Digital Twin in Circular Economy: Remanufacturing in Construction

Abstract

Global warming attracts increasing public attention. However, in the past few decades, the contribution of construction to greenhouse gas emissions is around 40% of total emissions. The promotion of construction waste remanufacturing faces challenges. The application of digital twins in the remanufacturing of construction waste contributes to the tracking, recycling and management of construction waste. This article reviews the current research on construction waste remanufacturing and the application of Digital Twin in construction and remanufacturing, aiming at finding the current challenge of construction waste remanufacturing and the opportunity of Digital Twin to solve it. Then, the Digital Twin platform concept for construction waste remanufacturing is provided as a solution for the current challenges. Theoretically, this paper points out the shortcomings of the current research in construction waste remanufacturing based on literature review. Meanwhile, this article proposes the application of Digital Twin in construction waste remanufacturing, which expands the research scope of circular economy in construction. In fact, this research has driven the Digital Twin application in more industries. Besides, this research proposes a concept of potential solutions for the current challenges of construction waste in circular economy.