Search Results (12)

The integration of Building Information Modeling [BIM] and Digital Twins [DT] has emerged as a central driver of digital transformation in the architecture, engineering, and construction sector. Yet, its systemic impact remains constrained by conceptual fragmentation and uneven institutional adoption. This study synthesizes contemporary BIM–DT scalability and each to identify dominant technological and application dimensions, examine the governance conditions shaping scalability, and develop an analytical framework that advances understanding beyond technology-centered syntheses. A two-stage analytical design was employed, combining bibliometric keyword co-occurrence analysis of 1295 Scopus-indexed records with systematic qualitative synthesis of 56 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2020 and 2025, following PRISMA guidelines. Six interrelated analytical dimensions characterize the current BIM–DT research landscape: BIM–DT integration advancements and applications; interoperability and visualization; safety enhancement; energy efficiency; data-driven decision making; and stakeholder collaboration. Across these dimensions, a persistent misalignment emerges between technological capability and organizational readiness, with deficiencies in standards, governance, and sociotechnical coordination constituting the principal barriers to large-scale deployment. The findings reframe BIM–DT convergence not as a discrete technological upgrade but as the emergence of a coordinated socio-technical information ecosystem spanning the full building lifecycle. By foregrounding governance conditions, data stewardship, and institutional coordination, this study extends understanding of how digital twins expand BIM from design coordination to operational governance and establishes a foundation for more systematic implementation of intelligent, resilient, and sustainable built-environment systems. Full article

This article explores the integration of Maintenance 4.0 into HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems, highlighting its essential role within the framework of Industry 4.0. Maintenance 4.0 utilizes advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and IoT sensing technologies. It also incorporates sophisticated data management techniques to transform maintenance strategies into HVAC and indoor ventilation systems. These innovations work together to enhance energy efficiency, air quality, and overall system performance. The paper provides an overview of various Maintenance 4.0 frameworks, discussing the role of IoT sensors in real-time monitoring of environmental conditions, equipment health, and energy consumption. It highlights how AI-driven analytics, supported by IoT data, enable predictive maintenance and fault detection. Additionally, the paper identifies key research gaps and challenges that hinder the widespread implementation of Maintenance 4.0, including issues related to data quality, model interpretability, system integration, and scalability. This paper also proposes solutions to address these challenges, such as advanced data management techniques, explainable AI models, robust system integration strategies, and user-centered design approaches. By addressing these research gaps, this paper aims to accelerate the adoption of Maintenance 4.0 in HVAC systems, contributing to more sustainable, efficient, and intelligent built environments. Full article

In an era of increasingly abundant and granular spatial and temporal data, the traditional divide between environmental GIS and building-centric BIM scales is diminishing, offering an opportunity to enhance natural hazard assessment by bridging the gap between territorial impacts and the effects on individual structures. This study addresses the challenge of integrating disparate data formats by establishing a centralised database as the foundation for a comprehensive risk assessment approach. A use case focusing on flood risk assessment for a public building in northwest Italy demonstrates the practical implications of this integrated methodology. The proposed TErritorial RIsk Management & Analysis Across Scale (TERIMAAS) framework utilises this centralised repository to store, process, and dynamically update diverse BIM and GIS datasets, incorporating real-time IoT-derived information. The GIS spatial analysis assesses risk scores for each hazard type, providing insights into vulnerability and potential impacts. BIM data further refine this assessment by incorporating building and functional characteristics, enabling a comprehensive evaluation of resilience and risk mitigation strategies tailored to dynamic environmental conditions across scales. The results of the proposed scalable approach could provide a valuable understanding of the territory for policymakers, urban planners, and any stakeholder involved in disaster risk management and infrastructure resilience planning. Full article

This study aims to identify the added value of smart city technologies in real estate development, one of the most significant factors that would transform traditional real estate into smart ones. In total, 16 technologies utilized at both levels have been investigated. The research followed an integrative review methodology; the review is based on 168 publications. The compiled results based on metadata analysis displayed the state of each technology’s added values and usage in both scales. A total of 131 added values were identified. These added values were categorized based on the real estate life cycle sub-phases and processes. Moreover, the value of the integration between these technologies was revealed. The review and results proved that these technologies are mature enough for practical use; therefore, real estate developers, city management, planners, and experts should focus on implementing them. City management should invest in Big Data and geodata and adopt several technologies based on the aspects required for development. This study can influence stakeholders, enhance their decision-making on which technology would suit their needs, and provide recommendations on who to utilize them. Also, it provides a starting point for stakeholders who aim to establish a road map for incorporating smart technologies in future smart real estate. Full article

