The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/2046-6099.htm

Digital twins for smart building at Digital twins

for smart
the facility management stage: facility
management
a systematic review of enablers,
applications and challenges
Frank Ato Ghansah Received 7 October 2023
Revised 4 December 2023
Division of Construction, Property and Surveying, 30 January 2024
The School of Built Environment and Architecture, London South Bank University, Accepted 5 February 2024
London, UK

Abstract
Purpose – Despite the opportunities of digital twins (DTs) for smart buildings, limited research has been
conducted regarding the facility management stage, and this is explained by the high complexity of accurately
representing and modelling the physics behind the DTs process. This study thus organises and consolidates
the fragmented literature on DTs implementation for smart buildings at the facility management stage by
exploring the enablers, applications and challenges and examining the interrelationships amongst them.
Design/methodology/approach – A systematic literature review approach is adopted to analyse and
synthesise the existing literature relating to the subject topic.
Findings – The study revealed six main categories of enablers of DTs for smart building at the facility management
stage, namely perception technologies, network technologies, storage technologies, application technologies,
knowledge-building and design processes. Three substantial categories of DTs application for smart buildings were
revealed at the facility management stage: efficient operation and service monitoring, efficient building energy
management and effective smart building maintenance. Subsequently, the top four major challenges were identified
as being “lack of a systematic and comprehensive reference model”, “real-time data integration”, “the complexity and
uncertainty nature of real-time data” and “real-time data visualisation”. An integrative framework is finally proposed
by examining the interactive relationship amongst the enablers, the applications and the challenges.
Practical implications – The findings could guide facility managers/engineers to fairly understand the
enablers, applications and challenges when DTs are being implemented to improve smart building
performance and achieve user satisfaction at the facility management stage.
Originality/value – This study contributes to the knowledge body on DTs by extending the scope of the
existing studies to identify the enablers and applications of DTs for smart buildings at the facility management
stage and the specific challenges.
Keywords Challenges, Digital twins, Enablers, Facility management, Intelligent buildings, Smart buildings
Paper type Literature review

1. Introduction
Buildings account for 40% of global energy consumption and emit 33% of greenhouse gases
(World Economic Forum, 2021). This situational awareness in buildings has caused the
building design, construction and operations to understand the resources utilised, the
emissions and interactions with users: from energy efficiency to sustainability, to automated,
to intelligent and finally smart (Buckman et al., 2014). The significance of this awareness via
digitisation has evolved into the concept of a smart building, which has its markets estimated
to reach USD 141.71 billion by 2028 at a revenue compound annual growth rate of 9.9% over
the forecasted period (Emergen research, 2021). This results from the higher demands for
energy-efficient systems, increased usage of advanced building management systems (BMS)
and rising industry standards and regulations in addressing sustainability challenges and
meeting users’ need for intelligence. Thus, the smart building concept is gaining popularity in Smart and Sustainable Built
Environment
academia and industry due to its capability to improve building efficiency and support life © Emerald Publishing Limited
2046-6099
intelligently, especially in the facility management phase. DOI 10.1108/SASBE-10-2023-0298
SASBE Despite that, there is no consensus on smart building, sometimes called intelligent
building, which has been closely related to the facility management stage (Pa
sek and Sojkova,
2018), where people, places and processes within the built environment are integrated with
the purpose of improving the quality of life of people and the productivity of core businesses
(International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO-41,011:2017[en], n.d.). The European
Committee (EC) (2009) describes a smart building as a building empowered by information
and communication technologies (ICT) in the context of the emerging ubiquitous computing
and the Internet of Things (IoT): the generalisation in instrumenting buildings with sensors,
actuators, micro-chips, micro- and nano-embedded systems will allow to collect, filter and
produce more and more information locally, to be further consolidated and managed globally
according to business functions and services. This acknowledges that the smart building
notion evolves primarily with the advancement of supporting technologies (e.g. artificial
intelligence [AI], IoT, 5G, cloud and edge computing), and this allows effective monitoring and
operation in buildings, including achieving interactivity and sustainability (Jia et al., 2019).
This paper follows the EC’s (2009) definition of smart buildings and primarily focusses on the
facility management stage with which smart buildings have been associated. This stage
integrates people, places and processes within the built environment with the purpose of
improving the quality of life of people and the productivity of the core business. Hence, a
proper management system could ensure building functionality, comfort, safety,
sustainability and efficiency in the built environment.
Admitting the global trend of achieving smart building, the digital twins (DTs) concept
has gained momentum in research due to its ability to accelerate digital transformation
initiatives for product development across industries. It creates high-fidelity virtual model
objects in virtual space to simulate physical assets’ behaviours and provide feedback (Tao
et al., 2019). Grieves (2005) introduced DTs as a real-time digital footprint of a product system
from the design and development to the end of its life cycle. This has gained applications
across different industries due to its ability to hasten digital transformations in addressing
fault detection, space management and carbon emissions (Liu et al., 2021a; Lu et al., 2020a).
Jiang et al. (2021a) explained DTs in the civil engineering sector as a real-time virtual
representation of facilities to express the current condition of the physical counterpart. This
constitutes the physical part, the digital model, the connection between the physical and
digital model and the twin relationship between the physical and digital model. Jiang et al.’s
(2021a) definition is adopted for this study, as it has potential applications for smart buildings
(Ghansah and Lu, 2023a).
The DTs concept is gaining traction in the built environment, and current studies have
reviewed DT technology in this setting. For example, Boje et al. (2020) examined the multi-
faceted applications of building information modelling (BIM) during the construction stage
and highlighted limits and requirements to pave the way for the DTs’ construction. Due to the
research methodology design used, several trails were left out surrounding the issue of DTs
when their findings, including the significant applications and enablers. Jiang et al. (2021a)
reviewed the DTs in civil engineering and defined the DTs concept that has been confused
with the cyber-physical system (CPS) and BIM. Their work was limited to civil engineering
work that may slightly differ from building work in smart buildings. Ozturk (2021) conducted
a scientometric analysis to identify five main research fields: virtual-physical building
integration, building lifecycle management, information-integrated production, information-
based predictive management and virtual-based information utilisation. The sole use of
scientometric analysis made their work susceptible to the issue of data duplication can affect
their results. Opoku et al. (2021) examined the status of DTs applications with less focus on
the enablers and the challenges of the state-of-the-art DTs applications across areas in the
building industry. Ghansah and Lu (2023a) identified the major opportunities of DTs for
smart building, with a limited focus on only the prospects. Existing reviews have shown
substantial contributions to DTs knowledge in the built environment. Considering the vast Digital twins
potential of DTs for smart buildings, significant challenges are faced upon deciding to for smart
implement DTs for smart buildings at the facility management stage due to the originality of
the concept (Rasheed et al., 2019). Little research on DTs has been conducted for smart
facility
buildings at the facility management stage (Stojanovic et al., 2018; Seghezzi et al., 2021; Bujari management
et al., 2021), which may be explained by the high complexity of accurately representing and
modelling the physics behind the DTs processes. There is also a clear lack of studies as smart
buildings have been associated more closely with the facility management stage (Pa
sek and
Sojkova, 2018). However, understanding these could contribute to realising the full potential
of DTs for facility management in smart buildings.
This study thus conducts a comprehensive overview of DTs for smart buildings at the
facility management stage of buildings via a systematic literature review approach.
The objectives are (1) to explore the enablers, the significant applications and the associated
challenges of DTs for smart buildings at the facility management stage and (2) to examine the
interactive relationships between the enablers and the challenges considering the
applications. The principal contribution is knowledge extension, which is by highlighting
and examining the interactive relationship amongst the enablers and challenges of DTs for
smart buildings at the facility management stage to assist practitioners (facility managers),
policymakers and other related stakeholders in making decisions on effective applications.

2. Brief overview of DTs for smart building at the facility management stage
According to the ISO-41,011:2017(en), n.d., as adopted by the International Facility
Management Association (IFMA), facility management exists as an organisational
function integrating people, places and processes within the built environment with the
purpose of improving the quality of life of people and productivity of the core business. This
ensures the functionality, comfort, safety, sustainability and efficiency of the built
environment. The emergence of technology has placed facility management at a different
level, making related activities simpler and more efficient. Traditional facility management is
evolving towards a new digital facility management model, allowing owners and operators to
turn portfolio data into actionable insight using technology (Rake, 2019). A massive amount
of building data is generated and collected at a central place and analysed to help make
informed decisions on efficient building management. Digital facility management could
drive proactive maintenance, bringing data from disconnected systems together and
enabling building operators to extract actionable insight, hence leading to smart facility
management via smart building (Ghansah et al., 2022a). This evolution has advanced to a
level where there is the possibility of creating a twin version of facilities to enable a real-time
analysis, testing and actioning of building environments towards efficient decision-making
by adopting the concept of DTs. This motivates the study to understand and identify the
enablers and the possible challenges of implementing DTs for smart buildings at the facility
management stage, specifically for completed buildings. Incorporating DTs for smart
buildings at the facility management stage could act as a virtual platform, which will provide
real-time analysis, testing and actioning of the smart building environment. The DTs could
act as a node for improved workflow and an optimisation management system to boost the
operativity performance of buildings (Sepasgozar et al., 2020). The DTs could provide both a
granular and holistic view of the built environment, answering the need for efficient facility
management for both engineers and maintenance teams. The DTs could also collect data
from different sources into one single pane of glass for a single source of truth of all building
systems, as well as provide a clear real-time view of the smart building data.
As the smart building is discussed in detail in section 2.1 as the physical counterpart of
DTs in construction, the DTs was introduced by Grieves (2005) as a real-time digital footprint
SASBE of a product system from the design and development to the end of its life cycle. The DTs
concept has gained attention from different industries, including smart manufacturing (Liu
et al., 2021a) and the building industry (Lu et al., 2020a) due to its ability to assist in testing and
validating a product before it even exists in the real world. In the context of the Centre for
Digital Built Britain, it realistically represents an asset, process or system in the virtual space
(Bolton et al., 2018). In the civil engineering sector, Jiang et al. (2021a) defined DTs as a digital
platform that expresses the real-time conditions of the physical counterpart of facilities and
this is facilitated by its constituents, including the physical part, the digital part, the
connection between them and the twin relationship between them. This study then follows
the precise definition by Jiang et al. (2021a), as was used in the civil engineering works and can
be likened to buildings.
DTs have shown significant prospects in solving existing building issues in the
architecture, engineering, construction and operations (AECO) industry. For instance, DTs
approach could improve the energy efficiency of indoor lighting based on computer vision
and dynamic BIM (Tan et al., 2022). The limited sensing environment with sensor absences,
faulty sensors, low redundancy and less dense deployment due to the inherent building
characteristics have been tackled with novel virtual sensing-enabled DTs, using in-situ
observation virtual sensors in building operations (Choi and Yoon, 2023). Other current
studies have considered solving issues in relevant areas such as fault detection and diagnosis
for building heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems (Xie et al., 2023),
intelligent control of building fire protection (Jiang et al., 2023), shaping the full life cycle
digital transformation for bridge engineering (Honghong et al., 2023) and intelligent operation
and maintenance systems (Zhao et al., 2022). DTs have numerous opportunities in the AECO
industry, and this could be achieved by enhancing the smartness of building infrastructures.
DTs for smart buildings emerge from integrating the physical and digital worlds of a
smart building by leveraging IoT systems via the digitisation of building systems to collect
real-time data about the building. Combined with context, data is utilised to understand
better, analyse, alter and optimise processes in smart buildings to improve efficiency in
buildings and achieve user satisfaction. It bridges the gap between the physical and the
digital worlds, serving as a contextual model of an entire smart building environment (Tao
et al., 2019). Based on Jiang et al.’s (2021a) definition of DTs, the working definition of “DTs for
smart building” by this study can be attributed to “the real-time virtual representation of
smart buildings that realistically shows the current state, behaviour, and processes across the
lifecycle phases of the smart building, and also portrays a one-to-one mapping and bi-directional
relationship with the physical world leveraging the technology advancements to address an
intended purpose”. The concept of DTs for smart buildings” exists threefold: the physical
smart building, the digital model, and the twin relationship between the physical model and
the digital model, as seen in Figure 1.

2.1 Smart building – the physical world

Smart building, in this study, is regarded as the physical counterpart of the concept of DTs for
smart building. The smart building concept, over the decades, has not been well-defined by
researchers due to a lack of literature addressing the concept. “Smart building” is
interchangeably used with “intelligent buildings” or “automated buildings” and the most
recent “cognitive building” (Cushman and Wakefield, 2019). EC (2009) defined a smart
building as a building empowered by ICT in the context of merging ubiquitous computing
and the IoT: the generalisation in instrumenting buildings with sensors, actuators, micro-
chips, micro- and nano-embedded systems will allow to collect, filter and produce more and
more information locally, to be further consolidated and managed globally according to
business functions and services. This definition is precise by considering the concept,
 Digital twins
for smart
facility
management

Figure 1.
Conceptual framework
for understanding DT
for smart building at
the facility
management stage of
buildings

performance and the associated technologies, compared to other definitions that consider
only the concept and its performance (Buckmann et al., 2014; Xu et al., 2019). Smart building
evolves primarily with the advancement of supporting technologies, which allows buildings
to be monitored effectively and operate efficiently, interactively and sustainably. This
contributes to improving buildings at the facility management stage, where people, places
and processes within the built environment are integrated with the purpose of improving the
quality of life and the productivity of core businesses. Regarding this, the EC’s (2009)
definition was adopted for this study, as it denotes the advanced technologies for the smart
building concept, making it an enabler of DTs in the AECO industry.
Smart buildings collect data about their usage and state and provide a real-time picture of
their status. These include the number of occupants at any given period, building usage, user
interactions, plumbing leaks and unclosed doors in buildings via sensors and cameras
(Sinopoli, 2014). The data is combined into a single interface to provide information to users
through BMS facilitated by advanced technologies integrated into smart buildings. As such,
smart buildings may have the potential to improve energy efficiency in buildings ensuring
efficient maintenance systems (Jia et al., 2019) and efficient monitoring systems
(Yu et al., 2020).
Various technologies exist in smart buildings, and the key to their effective
implementation is to connect them using advanced BMS. For instance, pervasive sensing
technologies are adopted in buildings to facilitate facility management services, and each
sensing technology has its advantages for specific applications (Xu et al., 2020). IoT is the core
of the smart building avenue due to its ability to perceive different situational awareness in
buildings, and this can be conceptualised as smart building architecture (Noonari, 2020)
(Figure 2) to be integrated into the BMS. The smart building technology architecture could
include a complex system of varying smart technologies (IoT systems, cloud and fog
computing, big data analytics and engineering and human-computer interaction algorithms
SASBE

Figure 2.
Smart building
architecture

(Jia et al., 2019; Lu et al., 2023)) as shown in Figure 1, and it is purported to maximise the
efficiency of a building facility’s operation whilst improving the well-being of its occupants.
This is geared towards gathering massive amounts of data in building facilities that can
further be analysed to inform decisions on facility management.

