Behind the Tech: Digital Twin Innovation
- Balsam Wehbeh
- May 22
- 4 min read
Highlights from ENR 2025
Date Published: May 21, 2025
At this year’s ENR FutureTech 2025, two game-changing conversations stood out for us. The first session, "Technology for the Care and Feeding of Digital Twins", was led by Yahya Saad, Co-Founder and Chief Digital Officer at GlobalDWS, and Dr. Rick Huijbregts, Global Lead of Smart Cities at Stantec. Their presentation introduced the transformative potential of GlobalDWS's VirBrix, a next-generation digital twin robotics platform. Emphasizing the urgent need for innovation in building monitoring and workplace performance, their presentation started with a wake-up call.
A Wake-Up Call for the Built Environment
We spend 90% of our lives indoors, yet 71% of building owners lack real-time visibility into critical factors like air quality, occupancy, and sustainability. This disconnect has real consequences, not just for health and safety, but for productivity and long-term asset value. In fact, 67% of employees report being more productive in workplaces that prioritize a healthy environment. As the built environment evolves, failure to adapt could be costly: by 2030, an estimated 1.4 billion square feet of U.S. office space could become functionally obsolete.
The Challenges:
The building industry faces a convergence of urgent challenges. Aging infrastructure contributes to rising system failures, safety hazards, and non-compliance with evolving regulations. Manual and fragmented data collection methods make it difficult to track environmental conditions or usage patterns in real time, leading to missed opportunities for optimization. Despite the increasing demand for healthy, responsive indoor environments, most building data remains outdated or inaccessible, leaving owners to operate blindly. This disconnect not only affects occupant well-being and productivity but puts portfolios at risk, especially as more spaces edge toward functional obsolescence in the coming years
The Opportunities:
Amid these challenges lies a powerful opportunity to redefine how we manage and experience buildings. Emerging technologies like digital twins, autonomous robotics, and AI-powered analytics are transforming traditional facility operations into intelligent, data-driven ecosystems. Platforms like VirBrix offer a compelling alternative to costly and time-consuming legacy solutions, automating real-time monitoring of air quality, occupancy, and energy use in a matter of days, not months. This shift from reactive to predictive insights empowers building owners and operators to make smarter, faster decisions - driving operational efficiency, sustainability, and occupant satisfaction. As we move toward healthier, high-performance workplaces, technology becomes not just a tool, but a critical partner in shaping the future of the built environment.
VirBrix / Stanbot: The Zero-Touch Robotics Digital Twin Platform
VirBrix is more than just a tech solution, it’s a paradigm shift. Yahya and Rick unveiled how this platform enables automated, real-time monitoring of workplace environments using autonomous robots and a robust ecosystem of AI, IoT, and smart building technologies.
What Makes VirBrix Stand Out?
360° Environmental Intelligence: Real-time tracking of temperature, humidity, air quality (including PM10, PM2.5, CO2, ozone, radon), lighting, and noise.
Occupancy & Utilization Insights: AI-powered traffic and space analysis using 360-degree imagery and 3D mapping.
Governance & ESG Monitoring: Built-in sustainability metrics and compliance scoring for smarter portfolio management.
Cost-Effective & Scalable: Compared to traditional digital twin systems, VirBrix offers a 75-85% reduction in cost and setup time, deployed in as little as 1 week.
In short, VirBrix empowers decision-makers to act faster, smarter, and more sustainably.
Spotlight: Brian Beck and Stantec's Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) Vision
In a second standout presentation, Brian Beck, Associate and Project Coordinator – VDC/BIM, US West Technology Team, took the stage at ENR to spotlight one of his most forward-looking projects: a collaboration between GlobalDWS and Stantec Innovation focused on deploying VirBrix, a cutting-edge platform developed by GlobalDWS, for autonomous robotic data capture in support of digital twins. His presentation validated VirBrix as more than just a product, it’s a next-generation solution designed to tackle long-standing industry challenges in a scalable, intelligent, and cost-effective way.
Tune Into the Future: The Stantec.io Podcast
For those interested in how robotics, AI, and workplace design intersect, we highly recommend listening to this recent Stantec.io Podcast episode: “Can Workplace Robotics Help Create High-Performance Workspaces?”. In this episode, Yahya Saad and Rick Huijbregts, discuss how innovations like VirBrix are ushering in a new era of smart, data-rich environments that enhance both building performance and human well-being.
Ready to Step Into the Future of Smart Buildings?
Whether you're managing a single facility or overseeing an entire portfolio, VirBrix offers the speed, intelligence, and scalability you need to future-proof your spaces.
Connect with us today to learn how VirBrix can transform your building operations.
About the companies:
Comments