The digital twin (DT) concept has been developed for a single function in previous studies. This study aims to empower DTs with a layered integration of multifunctional models in the built environment. It develops a framework of DT modules in three hierarchical tiers: region, asset, and system; defines a new concept of the degree of digital twinning (DODT) to the real world by the number of models enabled by a common DT platform; and enables spatiotemporal analysis in multiple scales to couple nonstructural with structural building components and connect the built environment to planning constructions. While the asset and system DTs focus on the lifecycle management of buildings and infrastructure systems, the region DT addresses diverse modeling approaches for a comprehensive management of the built environment as demonstrated on a university campus. The DODT allows the value-driven digital replication of a physical twin at different levels. For the campus case study, the DODT is eight, for building and infrastructure planning, condition assessment of building envelopes, construction management for efficiency and quality, damage/cost scenario studies under earthquake events, energy harvesting efficiency, environmental planning for flood zone susceptibility, master planning for green space development, and security protocol development. Full article

This research presents key factors influencing smart building integration into smart cities considering the city as a technological system. This paper begins with an overview of the concept of smart buildings, defining their features and discussing the technological advancements driving their development. The frameworks for smart buildings are presented, emphasizing energy efficiency, sustainability, automation, and data analytics. Then, the concept of a smart city and the role of digitalization in its development is explored. The conceptual framework of smart building into a smart city is presented, contributing to understanding the complex process of integrating smart buildings into smart cities. Further research delves into the factors influencing the integration of smart buildings into smart cities, focusing on energy, mobility, water, security systems, and waste management infrastructure domains. Each thematic area is examined, highlighting the importance of integration and the associated challenges and opportunities, based on research in the literature and the analysis of case studies. This enables the identification of 26 factors influencing integration and the synthesis of findings. The findings indicate that the successful integration of smart buildings into smart cities requires attention to multiple factors related to smart energy, smart mobility, smart water, smart security, and smart waste management infrastructures. The results obtained from this research provide valuable insights into the factors influencing smart building integration into a smart city from a technological perspective, enabling stakeholders to make informed decisions and develop strategies paving the way for sustainable, resilient, and efficient urban environments. Full article

The automatic identification of various design elements in a floor-plan image has gained increasing attention in recent research. Emergency-evacuation applications can benefit greatly from automated floor-plan solutions, as they allow for the development of horizontal solutions instead of vertical solutions targeting a specific audience. In addition to that, current evacuation plans rely on static signs without taking into account the dynamic characteristics of each emergency case. This work aims to extract information from a floor-plan image and transform it into a graph that is used for pathfinding in an emergency evacuation. First, the basic elements of the floor-plan image, i.e., walls, rooms and doors, are identified. This is achieved using Panoptic-DeepLab, which is a state-of-the-art deep neural network for the panoptic segmentation of images, and it is available from DeepLab2, an image segmentation library. The neural network was trained using CubiCasa5K, a large-scale floor-plan image dataset containing 5000 samples, annotated into over 80 floor-plan object categories. Then, using the prediction of each pixel, a graph that shows how rooms and doors are connected is created. An application that presents this information in a user-friendly manner and provides graph editing capabilities was developed. Finally, the exits are set, and the optimal path for evacuation is calculated from each node using Dijkstra’s algorithm. Full article

