scans. Direct survey by manually checking using color coded marks. We can identify what kind of utilities are present, and also, for example, the pipe materials, the diameters, all those important data, and identify any damage.

All this information is stored in a central database through the ArcGIS file maps which allow you to have a base map with points, and sub checklists for adding data. Now, let's go back to Autodesk Civil 3D, where it is possible to import data from the centralized database.

The centralized data is useful for digitally rebuild the utility network through the automated procedure using an Autodesk Dynamo for Civil 3D script. This procedure allow the match the data of the topographic survey with attribute data achieved during the detailed network survey, and build the 3D utilities network model.

We use Autodesk Civil 3D to rebuild a digital model. This is our standard format for the BIM design for infrastructure. Instead to rebuild a digital BIM model for buildings, we use Autodesk Revit. Now, we go back to Esri technology.

Here, we are looking at how we can join the data collected. Our GIS enterprise, through 3D scene, we are able to achieve a territorial context enriched with data such as buildings, roads vegetation and others. Navigate the scene, even underground, to compare the differences utilities network model. Staying again on Esri technology, we can get out this dashboard built with an Esri application of ArcGIS Enterprise.

In this video, we are looking at an example that shows the consumption data of some sites. The dashboard is made up of various interactive parts that allow the user to query data for different purposes. For example, if you choose a water site from the list on the left, the map zooms to the chosen site, and the related tab display the associated details and metadata.

In the lower section, also, there are graph that allow the user to see the water consumption trend of the achieved site. This peak is due to the entry of new data related to a very large site with significant consumption. In this pie chart, there is, for example, the type of water expenditure as it is in the BIL. Here, each histogram represent the water expenditure of a site.

It's clear that this case, this site is very expensive. Now, we move on to the graph showing the spending forecast. The graph shows a peak followed by the steady drop, which represented the cost saving expected. After the works on the water network performed to comply with the water regulation and to repair the leaks. Here, we are seeing the cost to be expected for such work on each side.

As I said in total value, water saving, cost saving, and return on investment time. Right at the top of the dashboard, there are graphs that compare the water consumption of each side with the type of consumption that make it up. And then, at the bottom, there are the graph that compare the water expenditure of each side with the type of expenditure that may keep up.

A further steps forward is the approach to the Digital Twin. We are, therefore, studying how to make use of the Tandem applied to the infrastructure sector, in this case, creating an informative and descriptive Digital Twin of some of our utility network. In this case study, we focused on the pipe network to test the applicability of asset management through the use of the Digital Twin.

The possible utility we can derive is the cataloging of assets of the quantitative composition obtained with clusters. Example of assets, type, and structure, filtered of cluster. Here, we see the pipe filtered by type of water, trade, and organized by material, date of installation, so as to be able to estimate any deterioration, and organize schedule maintenance for inspection or replacement.

The quantitative assessment of the assets carried out on the basis of the stream coming from field surveys. Condition, state of health, and efficiency emission level for maintenance intervention. For example, field measurement of some parameters such as the level of the price, and the condition at fixed deadline, and after important rainfall events can be organized in such a way as to create stream that allows the state of the river, the thickness of the walls, to be assessed.

Soon, we intend to also carry out analysis on pressure network to evaluate the efficiency of the network with the stream from sensor. For example, to identify worst possible dispersion, and excessive cost analysis of the time, type of consumption. Performing a specific analysis on some critical situation that emerged thanks to the consumption dashboard, that we say we saw previously.

To sum up what the scope of this case, it's us allowed us to achieve different output and set-up tools for different needs. A web app for the utility network model consumption. A dashboard to monitor cost and consumption.

Maintenance the site, upload any changes, and works of the model, or from on-site survey. Create a descriptive and informative Digital Twin with Tandem. Thank you for your attention, and I leave the floor to Luca for the final conclusion.

LUCA CAPUANI: Thanks to Santi, we have seen the outputs of the Order Management Case Study. Now, let's see all the other outputs achieved with our workflow. This is what we got by combining the project data and the artificial intelligence analysis of the orthophoto taken on-site. As an example in this video, we can see the elements that have been identified on a given survey-- plans, tracks, structural pillars, or base camps, as in this case.

Choosing the elements, it shows us all the aerial images where this object was recognized with the use of the algorithm. With the use of the Unity across platform game engine, and SDK for Unity, we managed to integrate GIS data and BIM models to obtain a solution, which is very simple to navigate and enjoyable by all non-BIM experts.

What you see in this video is a simulation of some potentially dangerous situation while moving inside a building, or in a construction site. Lastly, thanks to the augmented reality, it is possible to exchange information remotely, or open the necessary documentation to carry out various types of checks.

And now, let's remember the target we presented that at the beginning. In summary, using our workflow, we have identified a series of solutions, technologies, and tools to work with to achieve advanced results.

Moreover, we can say that with a workflow using an integration-oriented approach, it's possible to achieve many benefits working in common data environment that integrate platform Autodesk industry, and app and desktop software, as well as use integrated methodology to have fewer errors, and exploit leading edge technologies and tools for a more functional, and organized utilities. Enable advanced analysis.

Get error checking and fixing. Manage the work of several contemporary works, and workers and manage the surveys of field workers. And then, contain dashboards and reports to synthesize, and plot the data. OK, that's all. Thank you for your attention. I hope you enjoyed our work.