2.2 The digital counterpart

The digital world of a smart building is a digital, computational model of a building facility
(Brilakis et al., 2019), and it serves as a recording and communication mechanism to facilitate
the interpretation and prediction of its environment and user behaviour based on real-time
data, business logic and objectives about corresponding objects. Developing digital models
for DTs is critical, and these exist as either semantic or physical models. Physical models
require a detailed grasp of their physical qualities and existing linkages, whereas semantic
models are created using AI approaches with known inputs and outputs (Liu et al., 2021b).
Digital modelling of a physical smart building exists in two forms: the initial digital design
before the construction of the physical building and the digital design from existing buildings
(also known as the as-built model). For the latter, the digital model stands as a very coarse
approximation of an existing physical smart building but can be precise depending on the
data source and the methodology, whereas the former initial digital design is created to stand
in for the smart building in simulations long before construction begins (Johnson Controls,
2018). These two modelling approaches produce high-fidelity models depending on the
software used. Also, amongst various digital models for DTs, there may be a need for high-
fidelity, which requires a multi-physics approach to create context-rich datasets in buildings
at the facility management stage.
In the built environment, one concept cannot be ignored: BIM. Most researchers have
likened the BIM concept to the digital model. BIM represents an existing physical object that
does not automate real-time data exchange between the physical object and the virtual Digital twins
counterpart (Kritzinger et al., 2018). However, information/data exchange is key to digital for smart
models, including BIM (Lu et al., 2018), and this could be facilitated by the enabling
technologies incorporated in smart buildings. BIM could, therefore, be a semantically rich
facility
digital model for setting up DTs to automate real-time data transactions between physical management
smart buildings and their virtual counterpart.

2.3 Real-time twin relationship between the physical and digital worlds
The twin linkage between the physical and the digital world realises the DTs concept for
smart building. Both the physical components and virtual counterparts are integrated using
sensors, controllers and computer algorithms such that the physical space can be real-time
monitored by the virtual side in a seamless manner (Tao et al., 2019). With this, a bi-directional
automatic data flow is realised, such that automatic real-time adjustment in the physical
system can occur due to simulation in the virtual counterpart (see Figure 3). This feature
makes DTs distinctive from the BIM concept (Jiang et al., 2021a).
The DTs concept differs slightly but emphasises bi-directional coordination, bringing it
closer to the CPS concept (Ghansah and Lu, 2023b). The BIM model in the DTs gathers real-
time data and puts it back, effectively closing the information loop with a one-to-one mapping
to create a bi-directional relationship. Alternatively, integrating BIM with IoT technology
could achieve a real-time seamless data transition from the physical world to the digital
model, realising DTs’ concept (Brilakis et al., 2019) for facility management in smart
buildings.
Given the background, DTs has opportunities for smart buildings at the facility
management stage, which have been associated more closely. These include occupancy-
related benefits (Seghezzi et al., 2021) and decision support systems (Stojanovic et al., 2018;

Figure 3.
DTs for smart
buildings with the
associated
technologies
SASBE Bujari et al., 2021). Previous studies, including Boje et al. (2020), examined the multi-faceted
applications of Building Information Modelling (BIM) during the construction stage and
highlighted limits and requirements to pave the way for the DTs’ construction. However,
several trails in the research methodology design were left out surrounding the issue of DTs
when analysed their findings, including the significant applications and enablers. Jiang et al.
(2021a) examined digital technologies (DTs) in civil engineering and clarified the notion of
DTs, which has been misunderstood for BIM and (CPS). Their scope of work was restricted to
civil engineering projects, which may differ slightly from building projects in intelligent
buildings. Five primary study areas were identified by Ozturk (2021) through a scientometric
analysis: building lifecycle management, virtual-physical building integration, information-
integrated manufacturing, information-based predictive management and virtual-based
information utilisation. The sole use of scientometric analysis made their work susceptible to
the issue of data duplication can affect their results. Opoku et al. (2021) examined the status of
DTs applications with less focus on the enablers and the challenges of the state-of-the-art DTs
applications across areas in the building industry. Ghansah and Lu (2023a) also identified the
major opportunities of DTs for smart building, with a limited focus on only the prospects.
Previous reviews have shown substantial contributions to DTs knowledge in the built
environment, especially for smart buildings. However, significant challenges are faced upon
deciding to implement DTs for facility management due to the originality of the concept
(Rasheed et al., 2019). Few studies have been conducted on smart facility management
(Stojanovic et al., 2018; Seghezzi et al., 2021; Bujari et al., 2021), which may be explained by the
high complexity of accurately representing and modelling the physics behind the DTs
processes. Meanwhile, understanding this could contribute to realising the full potential of
DTs for facility management, especially in smart buildings. Significant challenges are faced
upon deciding to implement DTs at the facility management stage due to the novelty of the
concept. Simply put, the study investigates the potential of DTs for facility management in
smart buildings.
This study, therefore, aims to explore the enablers of DTs for smart buildings at the
facility management stage, the significant applications and the associated challenges and
further examine the available interactive relationship amongst them. This is achieved with a
systematic literature review by engaging qualitative content analysis (QCA). This could help
understand the high complexity of accurately representing and modelling the physics behind
the processes to realise the full potential of DTs for facility management. The study focuses
on the facility management stage, where there is a clear lack of studies and with which smart
buildings have been associated more closely.

3. Research methods
A two-step systematic literature review approach was adopted to meet the objectives of this
study by collecting and analysing relevant literature published since 2015 due to the newness
of the concept (Dixit et al., 2019; Akomea-Frimpong et al., 2022). The two-step approach is
illustrated in Figure 4.

3.1 Step 1: collection of publications

Publications were retrieved from the Scopus database based on a query string due to its fast-
indexing process compared to other databases (Li et al., 2014). Critical keywords on the
subject were searched and chosen with the help of “Google search”. The keywords were then
inserted into the search engine of Scopus. The first part constituted related keywords such as
“digital twin” OR “digital twins” OR “virtual counterpart” OR “digital replica” OR “virtual
twin”. The second keyword section consisted of related keywords such as “construction
 Digital twins
for smart
facility
management

Figure 4.
Study workflow

engineering and management” OR “construction” OR “construction engineering” OR

“construction management” OR “facility management” OR “Building management”. Lastly,
the third section comprised of related keywords, including “smart building” OR “smart
buildings” OR “cyber physical systems” OR “cyber-physical systems” OR “CPS” AND “BIM”
OR “building information model” OR “building information modelling” OR “building
information modelling.” The fourth part included “barriers” OR “drivers” OR “challenges”.
The search was facilitated by the Booleans “AND” and “OR”. However, close attention was
granted to the keywords as they were used to generate relevant related studies concerning the
purpose of this study (Paul and Barari, 2022).
Seventy-four (74) publications were initially retrieved. Considering the relatively small
number of publications from Scopus, the authors further searched the Web of Science (18) and
Google Scholar (7) (Jacso, 2005), making a total of 99 publications. Subsequently, the results
were limited to the English language, journal and conference proceedings. The search period
was unrestricted until 2023. Removing duplicates, filtering and restricting the search reduced
the 99 publications to 79. A final round of searches was carried out to ensure all academic
databases were searched, including PubMed, ABI/Inform, JSTOR, EBSCOHost and
Mendeley. The search yielded no extra documents, thereby affirming the exhaustion of all
relevant search engines. Hence, 79 publications were selected for further review.
The 79 selected publications were examined rigorously by applying the “inclusion and
exclusion” criteria (Meline, 2006). Similar studies in construction engineering and
management (CEM) research have applied the inclusion and exclusion criteria (Ershadi
and Goodarzi, 2021; Akomea-Frimpong et al., 2022). The two main “inclusion and exclusion”
criteria are applied to this study. Firstly, the article must be published in a rigorously peer-
reviewed reputable journal or conference. Articles published in reputable journals and
conferences contribute significantly to further research and practice (Mingers and Yang,
2017). Second, the article must extensively cover DTs and smart building separately but with
a significant relationship. Hence, the article must contain enough information to address the
study’s objectives. Articles that failed to meet the above-stated criteria were excluded. After
SASBE meeting the criteria, 56 publications were considered adequate for this study (refer to
supplementary material, Table A1).

3.2 Step 2: qualitative content analysis (QCA)

At this step, the 56 relevant studies were read and examined by adopting QCA. This
categorises the test data to identify the common themes and statements through coding and
classification, as illustrated in Figure 5 (Braun and Clarke, 2006; Ghansah and Lu, 2023c).
Firstly, the authors browsed the 56 documents thoroughly by reading the publications and
taking notes on the topics, the key findings and the limitations. Secondly, the authors coded
the data by highlighting sections of the individual publications and came out with short
labels to describe the contents. Thirdly, the authors reviewed the created codes, identified
patterns amongst them and started generating themes. In the fourth step, the authors ensured
that the themes were useful and accurate in representing the data. In the fifth step, the authors
had a final list of themes, ready to name and define each succinctly to make them
understandable. Lastly, the authors decided to produce a report based on the defined themes.
For this study, the reliability of the codes and themes generated was ensured based on the
researcher consistently identifying patterns and recoding to classify key elements based on
their meanings and explanations from literature (Elo et al., 2014).

4. Findings and discussions

4.1 Descriptive analysis
4.1.1 Articles per year. Figure 6 illustrates the annual publication ranging from 2018 to 2023.
The first two articles on DTs for smart buildings were identified in 2018. Since then, the topic
has gained attention amongst researchers. The year 2022 was noted with 19 publications. It
can be seen that the last five years have seen an increase in publications. This is attributed to
the fact that organisations and professionals are beginning to understand the benefits of DTs
application in the construction industry, for instance, its ability to expedite product

Figure 5.
A qualitative content
analysis adopted for
the study
 Number of publications Digital twins
22 19 for smart
20 facility
Number of publications 18 16
16 management
14
12
10 8
8 5 6
6
4 2
2
0 Figure 6.
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Year-wise distribution
Year trend of the selected
studies
Source(s): Author’s own work

development and support innovations. This is not surprising as the implementation of DTs
enables distributed remote control of assets and provides data about the asset’s status and
disposition in real-time. Due to the benefits, DTs in smart buildings will reach $4.8 billion by
2027; hence up to 93% of all IoT platforms will contain some form of digital twinning
capability by 2027 (Research and Market, 2022). It is worth noting that DTs is occasionally
emerging and maturing in the AECO industry and, therefore, can benefit facility
management of smart buildings.
4.1.2 Methods adopted. The methods adopted by the 56 studies were reviewed in this
section. The review identified six main research methods: quantitative model, qualitative
model, User-centric design (UCD), mixed research, laboratory and case study (Figure 7).
The case study was adopted by 33 articles with a percentage of 58.92%. This is consistent
with the study by Yeboah-Asiamah et al. (2017), who posited that case studies help recognise
the unique characteristics and impacts of specific projects within a research scope, such as the
concept of digital technologies, including DTs. This is also convenient for researchers to
make deductions using real case projects compared to other methods (Agarchand and
Laishram, 2017). “Laboratory experiment” was ranked second, accounting for nine articles
with 23.21%. This creates an atmosphere to test the prototype of DTs in a laboratory to save
time and resources (Karve et al., 2020). Laboratory experiments provide several distinct
advantages to researchers as a means of deriving causal relations from controlled
manipulations of specific conditions whilst controlling all sounding factors (Br€ uggemann
and Bizer, 2016). Mixed research popped out to be adopted by two articles with a percentage

35 33
30
25
20
Counts

15 13
10
3 4
5 2 1
0
Quantitative Qualitative UCD Mixed Laboratory Case study Figure 7.
model model research experiment Research methods
Methods adopted by selected
studies
Source(s): Author’s own work
SASBE of 7.14%. This approach in the article consisted of a combination of different methods,
including surveys, interviews, etc., to evaluate the key issues on DTs application for smart
buildings and its technologies. The next set of methods included the quantitative model,
qualitative model and UCD.