The building sector is responsible for a significant amount of energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Thus, the monitoring, control and optimization of energy consumption in buildings will play a critical role in the coming years in improving energy efficiency in the building sector and in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, while there are a significant number of studies on how to make buildings smarter and manage energy through smart devices, there is a need for more research on integrating buildings with legacy equipment and systems. It is therefore vital to define mechanisms to improve the use of energy efficiency in existing buildings. This study proposes a new architecture (PHOENIX architecture) for integrating legacy building systems into scalable energy management systems with focus also on user comfort in the concept of interoperability layers. This interoperable and intelligent architecture relies on Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to increase building efficiency, grid flexibility and occupant well-being. To validate the architecture and demonstrate the impact and replication potential of the proposed solution, five demonstration pilots have been utilized across Europe. As a result, by implementing the proposed architecture in the pilot sites, 30 apartments and four commercial buildings with more than 400 devices have been integrated into the architecture and have been communicating successfully. In addition, six Trials were performed in a commercial building and five key performance indicators (KPIs) were measured in order to evaluate the robust operation of the architecture. Work is still ongoing for the trials and the KPIs’ analysis after the implementation of PHOENIX architecture at the rest of the pilot sites. Full article

For a smart city, soft or non-physical assets share an important capital component with many impacts in different contexts. They enable a city to deliver and mainstream a people-centered policy in addition to the benefits provided by traditional, hard infrastructure. Soft assets can involve social and human capital, knowledge, participation, and innovative approaches that drive value in the city. However, it is always a challenge for city policy makers to identify and strengthen these soft assets using a systemic approach due to their inherent characteristics. This paper argues that soft assets should be strategically integrated into the development process of smart and resilient cities. Therefore, exploring various approaches to prioritize soft asset consideration would provide helpful guidelines to city policy makers for municipal value creation, and identify where the greatest needs for soft or intangible assets lie. This paper examines how to identify and decide which soft assets should take priority in smart and resilient cities. The findings can assist policy makers in their consideration of an optimal mix and balance of soft assets required in the city to improve living structures for a people-centered approach. Full article

Buildings shape cities as those cities grow from and nurture people living and working within the built environment. Thus, the conceptualization of smart building should be brought closer to the smart city initiatives that particularly target ensuring and enhancing the sustainability and quality of urban life. In this paper, we propose that a smart building should be interlinked with a smart city surrounding it; it should provide good experiences to its various occupants and it should be in an ongoing state of evolving as an ecosystem, wherein different stakeholders can join to co-produce, co-provide and co-consume services. Smart buildings require a versatile set of smart services based on digital solutions, solutions in the built environment and human activities. We conducted a multiphase collaborative study on new service opportunities guided by a Design Thinking approach. The approach brought people, technology, and business perspectives together and resulted in key service opportunities that have the potential to make the buildings smart and provide enjoyable experience to the occupants who support their living and working activities in smart cities. This paper provides the resulting practical implications as well as proposes future avenues for research. Full article

Constructed in the 1980s, the BCR Corridors complex is the most iconic building at Qatar University (QU). However, it is also notorious for way-finding difficulties. The problem appears to derive from the repetitive similarity of individual parts in its modular design. Elevators, stairwells, screens, and temporary installations also create impediments to user readability and visibility. Collectively, this tends to complicate its relationship to the immediate context of the university campus. Recently, researchers at QU conducted a post-occupancy evaluation (PoE) of the BCR Corridors. It included (1) direct observation of movement flows and static occupation of space in common areas, (2) room use and photographic surveys, and (3) computer modeling of the spatial layout using space syntax. Space syntax is an international research program of academics and practitioners studying the role of built space in society from the single building to entire cities. The purpose of the PoE study was to understand observed patterns of movement and space use with reference to the problems for way-finding in the BCR Corridors. Based on this, researchers developed proposals for design alterations to enable easier use of the complex. The findings of the study support the above hypothesis about navigation problems in the building. Full article

This article presents the field test of the developed demand response system installed in the central heating systems of existing apartment buildings. The buildings are occupied by students and located in Tampere, Finland, which is within the northern climate zone. The studied buildings are connected to the local district heating network. The presented demand response system takes into account weather forecasts, indoor temperatures and decreases in space heating temperatures when demand for domestic hot water is the highest. The owner of the buildings benefits from peak demand control and can save in fixed fees. If enough buildings would have this kind of demand response control system, there would be a decreased need for utility companies to use peak power plants that typically use fossil fuels for heat production. In this field test, the peak load decrease was 14%–15% on average. During the test, the heating period of February and March, the normalized energy consumption of eight buildings was reduced by 11%, which represents a 9% annual cut in energy, costs and greenhouse gas emissions. Demand Response (DR) heating aims to help in reaching the objectives of the National Energy and Climate Strategy for 2030. Full article