Strumenti digitali per l’efficientamento energetico degli edifici. Una revisione sistematica della letteratura // Digital Tools for Buildings’ Energy Efficiency: a Systematic Review

The relations between the ecological and the anthropic systems can be influenced by the technological scenario which, changing, could loosen some constraints. Constraints like energy consumptions’ final accounting in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction sector (AEC) which may be replaced by estimation and subsequently real-time control of what is going to be consumed. New technologies like Building Information Modeling (BIM) and the Internet of Things (IoT) can perfectly perform these functions. BIM is designed to improve efficiency in design and construction and is used in these phases of the building’s life cycle, while IoT technologies implemented in a sensor network monitor an asset and improve efficiency, allowing predictive operations. In first instance, this is the case of Building Management System (BMS) and then of Digital Twin (DT). Through a literature-based approach, this paper examines the state of the art in the field of digital tools for buildings’ energy efficiency and the bibliographical impact of DT between them. The review method follows the PRISMA guidelines, collecting contributions from the SCOPUS databases. Results show that the majority of contributions about the theme remain anchored to the concept of BIM generally detached from the Operations & Maintenance (O&M) life cycle of buildings. Tightening the circle then, the most in-point texts come out to be just those that deal with O&M but none of them exploiting DTs. The term never appears strongly in the phases of the review suggesting that this tool is not so related to energy efficiency purposes yet. To prove the potentiality of DT in energy efficiency and in particular in O&M ones, in which BIM cannot contribute to reach the target, becomes crucial.