4.2 Critical themes

Three critical themes were revealed for this study, including the enablers, the applications
and the challenges to DTs application for smart building at the facility management stage.
The study further examined the interactive relationship amongst the critical themes towards
an integrative framework development for a better understanding to realise DTs for facility
management.
4.2.1 Enablers of DTs for smart building at the facility management stage. The study
identified and categorised the enablers in the literature review into six main groups, as
illustrated in Table 1. These are subsequently discussed.
4.2.1.1 Perception technologies. Perception technologies are enablers for DTs for facility
management and these perceive situations and contexts in smart buildings (Zheng et al., 2019;
Sacks et al., 2020; Alizadehsalehi and Yitmen, 2021; Jiang et al., 2021b), and they include IoT
systems. The perception technologies could enable communication between devices within
the same system and collect large volumes of data from building operations or activities in
smart buildings. As a result, a significant application could include predictive maintenance to
enhance fault detection in facilities (Lu et al., 2020b). The data collected by perception
technologies in smart facilities are analysed to generate actionable insights to inform
decision-making throughout the smart building to enhance activities of facility management
such as monitoring of energy consumption, fault detection prediction, building state
monitoring and improvement of building operations.
4.2.1.2 Network technologies. Network technologies draw the actual meaning of DTs via
real-time data transmission for prompt analysis (Xu et al., 2019; Tan et al., 2022). These
facilitate the data exchange between devices of the IoT and input signals to perform specific
tasks based on the input from the DT. Although a wide variety of network technologies
(WAN, LAN, 5G cellular network, WSN and Wi-Fi) is available, the most efficient one allows
faster real-time data transmission for DTs. This is attributed to the 5G cellular network (Jiang
et al., 2021b; Liu et al., 2021c), and it is currently receiving attention for further research.
In smart buildings at the facility management phase, network technologies could ensure
effective communication amongst device systems to collect real-time data towards realising
the potential of DTs.
4.2.1.3 Storage technologies. Storage technologies make the data available for analysis to
inform decisions on facility management. With DTs reference architecture, storage is
facilitated by cloud and edge technologies (Zheng et al., 2019). Whilst edge technology is used
to process time-sensitive data, cloud computing is used to process data that is not time-driven
(Arora, 2022). Besides latency, edge technology is preferred over cloud technology in remote
locations, where there is limited or no connectivity to a centralised location (Arora, 2022).
Currently, the potential benefits of the use of cloud/edge technologies as storage are the
subject of extensive research. The built industry has promoted other technologies, such as
blockchain and other decentralised storage like InterPlanetary file systems, for data
availability, immutability and transparency.
4.2.1.4 Application technologies. Application technologies aid in gaining actionable
insight into transmitted large volumes of data to inform decisions on facility management.
Amongst the application technologies, 3D BIM applications appeared to be critical, as they
facilitate simulation, which is at the core of the DTs concept for smart buildings at the facility
management stage (Zhang et al., 2017). Though many applications software (see Table 1)
Category Enablers References (#)

Perception QR code and RFID tag, UWB tag, GPS, laser scanner 1,3,4,5,9,10,15,16,17,19,21,22,23,24,26,28,29,30,31,36,37,38,39,40,52,53,54,55,56
technologies Camera 18,27
Temperature sensors, humidity sensors 14
Colour sensors, Grove light sensors, Grove ultrasonic ranger 13
OPCUA 1,6,7,20
Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS), Mobile Light Detection and 12
Ranging (LIDAR) System (MLS)
Network WAN, LAN, 5G cellular network, WSN 6,7,10,21,23,24,25,45,50,56
technologies Wi-Fi 2,14,21
XBee ZB 13
Storage Raspberry board storage 11,24
technologies Cloud service 1,21,25,30
Edge service 23,24
Application Rhino 3D, Unity 3D, other Web-based GUI 1,2,18
technologies Accelerometer, Gyroscopic sensor (MPU-6050), HC-SR04 sensor 2
VICO, Visilean, Artificial intelligence, cognitive computing, 1,3,4,6,8,11,21,29,32,34,35,42,45,48,51
Computer vision, Bigdata
3D BIM, AutoCAD, risk, ANSYS, inspection mode for 3D model 7,8,9,12,15,16,17,19,20,21,22,24,25,26,27,28,29,31,33,34,41,42,43,44,46,47,49,51
Structured query language 20
Object-oriented programming, GUI 5
Arduino, Excel VBA programme, EasyComm 13
Energy power metre 14
Excel file 27
ifcOWL, openModica software, SOSA Ontology 30
Knowledge- Reskilling and upskilling of labour force 3,29
building Implementation of industry 4.0 standards 31
Asset modelling 2,18
Design process Ensuring autonomy and decentralisation of DTs 7,8,9,12
Simulation 1
Note(s): (#) Refer to serial number in the supplementary material, Table A1 for the references
Source(s): Author’s own work
facility
management
for smart
Digital twins

of DT enablers for
List and categorisation

smart building at the

Table 1.

management stage
facility
SASBE exists to facilitate DTs development, an important topic of debate in the literature is the
advantages and disadvantages of building DTs using expensive software platforms
provided by large software providers (e.g. Honeywell, Microsoft, Autodesk, etc.) as opposed
to open-source software (Perno et al., 2022). DTs can be developed using entirely open-source
software architecture. This avoids the risk of vendor lock-in and the need to purchase
expensive third-party software (Weber et al., 2017). Furthermore, the potential of DTs can be
enhanced with the integration of AI to derive deep insight into real-time data to inform
decisions (Xu et al., 2020; Peng et al., 2020; Alizadehsalehi and Yitmen, 2021) to improve
facility management activities via predictive maintenance.
4.2.1.5 Knowledge-building. The knowledge-building category constitutes the ability to
generate new knowledge from the analysis based on asset modelling. This could be through
troubleshooting, planned shutdown and maintenance reports, production data, bill of
materials and scale data (Perno et al., 2022). This knowledge extends to optimising production
schedules, maintenance planning of activities and operation optimisations in smart buildings
at the facility management stage. For instance, knowledge can be built by simulating to
understand the status of smart buildings, which is a key enabler of DTs (Zhang et al., 2017;
Sacks et al., 2020). Thus, upskilling and reskilling of the labour force to better understand the
analysis and gain insight from the result of DTs is a key enabler to ensuring successful DT
implementation at the facility management phase of smart buildings (Sacks et al., 2020).
4.2.1.6 Design process. Understanding the design process is a key consideration in
developing DTs for smart buildings at the facility management stage. With this, reference
models must be developed as a base for DTs development (Zhang et al., 2017). To do so, the
focus should be on the important properties of the model and the line of authority, including
the scalability, expansibility, fidelity, interoperability, autonomy and decentralisation of the
DTs (Zhang et al., 2017; Zhuang et al., 2018; Peng et al., 2020). This could facilitate bringing
project stakeholders upfront when the cost of making “building” changes is relatively lower,
and the ability to impact the building outcomes is relatively higher.
4.2.2 Applications of DTs for facility management. This section discusses the DTs
application in smart buildings focusing on the facility management stage, also known as the
services phase, as illustrated in Table 2. The study revealed that there is a clear lack of studies
on the DTs implementation in smart buildings at the facility management stage, where smart
buildings have been associated more closely. However, three main categories of DTs
application were discovered at the facility management stage, as shown in Table 2.
4.2.2.1 Efficient operation and service monitoring. During the service phase, smart
building projects are out of the contractor’s control and left to users’ management, including
facility managers and occupants. Deploying DTs technology allows users to make critical
decisions regarding the operations and management of smart buildings (Peng et al., 2020). For
example, a “what-if” analysis can be performed by facility managers to improve occupants’
comfort, safety, emergency evacuation, energy consumption and utilisation in smart
buildings by integrating DTs and big data technologies (Zhuang et al., 2018). Hence,
providing predictive services to improve operations in smart buildings. Also, with the
integration of smart contracts into a facility management plan, effective and secured
integration of occupants and facility management plans can be achieved (Antonino
et al., 2019).
4.2.2.2 Efficient building energy management. With DTs technology for smart buildings
at the facility management stage, building energy can be tracked and measured in real-time
efficiently in smart buildings through synchronising the physical and virtual worlds. This is
facilitated by advanced supporting technologies such as BIM to give clear visualisation, IoT
and WSN to enhance real-time data transmission and big data analytics to draw patterns in
understanding energy performance and consumption (Tan et al., 2022). Thus, an effective
DTs application assists in real-time tracking and understanding of energy consumption in
Code Categories Applications References (#)
Digital twins
for smart
AP1 Efficient operation • Efficient Gesture control 7,8,11, 13, 6,28,40,47,48,50,52,53,54 facility
and service • Human-computer/machine
monitoring collaboration management
• Emergency evacuation
• Improve occupants’ comfort
• Real-time building management
systems
• Remote control of the building to
ensure security via virtual reality
• Systems thinking for aiding
sustainable decision-makings
AP2 Efficient building • Real-time monitoring of energy 14,15,16,32,34,42,56
energy management consumption and utilisation
• Real-time monitoring, control and
minimisation of energy
consumption
• Real-time tracking and
understanding of energy
consumption
AP3 Effective smart • Building maintenance and 24,25,48
building maintenance performance monitoring
• Accident prevention and effective
fault detection capability
• Real-time connection and
Table 2.
information for risk assessment Applications of DTs for
in buildings smart buildings at the
Note(s): (#) Refer to serial number in the supplementary material, Table A1 for the references facility
Source(s): Author’s own work management stage

buildings. In managing and building energy efficiency system platforms, DTs could offer
smart buildings the capability to improve and enrich available data, receive inputs and
signals from sensors that constantly monitor them and develop self-learning capabilities and
predictivity via AI integration (Agostinelli et al., 2021). Also, improving the interoperability
between DTs-BIM and building energy models could effectively transfer data between
modelling software and energy consumption simulation software (Porsani et al., 2021;
Agostinelli et al., 2021). Thus, DTs can improve the energy performance of smart buildings
via effective simulation with real-time synchronisations.
4.2.2.3 Effective smart building maintenance. Integrating facility management with
advanced technologies, including DTs with AI, enables the potential of human-like cognition,
which enhances the value of facilities (Xu et al., 2019) by unleashing efficiency in applications.
Using a set of monitoring data, Lu et al. (2020b) established a DT-enabled anomaly detection
system to detect building asset anomalies in their daily operational conditions, thereby
detecting faults during services. A fully automated DTs-integrated framework provides a
reliable and practical tool for real-time data acquisition for the maintenance management of
smart buildings (Torrecilla-Garcıa et al., 2021). Hence, smart building conditions are
continuously monitored in real-time to support various maintenance decisions in smart
buildings at the facility management stage using DTs.
4.2.3 Challenges of DTs for smart building at the facility management stage. The study
identified nine challenges focussing on DTs for smart buildings at the facility management
stage. As seen in Table 3, the four major challenges to DTs implementation for facility
management in the smart building are the lack of a systematic and comprehensive reference
SASBE Category Code Challenges References (#) Total

Technical CH1 Lack of a systematic and 1,2,4,7,16,18,20,23,24,27,32,33,45,46,50 15

issues comprehensive reference model
CH2 Real-time data integration 10,11,12,14,15,17,19,25,26,34,35,49 12
CH3 Complexity and uncertainty nature 9,13,21,22,28,29,30,37,38,47,48 11
of real-time data
CH4 Real-time data visualisation 8,14,16,31,39,40,41 7
CH5 Real-time data collection 25,42,43,44 4
Social issues CH6 Lack of consensus amongst 3,55 2
researchers and practitioners
CH7 Changing requirements of smart 6,54 2
building occupants/users
CH8 Data safety and security 10,53 2
Table 3.
Challenges to DTs for CH9 High cost of involving digital 12,17,51,52 4
smart buildings at the technologies
facility Note(s): (#) Refer to serial number in the supplementary material, Table A1 for the references
management stage Source(s): Author’s own work

model, followed by real-time data integration, the complexity and uncertainty nature of real-
time data and real-time data visualisation. These major challenges appeared more than five
times in the previous studies. Also, the challenges can be categorised into two main issues,
namely, social issues and technical issues. Hence, following the socio-technical framework
(Shin, 2014) since DTs is to be situated in society. The social issues were noted to consist of
four challenges, with the major challenge being the “high cost of involving digital
technologies (CH9)”, whilst the technical issues consisted of five challenges, with the major
challenge being “Lack of a systematic and comprehensive reference model (CH1)”, as shown
in Table 3. According to the result, the major challenges of DTs application for smart building
at the facility management stage are mainly considered technical in nature. Hence, engaging
skilled and technical experts to design and develop DTs for smart buildings is encouraged to
ensure smooth implementation of the state-of-the-art at the facility management stage.
4.2.3.1 Technical issues. Technical issues arise from technical matters concerning DTs
application at the facility management stage for smart building, including the uncertainty
and complexity of real-time data, real-time data collection, real-time data integration, real-
time data visualisation and lack of a systematic and comprehensive reference model. The
technical issues are discussed further following their operational occurrence in a smart
building at the facility management stage.
The complexity and uncertain nature of real-time data are bottlenecks in implementing
DT technology as there is a need to efficiently input huge and fragmented data into DT’s
simulation model (Tan et al., 2022; Liu et al., 2021c). For instance, the need to simplify the
complexity of maintenance schedule deviation risks data in the maintenance process of
modular buildings (Lee and Lee, 2021), as well as the integration with data on the suppliers
and subcontractors, could be a challenge. As a result, the fragmented real-time data in the DT
simulation model could remain a roadblock to DT implementation for facility management.
Real-time data collection has also been regarded as a problem, and today, researchers and
practitioners are wondering about the problems of calibrating models based on the real-time
data collected on real assets. This is due to the unavailability of efficient IoT systems, a core of
the smart building to collect real-time data from various data types within smart buildings,
including occupant behaviours, indoor or outdoor environments and the building structure
(Jia et al., 2019; Torrecilla-Garcıa et al., 2021). IoT systems are delimited in terms of optimising
decision-making in the safety management of buildings due to data duplication and
inconsistencies (Jia et al., 2019). Thus, making real-time data gathering difficult and requiring Digital twins
more conscious effort and processes during facility management of buildings. for smart
Real-time data integration is positioned as a technical issue, as huge real-time data exist in
a different format, making it onerous to integrate into the DT’s data platform (Peng et al.,
facility
2020). The issue surfaces due to the inefficient real-time visual management and management
measurement data, which could enable managers to grasp the detailed status of the whole
smart building (Kaewunruen et al., 2020). For instance, real-time data on the relationship
between building users and appliance usage may be collected from humans containing
images and voices and from appliances containing textual content. Thus, real-time data must
undergo efficient and effective re-formatting to allow its integration to avoid outdated data
during decision-making on facility management.
Real-time data visualisation to understand the current situation in smart buildings also
emerges as a challenge in DT implementation. Meanwhile, real-time visual management
could have enabled managers or users to grasp the detailed status of a whole smart building
during DTs implementation (Porsani et al., 2021). The existing BIM software focuses on
checking business data with a 3D model but not a mass analysis with real-time data. Hence,
an intelligent DTs diagnosis function, i.e. a professional AI model assembled as a diagnosis
engine to visualise and understand data seamlessly, is necessary. There is also an existing
problem of creating and visualising real-time energy models from the existing semi-
automated workflow from BIM to building energy models to impact decisions concerning
facility management (Porsani et al., 2021; Agostinelli et al., 2021).
There is a need to systematise the construction process of DTs to achieve a high degree of
digitalisation. This causes little progress in achieving the full potential of DTs application
considering the complexity of smart buildings (Zhuang et al., 2018). The DTs research of
lifecycle management is still in the theoretical stage, and therefore, the application methods
are unclear on the real grounds concerning its systematisation (Zheng et al., 2019; Lu et al.,
2020a; Alizadehsalehi and Yitmen, 2021). Hence, its applicability is being questioned in the
building industry, particularly in construction machinery testing and working processes.
As a result, cyber-physical interoperation in smart buildings is fragmented and out of date
because different criticalities must be considered to streamline the organisation of DTs
technology to collect real-time data.
Along with the systematisation of DTs technology, there is a need to consider data
interoperability with technologies (Porsani et al., 2021). For instance, there is a need to
improve the compatibility between the model exchange format and BIM to promote the
interoperability of the BIM-Building energy model. Rocca et al. (2020) and O’Grady et al. (2021)
also emphasised the challenge of integrating DTs into circular economy principles. This
enhances the applicability of circular economy strategies, but there is a limited understanding
of effective integration using smart technologies such as virtual reality and other
technologies. Insight shows that technology integration is a key solution to most
individual technology problems, and this improves efficiency in workflows and
applicability at the facility management stage in smart buildings.
4.2.3.2 Social issues. As DTs work in a society amongst humans, social issues were also
identified amongst the challenges and were given limited attention in the literature. This
raises the issues of fault detection and optimal control, which are mobilising part of the
community’s thinking. These comprise the lack of consensus amongst researchers and
practitioners, changing requirements of smart building occupants, data safety and security
and the high cost of involving digital technologies. These are further discussed.
Effective collaboration between the building researchers and technical teams is required
to advance the DTs application for smart buildings at the facility management stage. One
pertinent issue reported is the changing requirements of users (Xu et al., 2019), which has
created tension amongst designers and practitioners to develop a system to meet their
SASBE satisfaction. This may include the clients’ demands relating to the functionalities required
from the DTs in smart buildings, which are associated with the cost. Researchers and
practitioners lack consensus on how DTs processes and data-centric technologies can
support design and construction (Sacks et al., 2020), considering the changing demands of the
client and the incurring cost. Hence, collaboration amongst the technical and building
research stakeholders remains challenging for DTs implementations in smart buildings.
The lack of experienced and well-trained personnel is a social issue for DTs
implementation in smart buildings since using and monitoring data scientifically and
effectively is critical (Kaewunruen et al., 2021). A skilled workforce is required to enable the
interoperability, integration and linking of real-time data and models across all the systems in
a smart building (Plummer, 2021). Hence, key skills and capabilities to drive the DTs
intervention and its implementation in smart buildings, including the users in a closed loop,
are problems.
Personal data safety, protection and accountability in smart buildings is an issue that
needs to be considered. This also includes the government rules and regulations regarding
using digital technologies concerning energy usage, radiation emissions and information
security. The need for accountable data sharing amongst construction stakeholders amid
digitalisation is a critical social issue with DTs implementation (Lee et al., 2021; Jiang et al.,
2021b). DTs’ vulnerability lies with the IoT systems, including network services, backend
systems, web interfaces, physical hardware and software (Li et al., 2020). The traditional
network of IoT systems encompasses various entities, services and networks, making it
challenging to implement pre-existing security systems directly (Jia et al., 2019). An insecure
system may create concerns that prevent people from adopting the technology. For security
and issues, advanced technologies, including the blockchain (Lee et al., 2021; Li et al., 2022),
can be integrated into the DTs to detect third-party interference in personal data. This
permits one party to have exclusive access to their data required data. The key enabling
technologies of DTs must follow the current practices and updates in security and
regulations, especially the government policy regarding information security and digital
technologies.
The cost of developing a DTs platform is an issue to overcome, but the returns on
investment (ROI) are well-defined. At the initial stage, there is a high cost of involving various
digital technologies (i.e. huge upfront investment) to realise successful DTs adoption and
implementation in smart buildings, and this has become challenging in the AECO
community. The benefits of the DTs functionality in the long term may exceed the
drawbacks (Sharon, 2022). However, leveraging on the prospects could increase the rate of
adoption and implementation of DTs for smart buildings to solve solutions to existing
building issues (Wu et al., 2021).
4.2.3.3 Socio-technical concept underpinning the challenges. As proposed by Emery and
Trist in 1960, the socio-technical concept describes systems that involve a complex
interaction between the technical and the social aspects of a work system (Baxter and
Sommerville, 2011). This has been adopted in construction management research in fields
such as improvement of construction industrialisation practices (Jin et al., 2021), construction
project management competencies (Ahmadi Eftekhari et al., 2022), management of
refurbishment projects (Saurin et al., 2013) and modular construction of cognitive
buildings (Ghansah et al., 2022b).
For this study, the identified challenges exist as the interrelatedness of social and technical
aspects of the concepts; hence taken from the perspective of the socio-technical system (Shin,
2014). Scholars argue that the technical aspect traditionally has been the major focus when
investigating technological systems and their applications (Shin and Jung, 2012; Sony and
Naik, 2020). Meanwhile, the social and technical aspects must be considered to understand the
holistic nature of the challenges impeding the DTs implementation, including its interactions.
Hence, the challenges to DTs implementation must be considered in a cross-disciplinary Digital twins
framework (Figure 8), representing all aspects of technical issues and the social aspect for smart
(Sommerville and Dewsbury, 2007), as discussed in sections 4.2.3.1 and 4.2.3.2. However, it
can be inferred from Table 3 that there is a high focus on addressing the technical challenges,
facility
whilst the social aspects have been given little attention. Meanwhile, socio-technical theory management
attests that taking a holistic perspective of both the social and technical aspects of the
challenges can help to achieve effective implementation of DTs in smart buildings.
The socio-technical framework comprises the DTs’ technological system, the users, and
the society the system is adopted, not forgetting the interactions between them. If all the
aspect of the system has not been adequately considered, the DTs design runs the risk of
being a failure. Despite the influx of benefits and considerable enthusiasm around DTs in
smart buildings, a blank slate moment still exists from a design and technology perspective.
Obviously, the connected system for DTs exists, but we are not exactly sure why we need
them. This exists as a question from a socio-technical perspective, and it is rarely addressed in
the development and research projects on the DTs for smart buildings as a human-centred
system and in the public discourses surrounding it (Shin, 2014).

4.3 Interactive relationship amongst the enablers, the applications and the challenges
Following the method by Akomea-Frimpong et al. (2022), the interactive relationships
between the enablers, challenges and applications were examined, as shown in Figure 9.
In the figure, the arrows define the relationship amongst the applications, enablers and
challenges to the DTs implementation in smart buildings at the facility management stage.
The figure shows the case of theorising the principal themes of the research that shared light
on interrelating DTs for smart building. The framework’s ontological foundation resolves
and establishes the common grounds for achieving successful implementation of DTs for
facility management by providing the appropriate enablers whilst catering for the challenges.
The conceptual framework proposes threefold outcome from the main construct and
sub-constructs, expecting to affect the application or the implementation of DTs in smart
buildings at the facility management stage. First, the enablers are expected to positively

Figure 8.
Socio-technical-based
framework of the
challenges of DTs for
smart buildings at the
facility
management stage
SASBE

Figure 9.
An integrative
framework for the DTs
for smart building at
the facility
management stage of
buildings

affect DTs implementation towards successful applications. Second, the nine categorised
challenges are also anticipated to negatively affect the implementation of DTs in achieving
successful applications in facility management. Lastly, there will be an interrelationship
effect which could be positive or negative, between the challenges and the enablers of DTs for
smart building at the facility management stage. The proposed outcomes are further
discussed.
4.3.1 Enablers positively affect the DTs applications in smart buildings. Within the
framework, the enablers represent the facilitators capable of driving the successful
development and implementation of DTs in smart buildings at the facility management stage.
For instance, perception technologies, network technologies, storage technologies and
application technologies contribute to the systemic formation of DTs in smart buildings.
As perception technologies collect a large volume of data from smart buildings, storage
technologies store the data and make it available for analysis. The analysis is facilitated by
integrating AI and other application software to derive actionable insight from the
technology (Sacks et al., 2020; Jiang et al., 2021b; Liu et al., 2021c). In all, knowledge-building
and design considerations are essential in understanding the data retrieved from smart
buildings, and this is facilitated by upskilling the workers towards the appropriate
application software (Perno et al., 2022). Therefore, the study proposes that the effects of the
identified enablers on the DT applications in smart buildings at the facility management
stage will be significantly positive.
4.3.2 Challenges negatively affect the DTs applications in smart buildings. The relationship
between the challenges and the DTs applications is proposed to produce negative outcomes.
This radiates from the ambiguous understanding of the DTs concept, being the technical
issues and the social issues of implementing DTs for facility management. For instance, the
technical challenge of the complexity and fragmented real-time data in the DT simulation
model can negatively influence the DTs implementation in smart buildings at the facility
management stage (Lee and Lee, 2021). Real-time data integration is positioned as a technical
issue, as huge real-time data exist in a different format, making it onerous to integrate into the
DT’s data platform (Peng et al., 2020). Moreover, the lack of experienced and well-trained Digital twins
personnel exists as a social issue for the DTs implementation in facility management since for smart
using and monitoring data scientifically and effectively is critical (Kaewunruen et al., 2021).
4.3.3 Interrelationship between the enablers and the challenges. It is proposed that
facility
challenges to the DTs for the smart building at the facility management stage could management
negatively or positively affect the enablers. The interactions between the nine challenges and
the six categories of enablers of DTs for smart building are suggested to overlap and affect
each other’s outcomes (Akomea-Frimpong et al., 2022). It is worth knowing that addressing
the challenges may serve as an enabler to implementing DTs to achieve successful
applications. This simply denotes that potential effective enablers could help mitigate the
challenges, whilst ineffective enablers could add up to challenging the DTs implementation at
the facility management stage of buildings. For instance, training workers with the right
skilled training platform towards the appropriate DTs technologies could mitigate all the
challenges as proposed (CH1-CH9). However, vice versa could be true if the training is not
sufficient with the appropriate DTs technologies.

5. Implication of the findings

5.1 Policy
The result of this study informs decision-making and policy formulation regarding DTs for
smart buildings at the facility management stage by identifying the enablers and challenges
when applied to a real-life case study with possible main applications. The study’s findings
would impact current and future policies adopted by facility management professionals and
engineers to improve building performance and satisfy smart building users considering the
application of DTs. As DTs technology is emerging in the construction industry, this study
reveals the enablers, applications and challenges to consider in smart buildings at the facility
management stage where DTs can be implemented. This happens by understanding the
interactive effects of the enablers and the technical and social issues/challenges with respect
to clients’ requirements and government policies. For example, to ensure personal data safety
and security, DTs must be developed to comply with the security and privacy rules
governing smart buildings’ usage. Related stakeholders need to understand the effect of the
enabling technologies in DTs, including the blockchain, cameras, etc., whilst addressing the
social issues on safety and privacy. Overall, the findings can stimulate policies to help
successfully implement DTs for facility management, which could ensure positive and
effective sustainability outcomes for building users via data modelling scenarios, including
energy consumption, CO2 emissions and reducing waste and resource use. This could also
help ensure proper maintenance of buildings via real-time analysis, testing and actioning of
the smart building environment with respect to the occupants’ usage. This will boost the
operativity performance of buildings.

5.2 Practice
The findings of this study will assist practitioners, including facility managers, engineers,
designers and developers, to successfully implement DTs for smart buildings to enhance
facility management, knowing the enablers, applications and challenges. Specifically, the
enablers explored may guide the practitioner to successfully implement and achieve the
perceived prospects of DTs for smart buildings. Hence, such enablers may help improve
compliance activities and complement effective strategies, including proper management
support to realise the concepts of DTs for smart buildings to augment the activities of facility
management. Also, all practitioners may benefit from the findings of the study by gaining an
in-depth understanding of the opportunities DTs could offer smart buildings in the field of
SASBE AECO. This allows practitioners to implement DTs for smart buildings to produce solutions
that more closely match the requirements of when and what the users need, hence, achieving
the specific purpose of DTs for smart buildings. Awareness of the associated challenges may
also assist practitioners in effectively implementing DTs for smart buildings by considering
the related social issues (e.g. government policies, client demands and data information
security) and the technical issues relating to systematic structure/framework. Hence, the
ability to overcome the challenges brings forth a sense of confidence in the DTs for smart
buildings. The proposed integrative framework has the potential to direct practitioners to
pay special attention to the interactive relationship amongst the enablers and challenges in
influencing real-world DTs implementations in smart buildings towards successful
applications. Finally, the findings can help organisations achieve efficient facility
management from both facility engineers and maintenance teams, leveraging the potential
of DTs to provide a granular and holistic real-time view of the built environment.

5.3 Theoretical implication

The findings make a significant contribution to the knowledge of the smart building concept
by organising and synthesising the existing studies on DTs for smart buildings at the facility
management stage by exploring the enablers, applications and challenges. A substantial
contribution is also made through the proposal of an integrative framework considering the
interrelationships amongst the enablers, challenges and significant applications towards
realising the full potential of DTs for facility management in the built environment. Again, the
findings could contribute to the socio-technical concept by clearly proposing the technical
and social challenges regarding DTs implementation for facility management and showing
their interrelationships with enablers and possible applications.

6. Limitations of existing studies and future research

Due to the rapidly expanding interest in DTs in the construction sector, many publications
focusing on smart buildings are expected to skyrocket. Therefore, there is the possibility that
certain enablers, applications and challenges have yet to be explored, and this will extend the
classifications developed by this study. As a result, further research is encouraged to extend
this study by exploring the list of enablers, new applications and challenges with new cases to
develop the proposed model. As this study makes a hypothesis on the interactive relationship
amongst the enablers, applications and challenges without testing on a real-life case study, it
poses a limitation. Hence, future study is encouraged to conduct a test acknowledging the
hypothesis set in this study to identify the critical enablers and challenges whilst validating
the integrative framework to demonstrate its usefulness and efficiency in a real-world
context.
Also, the significantly increased rate of reports on DTs applications, as demonstrated by
the literature review, suggests the DTs concept is reaching the maturity level, hence
supporting widespread use in the future throughout a building lifecycle. To sustain this
momentum, future research should expand the conceptual framework described in this paper
through actual investigations to demonstrate the model’s application to smart building
operations and processes, including its environmental coupling. Furthermore, the publication
analysis results revealed that the case study had been highly adopted as a method by
previous studies, and there is less emphasis on the UCD of DTs implementation in smart
buildings at the facility management stage. However, it is important to be given equal
priority. Hence, future research should consider the user-centric nature of DTs as a high
priority when implementing them in smart buildings to ensure seamless and efficient facility
management. This allows the notion of DTs to be properly integrated into society. Also, the
result indicated that previous studies mostly focused on addressing the technical aspects of Digital twins
the challenges of DTs for smart building, whilst the social aspects were largely overlooked. for smart
Hence, it is worthwhile for future studies to start giving considerable attention to the social
aspect of the challenges since DTs will be situated in the community. Finally, it is useful to
facility
know that DTs is developed to aggregate, manage, analyse, visualise and predict information management
for facility management. This can be successfully repurposed to provide a unique
information management solution to unforeseen circumstances, such as the COVID-19
crisis now and later, at any scale in smart buildings at the facility management stage.

7. Conclusion
Despite the enormous prospects of DTs for smart buildings, challenges are faced upon
deciding to implement DTs in smart buildings at the facility management stage.
Furthermore, limited studies on DTs have been conducted for smart buildings regarding
the facility management stage, and this may be explained by the high complexity of
accurately representing and modelling the physics behind the process. Thus, this study
organises and consolidates the fragmented literature on the DTs implementation for smart
buildings at the facility management stage by exploring the enablers, applications and
challenges and examining the interrelationships amongst them. Simply put, the study
investigates the potential of DTs for facility management in smart buildings.
The study revealed and categorised the enablers of DTs for smart buildings at the facility
management stage into six main groups: perception technologies, network technologies,
storage technologies, application technologies, knowledge-building and design processes.
Three substantial categories of DTs applications in smart buildings were revealed at the facility
management stage, including efficient operation and service monitoring, efficient building
energy management and effective smart building maintenance. The study revealed that there is
a clear lack of studies on the DTs implementation in smart buildings at the facility management
stage, where smart buildings have been associated more closely. The study further revealed
nine challenges associated with DTs for smart buildings at the facility management stage, with
the top four major challenges being the lack of a systematic and comprehensive reference
model, real-time data integration, the complexity and uncertainty nature of real-time data and
real-time data visualisation. From the perspective of the socio-technical concept, the challenges
were categorised into two main issues that are interdependent: social and technical issues. The
social issue consists of four challenges, with the major being “high cost of involving
technologies”, whilst the technical issue consists of five challenges, with the major being “lack of
a systematic and comprehensive reference model”. Overall, the major challenges of DTs
application for smart building at the facility management stage are mainly considered technical
in nature. Finally, the study examined the interactive relationship amongst the critical themes
and established a hypothesis that can be tested in real-life cases, hence, proposing an integrative
framework. Specifically, the enablers and the challenges may provide practitioners with
guidance through the DTs implementation processes, whilst the applications will show the
potential benefits/prospects of DTs for smart buildings. The integrative framework proposed
could direct practitioners to pay special attention to the interactive relationship amongst the
enablers and challenges in influencing real-world DTs implementations in smart buildings
towards successful applications to ensure effective facility management. Research directions
were further proposed to address the identified limitations of existing studies to envision the
ideal state of DTs for smart buildings.
Despite the significant implication of the results, the outcomes show that contradictions
exist in various policies and decision-making processes on applying DTs in smart buildings
to improve building performance and satisfy smart building users. For instance, regarding
safety and privacy issues, DTs must be designed to follow the security and privacy
SASBE regulations governing technology-integrated facilities, including smart buildings.
The enablers and challenges give practitioners information on how to successfully
implement DTs for smart buildings, whilst the applications demonstrate the potential
benefits of DTs for smart buildings. This is not enough, as the established hypothesis has not
been tested in real-life projects. Hence, future study is encouraged to test the proposed
interactive relationship amongst the enablers, the applications and the significant challenges
using a real-life case. Also, future studies can consider identifying solutions to the proposed
challenges to uptake the DTs implementation for facility management in smart buildings.

References
Agarchand, N. and Laishram, B. (2017), “Sustainable infrastructure development challenges through
PPP procurement process: indian perspective”, International Journal of Managing Projects in
Business, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 642-662, doi: 10.1108/IJMPB-10-2016-0078.
Agostinelli, S., Cumo, F., Guidi, G. and Tomazzoli, C. (2021), “Cyber-physical systems improving
building energy management: DT and artificial intelligence”, Energies, Vol. 14 No. 8, p. 2338,
doi: 10.3390/en14082338.
Ahmadi Eftekhari, N., Mani, S., Bakhshi, J. and Mani, S. (2022), “Project manager competencies for
dealing with socio-technical complexity: a grounded theory construction”, Systems, Vol. 10
No. 5, p. 161, doi: 10.3390/systems10050161.
Akomea-Frimpong, I., Kukah, A.S., Jin, X., Osei-Kyei, R. and Pariafsai, F. (2022), “Green finance for
green buildings: a systematic review and conceptual foundation”, Journal of Cleaner Production,
Vol. 356, 131869, doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.131869.
Alizadehsalehi, S. and Yitmen, I. (2021), “Digital twin-based progress monitoring management model
through reality capture to extended reality technologies (DRX)”, Smart and Sustainable Built
Environment, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 200-236, doi: 10.1108/SASBE-01-2021-0016.
Antonino, M., Nicola, M., Claudio, D.M., Luciano, B. and Fulvio, R.C. (2019), “Office building occupancy
monitoring through image recognition sensors”, International Journal of Safety and Security
Engineering, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 371-380, doi: 10.2495/SAFE-V9-N4-371-380.
Arora, S. (2022), “Edge computing vs. Cloud computing: what are the differences”, available at: https://
www.simplilearn.com/edge-computing-vs-cloud-computing-article#:∼:text5Edge%
20computing%20is%20used%20to,connectivity%20to%20a%20centralized%20location
(accessed 8 May 2022).
Baxter, G. and Sommerville, I. (2011), “Socio-technical systems: from design methods to systems
engineering”, Interacting with Computers, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 4-17, doi: 10.1016/j.intcom.2010.07.003.
Boje, C., Guerriero, A., Kubicki, S. and Rezgui, Y. (2020), “Towards a semantic Construction DT:
directions for future research”, Automation in Construction, Vol. 114, 103179, doi: 10.1016/j.
autcon.2020.103179.
Bolton, A., Butler, L., Dabson, I., Enzer, M., Evans, M., Fenemore, T., Harradence, F., Keaney, E., Kemp,
A., Luck, A. and Pawsey, N. (2018), “Gemini principles”, available at: https://www.repository.
cam.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1810/284889/The%20Gemini%20Principles%202019.pdf?
sequence57 (accessed 9 January 2022).
Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006), “Using thematic analysis in psychology”, Qualitative Research in
Psychology, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 77-101, doi: 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.
Brilakis, I., Pan, Y., Borrmann, A., Mayer, H., Rhein, F., Vos, C., Pettinato, E. and Wagner, S. (2019),
“Built environment digital twinning”, available at: https://publications.cms.bgu.tum.de/reports/
2020_Brilakis_BuiltEnvDT.pdf (accessed 9 January 2022).
uggemann, J. and Bizer, K. (2016), “Laboratory experiments in innovation research: a
Br€
methodological overview and a review of the current literature”, Journal of Innovation and
Entrepreneurship, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 1-13, doi: 10.1186/s13731-016-0053-9.
Buckman, A.H., Mayfield, M. and B.M. Beck, S. (2014), “What is a smart building?”, Smart and Digital twins
Sustainable Built Environment, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 92-109, doi: 10.1108/SASBE-01-2014-0003.
for smart
Bujari, A., Calvio, A., Foschini, L., Sabbioni, A. and Corradi, A. (2021), “A digital twin decision support
system for the urban facility management process”, Sensors, Vol. 21 No. 24, p. 8460, doi: 10.
facility
3390/s21248460. management
Choi, Y. and Yoon, S. (2023), “In-situ observation of virtual sensors in building systems toward virtual
sensing-enabled digital twins”, Energy and Buildings, Vol. 281, 112766, doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.
2022.112766.
Cushman and Wakefield (2019), “The evolution of smart buildings: are cognitive buildings fact or
fantasy?”, available at: https://tinyurl.com/33p6y4dd (accessed 30 September 2021).
Dixit, S., Mandal, S.N., Thanikal, J.V. and Saurabh, K. (2019), “Evolution of studies in construction
productivity: a systematic literature review (2006-2017)”, Ain Shams Engineering Journal,
Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 555-564, doi: 10.1016/j.asej.2018.10.010.
EC (2009), ICT for a Low Carbon Economy Smart Electricity Distribution Network”. European
Commission: Brussels, available at: https://www.ctc-n.org/sites/default/files/resources/pub_
smart_edn_web.pdf (accessed 15 March 2022).
Elo, S., K€a€ari€ainen, M., Kanste, O., P€olkki, T., Utriainen, K. and Kyng€as, H. (2014), “Qualitative content
analysis: a focus on trustworthiness”, SAGE Open, Vol. 4 No. 1, 2158244014522633, doi: 10.
1177/2158244014522633.
Emergen research (2021), “Smart buildings market size”, available at: https://www.emergenresearch.
com/industry-report/smart-buildings-market (accessed 9 March 2021).
Ershadi, M. and Goodarzi, F. (2021), “Core capabilities for achieving sustainable construction project
management”, Sustainable Production and Consumption, Vol. 28, pp. 1396-1410, doi: 10.1016/j.
spc.2021.08.020.
Ghansah, F.A. and Lu, W. (2023a), “Major opportunities of digital twins for smart buildings: a
scientometric and content analysis”, Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, Vol. 13 No. 1,
pp. 63-84, doi: 10.1108/SASBE-09-2022-0192.
Ghansah, F.A. and Lu, W. (2023b), “Cyber-physical systems and digital twins for ‘cognitive building’
in the construction industry”, Construction Innovation, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print,
doi: 10.1108/CI-07-2022-0164.
Ghansah, F.A. and Lu, W. (2023c), “Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the construction industry:
a literature review of academic research”, Construction Management and Economics, Vol. 41
No. 9, pp. 781-803, doi: 10.1080/01446193.2023.2205159.
Ghansah, F.A., Chen, J. and Lu, W. (2022a), “Developing a user perception model for smart living: a
partial least squares structural equation modelling approach”, Building and Environment,
Vol. 222, 109399, doi: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109399.
Ghansah, F.A., Lu, W., Chen, J. and Peng, Z. (2022b), November, “A socio-technical system (STS)
framework for modular construction of cognitive buildings”, IOP Conference Series: Earth and
Environmental Science, Vol. 1101 No. 7, 072012, IOP Publishing, doi: 10.1088/1755-1315/1101/7/
072012.
Grieves, M.W. (2005), “Product lifecycle management: the new paradigm for enterprises”, International
Journal of Product Development, Vol. 2 Nos 1-2, pp. 71-84, doi: 10.1504/IJPD.2005.006669.
Honghong, S., Gang, Y., Haijiang, L., Tian, Z. and Annan, J. (2023), “Digital twin enhanced BIM to
shape full life cycle digital transformation for bridge engineering”, Automation in Construction,
Vol. 147, 104736, doi: 10.1016/j.autcon.2022.104736.
ISO-41011:2017(en) (n.d.), “Facility management — vocabulary”, available at: https://www.iso.org/obp/
ui/#iso:std:iso:41011:ed-1:v1:en (accessed 2 December 2023).
Jacso, P. (2005), “As we may search—comparison of major features of the Web of Science, Scopus, and
Google Scholar citation-based and citation-enhanced databases”, Current Science, Vol. 89 No. 9,
pp. 1537-1547, available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24110924 (accessed 2 December 2023).
SASBE Jia, M., Komeily, A., Wang, Y. and Srinivasan, R.S. (2019), “Adopting Internet of Things for the
development of smart buildings: a review of enabling technologies and applications”,
Automation in Construction, Vol. 101, pp. 111-126, doi: 10.1016/j.autcon.2019.01.023.
Jiang, F., Ma, L., Broyd, T. and Chen, K. (2021a), “DT and its implementations in the civil engineering
sector”, Automation in Construction, Vol. 130, 103838, doi: 10.1016/j.autcon.2021.103838.
Jiang, Y., Liu, X., Kang, K., Wang, Z., Zhong, R.Y. and Huang, G.Q. (2021b), “Blockchain-enabled
cyber-physical smart modular integrated construction”, Computers in Industry, Vol. 133,
103553, doi: 10.1016/j.compind.2021.103553.
Jiang, L., Shi, J., Wang, C. and Pan, Z. (2023), “Intelligent control of building fire protection system
using digital twins and semantic web technologies”, Automation in Construction, Vol. 147,
104728, doi: 10.1016/j.autcon.2022.104728.
Jin, X., Shen, G.Q. and Ekanayake, E.M.A.C. (2021), “Improving construction industrialisation
practices from a socio-technical system perspective: a Hong Kong case”, International Journal of
Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol. 18 No. 17, p. 9017, doi: 10.3390/ijerph18179017.
Johnson Controls (2018), “Applying DTs to the built environment”, available at: https://www.
johnsoncontrols.com/-/media/jci/insights/2019/bts/jci-661_dv_digital_twin_white_paper_
020819_6p_f3.pdf (accessed 9 March 2021).
Kaewunruen, S., Peng, S. and Phil-Ebosie, O. (2020), “DT aided sustainability and vulnerability audit
for subway stations”, Sustainability, Vol. 12 No. 9, p. 7873, doi: 10.3390/su12197873.
Kaewunruen, S., Sresakoolchai, J., Ma, W. and Phil-Ebosie, O. (2021), “DT aided vulnerability
assessment and risk-based maintenance planning of bridge infrastructures exposed to extreme
conditions”, Sustainability, Vol. 13 No. 4, p. 2051, doi: 10.3390/su13042051.
Karve, P.M., Guo, Y., Kapusuzoglu, B., Mahadevan, S. and Haile, M.A. (2020), “Digital twin approach
for damage-tolerant mission planning under uncertainty”, Engineering Fracture Mechanics,
Vol. 225, 106766, doi: 10.1016/j.engfracmech.2019.106766.
Kritzinger, W., Karner, M., Traar, G., Henjes, J. and Sihn, W. (2018), “DT in manufacturing:
a categorical literature review and classification”, IFAC-PapersOnLine, Vol. 51 No. 11,
pp. 1016-1022, doi: 10.1016/j.ifacol.2018.08.474.
Lee, D. and Lee, S. (2021), “DT for supply chain coordination in modular construction”, Applied
Sciences, Vol. 11 No. 13, p. 5909, doi: 10.3390/app11135909.
Lee, D., Lee, S.H., Masoud, N., Krishnan, M.S. and Li, V.C. (2021), “Integrated DT and blockchain
framework to support accountable information sharing in construction projects”, Automation in
Construction, Vol. 127, 103688, doi: 10.1016/j.autcon.2021.103688.
Li, Z., Shen, G.Q. and Xue, X. (2014), “Critical review of the research on the management of
prefabricated construction”, Habitat International, Vol. 43, pp. 240-249, doi: 10.1016/j.habitatint.
2014.04.001.
Li, X., Cao, J., Liu, Z. and Luo, X. (2020), “Sustainable business model based on DT platform network:
the inspiration from Haier’s case study in China”, Sustainability, Vol. 12 No. 3, p. 936, doi: 10.
3390/su12030936.
Li, X., Lu, W., Xue, F., Wu, L., Zhao, R., Lou, J. and Xu, J. (2022), “Blockchain-enabled IoT-BIM
platform for supply chain management in modular construction”, Journal of Construction
Engineering and Management, Vol. 148 No. 2, 04021195, doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.
0002229.
Liu, Q., Leng, J., Yan, D., Zhang, D., Wei, L., Yu, A., Zhao, R., Zhang, H. and Chen, X. (2021a),
“Digital twin-based designing of the configuration, motion, control, and optimisation model
of a flow-type smart manufacturing system”, Journal of Manufacturing Systems, Vol. 58,
pp. 52-64, doi: 10.1016/j.jmsy.2020.04.012.
Liu, M., Fang, S., Dong, H. and Xu, C. (2021b), “Review of digital twin about concepts, technologies,
and industrial applications”, Journal of Manufacturing Systems, Vol. 58, pp. 346-361, doi: 10.
1016/j.jmsy.2020.06.017.
Liu, Z., Meng, X., Xing, Z. and Jiang, A. (2021c), “DT-based safety risk coupling of prefabricated Digital twins
building hoisting”, Sensors, Vol. 21 No. 11, p. 3583, doi: 10.3390/s21113583.
for smart
Lu, W., Lai, C.C. and Tse, T. (2018), BIM and Big Data for Construction Cost Management, Routledge,
London, ISBN, 978-0-8153-9094-7, doi: 10.1201/9781351172325.
facility
Lu, Q., Chen, L., Li, S. and Pitt, M. (2020a), “Semi-automatic geometric digital twining for existing
management
buildings based on images and CAD drawings”, Automation in Construction, Vol. 115, 103183,
doi: 10.1016/j.autcon.2020.103183.
Lu, Q., Xie, X., Parlikad, A.K. and Schooling, J.M. (2020b), “Digital twin-enabled anomaly detection for
built asset monitoring in operation and maintenance”, Automation in Construction, Vol. 118,
103277, doi: 10.1016/j.autcon.2020.103277.
Lu, W., Chen, J., Fu, Y., Pan, Y. and Ghansah, F.A. (2023), “Digital twin-enabled human-robot
collaborative teaming towards sustainable and healthy built environments”, Journal of Cleaner
Production, Vol. 412, 137412, doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.137412.
Meline, T. (2006), “Selecting studies for systemic review: inclusion and exclusion criteria”,
Contemporary Issues in Communication Science and Disorders, Vol. 33 Spring, pp. 21-27,
doi: 10.1044/cicsd_33_S_21.
Mingers, J. and Yang, L. (2017), “Evaluating journal quality: a review of journal citation indicators and
ranking in business and management”, European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 257
No. 1, pp. 323-337, doi: 10.1016/j.ejor.2016.07.058.
Noonari, J. (2020), “The essential technologies that make a building smart”, available at: https://www.
powersystemsdesign.com/articles/the-essential-technologies-that-make-a-building-smart/34/
17001 (accessed 9 March 2021).
Opoku, D.G.J., Perera, S., Osei-Kyei, R. and Rashidi, M. (2021), “DT application in the construction
industry: a literature review”, Journal of Building Engineering, Vol. 40, 102726, doi: 10.1016/j.
jobe.2021.102726.
Ozturk, G.B. (2021), “DT research in the AECO-FM industry”, Journal of Building Engineering, Vol. 40,
102730, doi: 10.1016/j.jobe.2021.102730.
O’Grady, T.M., Brajkovich, N., Minunno, R., Chong, H.Y. and Morrison, G.M. (2021), “Circular economy
and virtual reality in advanced BIM-based prefabricated construction”, Energies, Vol. 14 No. 13,
p. 4065, doi: 10.3390/en14134065.
Pa
sek, J. and Sojkova, V. (2018), “Facility management of smart buildings”, International Review of
Applied Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 181-187, doi: 10.1556/1848.2018.9.2.15.
Paul, J. and Barari, M. (2022), “Meta-analysis and traditional systematic literature reviews—what,
why, when, where, and how?”, Psychology and Marketing, Vol. 39 No. 6, pp. 1099-1115, doi: 10.
1002/mar.21657.
Peng, Y., Zhang, M., Yu, F., Xu, J. and Gao, S. (2020), “DT hospital buildings: an exemplary case
study through continuous lifecycle integration”, Advances in Civil Engineering, Vol. 2020,
pp. 1-13, doi: 10.1155/2020/8846667.
Perno, M., Hvam, L. and Haug, A. (2022), “Implementation of digital twins in the process industry:
a systematic literature review of enablers and barriers”, Computers in Industry, Vol. 134,
103558, doi: 10.1016/j.compind.2021.103558.
Plummer, D. (2021), “Workforce of the future – developing the skills to support the National Digital
Twin”, available at: https://tinyurl.com/4bu3bn4w (accessed 18 December 2021).
Porsani, G.B., Del Valle de Lersundi, K., Sanchez-Ostiz Gutierrez, A. and Fernandez Bandera, C. (2021),
“Interoperability between BIM and building energy model (BEM)”, Applied Sciences, Vol. 11
No. 5, p. 2167, doi: 10.3390/app11052167.
Rake (2019), “Digital facilities management: how to optimize building performance across your portfolio”,
available at: https://automatedbuildings.com/news/may19/articles/switch/190423102002switch.
html#:∼:text5Digital%20facilities%20management%20drives%20proactive,Hierarchy%20of%
20building%20management%20needs (accessed 2 December 2023).
SASBE Rasheed, A., San, O. and Kvamsdal, T. (2019), “Digital twin: values, challenges and enablers”, arXiv
preprint, arXiv:1910.01719, doi: 10.48550/arXiv.1910.01719.
Research and Market (2022), “Global digital twins market report 2022: digital twin supported solutions in
smart cities to reach $4.8 billion by 2027”, available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-
release/2022/03/18/2405965/28124/en/Global-Digital-Twins-Market-Report-2022-Digital-Twin-
Supported-Solutions-in-Smart-Cities-to-Reach-4-8-billion-by-2027.html (accessed 5 May 2022).
Rocca, R., Rosa, P., Sassanelli, C., Fumagalli, L. and Terzi, S. (2020), “Integrating virtual reality and DT
in circular economy practices: a laboratory application case”, Sustainability, Vol. 12 No. 6,
p. 2286, doi: 10.3390/su12062286.
Sacks, R., Brilakis, I., Pikas, E., Xie, H.S. and Girolami, M. (2020), “Construction with DT information
systems”, Data-Centric Engineering, p. 1, doi: 10.1017/dce.2020.16.
Saurin, T.A., Rooke, J., Koskela, L. and Kemmer, S. (2013), “Guidelines for the management of complex
socio-technical systems: an exploratory study of a refurbishment project”, 21st Annual Summit of
the International Group for Lean Construction, Vol. 1, pp. 13-22, available at: https://citeseerx.ist.
psu.edu/document?repid5rep1&type5pdf&doi5dfe258a2a9e71d751b42fec4860baf289cf3ff8d
(accessed 3 December 2023).
Seghezzi, E., Locatelli, M., Pellegrini, L., Pattini, G., Di Giuda, G.M., Tagliabue, L.C. and Boella, G.
(2021), “Towards an occupancy-oriented digital twin for facility management: test campaign
and sensors assessment”, Applied Sciences, Vol. 11 No. 7, p. 3108, doi: 10.3390/app11073108.
Sepasgozar, S., Karimi, R., Farahzadi, L., Moezzi, F., Shirowzhan, S., Ebrahimzadeh, S.M., Hui, F. and
Aye, L. (2020), “A systematic content review of artificial intelligence and the internet of things
applications in smart home”, Applied Sciences, Vol. 10 No. 9, p. 3074, doi: 10.3390/app10093074.
Sharon (2022), “Digital twins for 5G: pros, cons, and how to get started”, available at: https://www.
vhive.ai/digital-twins-for-5g-pros-cons-and-how-to-get-started/ (accessed 4 March 2023).
Shin, D. (2014), “A socio-technical framework for Internet-of-Things design: a human-centred design
for the Internet of Things”, Telematics and Informatics, Vol. 31 No. 4, pp. 519-531, doi: 10.1016/j.
tele.2014.02.003.
Shin, D. and Jung, J. (2012), “Socio-technical analysis of Korea’s broadband convergence network:
big plans, big projects, big prospects?”, Telecommunications Policy, Vol. 36 No. 7, pp. 579-593,
doi: 10.1016/j.telpol.2012.03.003.
Sinopoli, J. (2014), “Defining a smart building: part Five”, available at: http://www.
automatedbuildings.com/news/jan14/articles/sinopoli2/131228012101sinopoli.htm (accessed 9
March 2021).
Sommerville, I. and Dewsbury, G. (2007), “Dependable domestic system design: a socio-technical
approach”, Interacting with Computers, Vol. 19 No. 4, pp. 438-456, doi: 10.1016/j.intcom.2007.
05.002.
Sony, M. and Naik, S. (2020), “Industry 4.0 integration with socio-technical systems theory:
a systematic review and proposed theoretical model”, Technology in Society, Vol. 61, 101248,
doi: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101248.
Stojanovic, V., Trapp, M., Richter, R., Hagedorn, B. and D€ollner, J. (2018), “Towards the generation of
digital twins for facility management based on 3D point clouds”, Management, Vol. 270, p. 279,
available at: https://www.arcom.ac.uk/-docs/proceedings/b65e593d342a8de045cf05698677e600.
pdf (accessed 15 July 2023).
Tan, Y., Chen, P., Shou, W. and Sadick, A.M. (2022), “Digital Twin-driven approach to improving the
energy efficiency of indoor lighting based on computer vision and dynamic BIM”, Energy and
Buildings, Vol. 270, 112271, doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2022.112271.
Tao, F., Qi, Q., Wang, L. and Nee, A.Y.C. (2019), “DTs and cyber-physical systems toward smart
manufacturing and industry 4.0: correlation and comparison”, Engineering, Vol. 5 No. 4,
pp. 653-661, doi: 10.1016/j.eng.2019.01.014.
Torrecilla-Garcıa, J.A., Pardo-Ferreira, M.C. and Rubio-Romero, J.C. (2021), “Overall introduction to the Digital twins
framework of BIM-based digital twining in decision-making in safety management in building
construction industry”, Direccion Y Organizacion, No. 74, pp. 31-38, doi: 10.37610/dyo.v0i74.600. for smart
Weber, C., K€onigsberger, J., Kassner, L. and Mitschang, B. (2017), “M2DDM a maturity model for data-
facility
driven manufacturing”, Procedia CIRP, Vol. 63, pp. 173-178, doi: 10.1016/j.procir.2017.03.309. management
World Economic Forum (2021), “Buildings are the foundation of an energy-efficient future”, available
at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/02/why-the-buildings-of-the-future-are-key-to-an-
efficient-energy-ecosystem/ (accessed 30 January 2024).
Wu, Y., Shang, J. and Xue, F. (2021), “RegARD: symmetry-based coarse registration of smartphone’s
colourful point clouds with CAD drawings for low-cost DT buildings”, Remote Sensing, Vol. 13
No. 10, p. 1882, doi: 10.3390/rs13101882.
Xie, X., Merino, J., Moretti, N., Pauwels, P., Chang, J.Y. and Parlikad, A. (2023), “Digital twin enabled
fault detection and diagnosis process for building HVAC systems”, Automation in Construction,
Vol. 146, 104695, doi: 10.1016/j.autcon.2022.104695.
Xu, J., Lu, W., Xue, F. and Chen, K. (2019), “‘Cognitive facility management’: definition, system
architecture, and example scenario”, Automation in Construction, Vol. 107, 102922, doi: 10.1016/
j.autcon.2019.102922.
Xu, J., Chen, K., Zetkulic, A.E., Xue, F., Lu, W. and Niu, Y. (2020), “Pervasive sensing technologies for
facility management: a critical review”, Facilities, Vol. 38 Nos 1/2, pp. 161-180, doi: 10.1108/F-02-
2019-0024.
Yeboah-Assiamah, E., Asamoah, K. and Kyeremeh, T.A. (2017), “Decades of public-private
partnership in solid waste management”, Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 28
No. 1, pp. 78-93, doi: 10.1108/MEQ-05-2015-0098.
Yu, L., Nazir, B. and Wang, Y. (2020), “Intelligent power monitoring of building equipment based on
Internet of Things technology”, Computer Communications, Vol. 157, pp. 76-84, doi: 10.1016/j.
comcom.2020.04.016.
Zhang, H., Liu, Q., Chen, X., Zhang, D. and Leng, J. (2017), “A Digital Twin-based approach for
designing and multi-objective optimisation of hollow glass production line”, IEEE Access,
Vol. 5, pp. 26901-26911, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2017.2766453.
Zhao, Y., Wang, N., Liu, Z. and Mu, E. (2022), “Construction theory for a building intelligent operation
and maintenance system based on digital twins and machine learning”, Buildings, Vol. 12 No. 2,
p. 87, doi: 10.3390/buildings12020087.
Zheng, Y., Yang, S. and Cheng, H. (2019), “An application framework of DT and its case study”,
Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 1141-1153, doi: 10.
1007/s12652-018-0911-3.
Zhuang, C., Liu, J. and Xiong, H. (2018), “DT-based smart production management and control
framework for the complex product assembly shop-floor”, The International Journal of Advanced
Manufacturing Technology, Vol. 96 No. 1, pp. 1149-1163, doi: 10.1007/s00170-018-1617-6.

References to sources in Table S1

Agostinelli, S., Cumo, F., Guidi, G. and Tomazzoli, C. (2021), “Cyber-physical systems improving
building energy management: digital twin and artificial intelligence”, Energies, Vol. 14 No. 8,
p. 2338, doi: 10.3390/en14082338.
Alizadehsalehi, S. and Yitmen, I. (2021), “Digital twin-based progress monitoring management model
through reality capture to extended reality technologies (DRX)”, Smart and Sustainable Built
Environment, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 200-236, doi: 10.1108/sasbe-01-2021-0016.
Allam, Z., Bibri, S.E., Jones, D.S., Chabaud, D. and Moreno, C. (2022), “Unpacking the ‘15-minute
city’via 6G, IoT, and digital twins: towards a new narrative for increasing urban efficiency,
resilience, and sustainability”, Sensors, Vol. 22 No. 4, p. 1369, doi: 10.3390/s22041369.
SASBE Antonino, M., Nicola, M., Claudio, D.M., Luciano, B. and Fulvio, R.C. (2019), “Office building occupancy
monitoring through image recognition sensors”, International Journal of Safety and Security
Engineering, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 371-380, doi: 10.2495/safe-v9-n4-371-380.
Bariah, L., Sari, H. and Debbah, M. (2023), “Digital twin-empowered smart cities: a new Frontier of
wireless networks”, Authorea Preprints.
Bevilacqua, M., Bottani, E., Ciarapica, F.E., Costantino, F., Di Donato, L., Ferraro, A., Mazzuto, G.,
Monteriu, A., Nardini, G., Ortenzi, M., Paroncini, M., Pirozzi, M., Prist, M., Quatrini, E., Tronci,
M. and Vignali, G. (2020), “Digital twin reference model development to prevent operators’ risk
in process plants”, Sustainability, Vol. 12 No. 3, p. 1088, doi: 10.3390/su12031088.
Chen, Z. and Huang, L. (2020), “Digital twin in circular economy: remanufacturing in construction”, IOP
Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, Vol. 588 No. 3, 032014, IOP Publishing.
Cheng, T., Zhu, X., Yang, F. and Wang, W. (2023), “Machine learning enabled learning based
optimization algorithm in digital twin simulator for management of smart islanded solar-based
microgrids”, Solar Energy, Vol. 250, pp. 241-247, doi: 10.1016/j.solener.2022.12.040.
Chevallier, Z., Finance, B. and Boulakia, B.C. (2020), “A reference architecture for smart building
digital twin”, SeDiT@ ESWC, Vol. 2020 No. 5.
Choi, S., Woo, J., Kim, J. and Lee, J.Y. (2022), “Digital twin-based integrated monitoring system: korean
application cases”, Sensors, Vol. 22 No. 14, p. 5450, doi: 10.3390/s22145450.
Choi, Y. and Yoon, S. (2023), “In-situ observation virtual sensor in building systems toward virtual
sensing-enabled digital twins”, Energy and Buildings, Vol. 281, 112766, doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.
2022.112766.
Corrado, C.R., DeLong, S.M., Holt, E.G., Hua, E.Y. and Tolk, A. (2022), “Combining green metrics and
digital twins for sustainability planning and governance of smart buildings and cities”,
Sustainability, Vol. 14 No. 20, 12988, doi: 10.3390/su142012988.
Daniotti, B., Masera, G., Bolognesi, C.M., Lupica Spagnolo, S., Pavan, A., Iannaccone, G., Signorini, M.,
Ciuffreda, S., Mirarchi, C., Lucky, M. and Cucuzza, M. (2022), “The development of a BIM-based
interoperable toolkit for efficient renovation in buildings: from BIM to digital twin”, Buildings,
Vol. 12 No. 2, p. 231, doi: 10.3390/buildings12020231.
Hasan, S.M., Lee, K., Moon, D., Kwon, S., Jinwoo, S. and Lee, S. (2021), “Augmented reality and DT
system for interaction with construction machinery”, Journal of Asian Architecture and Building
Engineering, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 1-12.
Honghong, S., Gang, Y., Haijiang, L., Tian, Z. and Annan, J. (2023), “Digital twin enhanced BIM to
shape full life cycle digital transformation for bridge engineering”, Automation in Construction,
Vol. 147, 104736, doi: 10.1016/j.autcon.2022.104736.
Jiang, Y. (2021), “Intelligent building construction management based on BIM digital twin”,
Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience, Vol. 2021, pp. 1-11, doi: 10.1155/2021/4979249.
Jiang, Y., Li, M., Guo, D., Wu, W., Zhong, R.Y. and Huang, G.Q. (2022a), “Digital twin-enabled smart
modular integrated construction system for on-site assembly”, Computers in Industry, Vol. 136,
103594, doi: 10.1016/j.compind.2021.103594.
Jiang, F., Ma, L., Broyd, T., Chen, W. and Luo, H. (2022b), “Digital twin enabled sustainable urban road
planning”, Sustainable Cities and Society, Vol. 78, 103645, doi: 10.1016/j.scs.2021.103645.
Jiang, L., Shi, J., Wang, C. and Pan, Z. (2023), “Intelligent control of building fire protection system
using digital twins and semantic web technologies”, Automation in Construction, Vol. 147,
104728, doi: 10.1016/j.autcon.2022.104728.
Jiang, Y., Li, M., Li, M., Liu, X., Zhong, R.Y., Pan, W. and Huang, G.Q. (2022c), “Digital twin-enabled
real-time synchronization for planning, scheduling, and execution in precast on-site assembly”,
Automation in Construction, Vol. 141, 104397, doi: 10.1016/j.autcon.2022.104397.
Kaewunruen, S., Peng, S. and Phil-Ebosie, O. (2020), “Digital twin aided sustainability and
vulnerability audit for subway stations”, Sustainability, Vol. 12 No. 19, p. 7873, doi: 10.3390/
su12197873.
Kaewunruen, S. and Xu, N. (2018), “Digital twin for sustainability evaluation of railway station Digital twins
buildings”, Frontiers in Built Environment, Vol. 4, p. 77, doi: 10.3389/fbuil.2018.00077.
for smart
Kim, W.G., Ham, N. and Kim, J.J. (2021), “Enhanced subcontractors allocation for apartment
construction project applying conceptual 4D digital twin framework”, Sustainability, Vol. 13
facility
No. 21, 11784, doi: 10.3390/su132111784. management
Lee, D. and Lee, S. (2021), “Digital twin for supply chain coordination in modular construction”,
Applied Sciences, Vol. 11 No. 13, p. 5909, doi: 10.3390/app11135909.
Liu, Z., Meng, X., Xing, Z. and Jiang, A. (2021c), “Digital twin-based safety risk coupling of
prefabricated building hoisting”, Sensors, Vol. 21 No. 11, p. 3583, doi: 10.3390/s21113583.
Lu, Q., Chen, L., Li, S. and Pitt, M. (2020a), “Semi-automatic geometric digital twinning for existing
buildings based on images and CAD drawings”, Automation in Construction, Vol. 115, 103183,
doi: 10.1016/j.autcon.2020.103183.
Lu, Q., Xie, X., Parlikad, A.K. and Schooling, J.M. (2020b), “Digital twin-enabled anomaly detection for
built asset monitoring in operation and maintenance”, Automation in Construction, Vol. 118,
103277, doi: 10.1016/j.autcon.2020.103277.
Lv, Z., Chen, D. and Lv, H. (2022), “Smart city construction and management by digital twins and BIM
big data in COVID-19 scenario”, ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing,
Communications, and Applications (TOMM), Vol. 18 No. 2s, pp. 1-21, doi: 10.1145/3529395.
Madubuike, O.C. and Anumba, C.J. (2023), “Digital Twin–based health care facilities management”,
Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, Vol. 37 No. 2, 04022057, doi: 10.1061/jccee5.
cpeng-4842.
O’Grady, T.M., Brajkovich, N., Minunno, R., Chong, H.Y. and Morrison, G.M. (2021), “Circular economy
and virtual reality in advanced BIM-based prefabricated construction”, Energies, Vol. 14 No. 13,
p. 4065, doi: 10.3390/en14134065.
Peng, Y., Zhang, M., Yu, F., Xu, J. and Gao, S. (2020), “Digital twin hospital buildings: an exemplary
case study through continuous lifecycle integration”, Advances in Civil Engineering, Vol. 2020,
pp. 1-13, doi: 10.1155/2020/8846667.
Popescu, D., Dragomir, M., Popescu, S. and Dragomir, D. (2022), “Building better digital twins for
production systems by incorporating environmental related functions—literature analysis and
determining alternatives”, Applied Sciences, Vol. 12 No. 17, p. 8657, doi: 10.3390/app12178657.
Porsani, B.G., Del Valle de Lersundi, K., Sanchez-Ostiz Gutierrez, A. and Fernandez Bandera, C. (2021),
“Interoperability between building information modelling (BIM) and building energy model
(BEM)”, Applied Sciences, Vol. 11 No. 5, p. 2167, doi: 10.3390/app11052167.
Rocca, R., Rosa, P., Sassanelli, C., Fumagalli, L. and Terzi, S. (2020), “Integrating virtual reality and
digital twin in circular economy practices: a laboratory application case”, Sustainability, Vol. 12
No. 6, p. 2286, doi: 10.3390/su12062286.
Sacks, R., Brilakis, I., Pikas, E., Xie, H.S. and Girolami, M. (2020), “Construction with digital twin
information systems”, Data-Centric Engineering, Vol. 1, p. e14, doi: 10.1017/dce.2020.16.
Sun, H. and Liu, Z. (2022), “Research on intelligent dispatching system management platform for
construction projects based on digital Twin and BIM technology”, Advances in Civil
Engineering, Vol. 2022, pp. 1-9, doi: 10.1155/2022/8273451.
Tan, Y., Chen, P., Shou, W. and Sadick, A.M. (2022), “Digital Twin-driven approach to improving
energy efficiency of indoor lighting based on computer vision and dynamic BIM”, Energy and
Buildings, Vol. 270, 112271, doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2022.112271.
Tan, Y., Yang, W., Yoshida, K. and Takakuwa, S. (2019), “Application of IoT-aided simulation to
manufacturing systems in cyber-physical system”, Machines, Vol. 7 No. 1, p. 2, doi: 10.3390/
machines7010002.
Torrecilla-Garcıa, J.A., Pardo-Ferreira, M.C. and Rubio-Romero, J.C. (2021), “Overall introduction to the
framework of BIM-based digital twinning in decision-making in safety management in building
construction industry”, Direccion Y Organizacion, No. 74, pp. 31-38, doi: 10.37610/dyo.v0i74.600.
SASBE Villa, V., Naticchia, B., Bruno, G., Aliev, K., Piantanida, P. and Antonelli, D. (2021), “Iot open-source
architecture for the maintenance of building facilities”, Applied Sciences, Vol. 11 No. 12, p. 5374,
doi: 10.3390/app11125374.
Wan, L., Nochta, T. and Schooling, J.M. (2019), “Developing a city-level digital twin–propositions and a
case study”, International conference on smart infrastructure and construction 2019 (ICSIC)
driving data-informed decision-making, ICE Publishing, pp. 187-194.
Wang, W., Guo, H., Li, X., Tang, S., Li, Y., Xie, L. and Lv, Z. (2022a), “BIM information integration
based VR modeling in digital twins in industry 5.0”, Journal of Industrial Information
Integration, Vol. 28, 100351, doi: 10.1016/j.jii.2022.100351.
Wang, W., Guo, H., Li, X., Tang, S., Xia, J. and Lv, Z. (2022b), “Deep learning for assessment of
environmental satisfaction using BIM big data in energy efficient building digital twins”,
Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, Vol. 50, 101897, doi: 10.1016/j.seta.2021.
101897.
Wu, Y., Shang, J. and Xue, F. (2021), “Regard: symmetry-based coarse registration of smartphone’s
colorful point clouds with cad drawings for low-cost digital twin buildings”, Remote Sensing,
Vol. 13 No. 10, p. 1882, doi: 10.3390/rs13101882.
Wu, J., Wang, X., Dang, Y. and Lv, Z. (2022), “Digital twins and artificial intelligence in transportation
infrastructure: classification, application, and future research directions”, Computers and
Electrical Engineering, Vol. 101, 107983, doi: 10.1016/j.compeleceng.2022.107983.
Xie, X., Merino, J., Moretti, N., Pauwels, P., Chang, J.Y. and Parlikad, A. (2023), “Digital twin enabled
fault detection and diagnosis process for building HVAC systems”, Automation in Construction,
Vol. 146, 104695, doi: 10.1016/j.autcon.2022.104695.
Xu, J., Lu, W., Xue, F. and Chen, K. (2019), “‘Cognitive facility management’: definition, system
architecture, and example scenario”, Automation in Construction, Vol. 107, 102922, doi: 10.1016/
j.autcon.2019.102922.
Yang, X., Maiti, A., Jiang, J. and Kist, A. (2022b), “Forecasting and monitoring smart buildings with
the internet of things, digital twins and blockchain”, Online Engineering and Society 4.0:
Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Remote Engineering and Virtual
Instrumentation, Springer International Publishing, pp. 213-224.
Yang, M., Moon, J., Jeong, J., Sin, S. and Kim, J. (2022a), “A novel embedding model based on a
transition system for building industry-collaborative digital twin”, Applied Sciences, Vol. 12
No. 2, p. 553, doi: 10.3390/app12020553.
Zhang, Z., Wen, F., Sun, Z., Guo, X., He, T. and Lee, C. (2022), “Artificial intelligence-enabled sensing
technologies in the 5G/internet of things era: from virtual reality/augmented reality to the
digital twin”, Advanced Intelligent Systems, Vol. 4 No. 7, 2100228, doi: 10.1002/aisy.202100228.
Zhao, Y., Wang, N., Liu, Z. and Mu, E. (2022), “Construction theory for a building intelligent operation
and maintenance system based on digital twins and machine learning”, Buildings, Vol. 12 No. 2,
p. 87, doi: 10.3390/buildings12020087.
Zhao, L., Zhang, H., Wang, Q. and Wang, H. (2021), “Digital-twin-based evaluation of nearly zero-
energy building for existing buildings based on scan-to-BIM”, Advances in Civil Engineering,
Vol. 2021, pp. 1-11, doi: 10.1155/2021/6638897.
Zheng, Y., Yang, S. and Cheng, H. (2019), “An application framework of DT and its case study”,
Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 1141-1153, doi: 10.
1007/s12652-018-0911-3.
Zhou, Y., Wei, X. and Peng, Y. (2021), “The modelling of digital twins technology in the construction
process of prefabricated buildings”, Advances in Civil Engineering, Vol. 2021, pp. 1-11, doi: 10.
1155/2021/2801557.
Zhuang, C., Liu, J. and Xiong, H. (2018), “Digital twin-based smart production management and control
framework for the complex product assembly shop-floor”, The International Journal of Advanced
Manufacturing Technology, Vol. 96 Nos 1-4, pp. 1149-1163, doi: 10.1007/s00170-018-1617-6.
Further reading Digital twins
Akanmu, A.A., Anumba, C.J. and Ogunseiju, O.O. (2021), “Towards next generation cyber-physical for smart
systems and digital twins for construction”, Journal Information Technology in Construction,
Vol. 26, pp. 505-525, doi: 10.36680/j.itcon.2021.027.
facility
management

Corresponding author
Frank Ato Ghansah can be contacted at: [email protected]
SASBE Supplementary material

Serial
number Authors/references Title Method

1 Zheng et al. (2019) An application framework of digital twin and its Case study
case study
2 Hasan et al. (2021) Augmented reality and digital twin system for Laboratory
interaction with construction machinery experiment
3 Sacks et al. (2020) Construction with digital twin information systems Case study
4 Alizadehsalehi and Digital twin-based progress monitoring Quantitative
Yitmen (2021) management model through reality capture to model
extended reality technologies (DRX)
5 Jiang et al. (2023) Intelligent control of building fire protection Laboratory
system using digital twins and semantic web experiment
technologies
6 Xu et al. (2019) Cognitive facility management’: Definition, system Case study
architecture, and example scenario
7 Zhuang et al. (2018) Digital twin-based smart production management Case study
and control framework for the complex product
assembly shop-floor
8 Peng et al. (2020) Digital Twin Hospital Buildings: An Exemplary Case study
Case Study through Continuous Lifecycle
Integration
9 Kim et al. (2021) Enhanced subcontractors’ allocation for apartment Case study
construction project applying conceptual 4D digital
twin framework
10 Jiang (2021) Intelligent Building Construction Management Laboratory
Based on BIM Digital Twin experiment
11 Antonino et al. (2019) Office building occupancy monitoring through Laboratory
image recognition sensors experiment
12 Wu et al. (2021) Regard: Symmetry-based coarse registration of Laboratory
smartphone’s colourful point clouds with CAD experiment
drawings for low-cost digital twin buildings
13 Tan et al. (2019) Application of IoT-aided simulation to Laboratory
manufacturing systems in cyber-physical system experiment
14 Agostinelli et al. Cyber-physical systems improving building Case study
(2021) energy management: Digital twin and artificial
intelligence
15 Zhao et al. (2022) Construction Theory for a Building Intelligent Mixed research
Operation and Maintenance System Based on
Digital Twins and Machine Learning
16 Porsani et al. (2021) Interoperability between building information Laboratory
modelling (BIM) and building energy model (BEM) experiment
17 Kaewunruen and Xu Digital twin for sustainability evaluation of railway Case study
(2018) station buildings
18 O’Grady et al. (2021) Circular economy and virtual reality in advanced Case study
BIM-based prefabricated construction
19 Kaewunruen et al. Digital twin aided sustainability and vulnerability Case study
(2020) audit for subway stations
20 Rocca et al. (2020) Integrating Virtual Reality and Digital Twin in Laboratory
Circular Economy Practices: A Laboratory experiment
Application Case
21 Liu et al. (2021c) Digital twin-based safety risk coupling of Case study
Table A1. prefabricated building hoisting
Selected articles and
their methods adopted (continued )
Serial
Digital twins
number Authors/references Title Method for smart
facility
22 Lee and Lee (2021) Digital twin for supply chain coordination in Case study
modular construction management
23 Bevilacqua et al. Digital twin reference model development to Laboratory
(2020) prevent operators’ risk in process plants experiment
24 Villa et al. (2021) IoT open-source architecture for the maintenance Case study
of building facilities
25 Torrecilla-Garcıa et al. Overall introduction to the framework of BIM- Mixed research
(2021) based digital twinning in decision-making in safety
management in building construction industry
26 Zhou et al. (2021) The Modelling of Digital Twins Technology in the Mixed research
Construction Process of Prefabricated Buildings
27 Lu et al. (2020a) Semi-automatic geometric digital twinning for Case study
existing buildings based on images and CAD
drawings
28 Lu et al. (2020b) Digital twin-enabled anomaly detection for built Case study
asset monitoring in operation and maintenance
29 Wan et al. (2019) Developing a city-level digital twin–propositions Case study
and a case study
30 Chevalier et al. (2020) A reference architecture for smart building digital Laboratory
twin experiment
31 Chen and Huang Digital twin in circular economy: remanufacturing Qualitative
(2020) in construction model
32 Cheng et al. (2023) Machine learning enabled learning based Laboratory
optimisation algorithm in digital twin simulator for experiment
management of smart islanded solar-based
microgrids
33 Wang et al. (2022a) BIM Information Integration Based VR Modelling Laboratory
in Digital Twins in Industry 5.0 experiment
34 Tan et al. (2022) Digital Twin-driven approach to improving energy Case study
efficiency of indoor lighting based on computer
vision and dynamic BIM
35 Wu et al. (2022) Digital twins and artificial intelligence in Case study
transportation infrastructure: Classification,
application, and future research directions
36 Jiang et al. (2022a) Digital twin-enabled smart modular integrated Case study
construction system for on-site assembly
37 Choi and Yoon (2023) In-situ observation virtual sensor in building Case study
systems toward virtual sensing-enabled digital
twins
38 Xie et al. (2023) Digital twin-enabled fault detection and diagnosis Case study
process for building HVAC systems
39 Jiang et al. (2023) Intelligent control of building fire protection Case study
system using digital twins and semantic web
technologies
40 Jiang et al. (2022b) Digital twin-enabled sustainable urban road Case study
planning
41 Honghong et al. (2023) Digital twin enhanced BIM to shape full life cycle Case study
digital transformation for bridge engineering
42 Wang et al. (2022b) Deep learning for assessment of environmental Laboratory
satisfaction using BIM big data in energy-efficient experiment
building digital twins

(continued ) Table A1.

SASBE Serial
number Authors/references Title Method

43 Lv et al. (2022) Smart City Construction and Management by Quantitative

Digital Twins and BIM Big Data in COVID-19 model
Scenario
44 Sun and Liu (2022) Research on Intelligent Dispatching System Case study
Management Platform for Construction Projects
Based on Digital Twin and BIM Technology
45 Zhang et al. (2022) Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Sensing Case study
Technologies in the 5 G/Internet of Things Era:
From Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality to the
Digital Twin
46 Yang et al. (2022a) A Novel Embedding Model Based on a Transition Laboratory
System for Building Industry-Collaborative Digital experiment
Twin
47 Popescu et al. (2022) Building Better Digital Twins for Production Qualitative
Systems by Incorporating Environmental Related model
Functions—Literature Analysis and Determining
Alternatives
48 Zhao et al. (2021) Digital-Twin-Based Evaluation of Nearly Zero- Case study
Energy Building for Existing Buildings Based on
Scan-to-BIM
49 Daniotti et al. (2022) The Development of a BIM-Based Interoperable Case study
Toolkit for Efficient Renovation in Buildings: From
BIM to Digital Twin
50 Bariah et al. (2023) Digital Twin-Empowered Smart Cities: A New Case study
Frontier of Wireless Networks
51 Jiang et al. (2022c) Digital Twin-Enabled Real-Time Synchronization Mixed research
for Planning, Scheduling, and Execution in Precast
On-Site Assembly
52 Madubuike and Digital Twin–Based Health Care Facilities Case study
Anumba (2023) Management
53 Yang et al. (2022b) Forecasting and Monitoring Smart Buildings with Case study
the Internet of Things, Digital Twins and
Blockchain
54 Choi et al. (2022) Digital Twin-Based Integrated Monitoring System: Case study
Korean Application Cases
55 Corrado et al. (2022) Combining Green Metrics and Digital Twins for Case study
Sustainability Planning and Governance of Smart
Buildings and Cities
56 Allam et al. (2022) Unpacking the ‘15-Minute City’ via 6G, IoT, and Qualitative
Digital Twins: Towards a New Narrative for model
Increasing Urban Efficiency, Resilience, and
Sustainability
Table A1. Source(s): Author’s own work