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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.

A systematic literature review approach is adopted to analyse and synthesise the existing literature relating to the subject topic.

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.

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.

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.

This paper examines the use of intelligent technologies in buildings and whether the use of smart technologies impacts the circular economy performance of buildings in terms of energy and water consumption, their marginal cost and the management decision time and quality, for building management companies.

The study is initiated through the detailed build-up of the proposition that employs a systematic literature review and adopts the case study research design to make a cross-case analysis of the information extracted from data. The data are derived from the operating costs of two buildings in which most advanced smart technologies are used in Cape Town and interviews with their facility managers. These data provide two research case studies. The results of the investigation are then analysed and linked back to the literature.

The results of the research suggest that the implementation of smart technologies to create intelligent infrastructure is beneficial to the circular economy performance of buildings and the time taken for management decisions. The results of the study have proven that the impact of smart technologies on the circular economy performance of buildings is positive, as it lowers the cost of utilities and decreases the time required for management decisions.

The research reported in this paper is exploratory, and due to its limited sample size, its findings may not be statistically generalizable to the population of high-occupancy buildings in Cape Town, which incorporate smart infrastructure technologies within their building management systems (BMSs). Also, the empirical data collected were limited to the views and opinions of the interviewees, and the secondary data were obtained from the selected buildings.

The findings suggest that investment in smart technologies within buildings is of significant value and will improve the circular economy performance of buildings in terms of low energy and water use, and effective management decisions.

The results imply that there would be more effective maintenance decisions taken by facilities managers, which will enable the maintenance of equipment to be properly monitored, problems with the building services and equipment to be identified in good time and in improved well-being and user satisfaction.

The study provides evidence to support the concept that advanced smart technologies boost performance, the time required for management decisions and that they enable circularity in buildings. It supports the proposition that investment in the more advanced smart technologies in buildings has more positive rewards.

The smart building concept has gained prominence in the construction sector during the past decade. In the United Arab Emirates, although smart building technology has been widely adopted in different building sectors, no empirical studies have examined the applicability of the smart buildings concept in prison facilities. The current study aims to understand the current status of prison buildings in the UAE and the challenges faced by the prison industry to implement new smart technology.

This study involved a semi-structured interview consisting of 14 participants who were interviewed face-to-face about their opinion about the objectives of the study. The interviewees were experts from the prison and construction industry of the UAE working at the top management level. Mind-maps were created from the thematic data using Nvivo software.

The results demonstrated that among current issues prevailing in prisons, overcrowding was regarded as the most severe issue. Additionally, in most cases, there is no systemic classification of inmates. Concerning the potential challenges in the implementation of smart technologies in the prison buildings, being too old and outdated of prison buildings are a significant concern, followed by a substantial gap in the approval system of budget to purchase new smart technology.

The findings of this study are of vital importance and help to identify potential challenges involved in the implementation of smart technologies in prison buildings that should be taken into consideration before selecting any new smart technology.

Facilities management (FM) activities affect citizens’ health and safety, long-term urban environmental sustainability and the relationships between the built and natural environments of cities. This study aims to comprehend the status of smart FM tools application, how they are used to improve the delivery of FM services and the barriers to their implementation.

To investigate the current smart solutions that leverage the quality of FM service, a case study based on the FM practice in Hong Kong was carried out. The case study was conducted in two phases of data acquisition based on a qualitative research methodology. After conducting in-depth interviews to determine the application of smart FM tools in different types of properties and to identify the initiatives and barriers to smart FM tool application, three workshops were conducted to validate the findings and further investigate the influence of FM professionals on smart FM tools application in Hong Kong.

The findings of the case study revealed, firstly, that four types of smart FM tools – user-centric, safety and hygiene, maintenance and sustainability-oriented – are used to assist the delivery of FM services. Secondly, smart FM tools are shown to be useful in assisting FM activities. Thirdly, the existing barriers to smart FM tool application manifest differently in shopping malls, office buildings and residential buildings. Fourthly, smart FM tools are used to address the four attributes of user needs: comfort, health and wellbeing, convenience and information to occupants.

The value of this study lies in its focus on the industry level (FM industry) and the application process of smart FM tools in different types of property, revealing the benefits, initiatives and barriers to their future application. This study provides a comprehensive picture of the current status and elaborates the barriers to smart FM tool application, which will help FM practitioners to make strategic decisions on selecting and developing smart FM tools. Also, this study will facilitate smart FM tool application policy development.

To achieve the building and property by 2050, decarbonisation goals will now require a significant increase in the rate of improvement in the energy performance of buildings. Occupant behaviour is crucial. This study seeks to guide the application of smart building technology in existing building stock to support improved building energy performance and occupant comfort.

This study follows a logical partitioning approach to the development of a schema for building energy performance and occupant comfort. A review of the literature is presented to identify the characteristics that label and structure the problem elements. A smart building technology framework is overlaid on the schema. The framework is then applied to configure and demonstrate an actual technology implementation for existing building stock.

The developed schema represents the key components and relationships of building energy performance when combined with occupant comfort. This schema provides a basis for the definition of a smart building technologies framework for existing building stock. The study demonstrates a viable configuration of available smart building technologies that couple building energy performance with occupant comfort in the existing building stock. Technical limitations (such as relatively simple building management control regimes) and pragmatic limitations (such as change management issues) are noted for consideration.

This is the first development of a schema to represent how building energy performance can be coupled with occupant comfort in existing building stock using smart building technologies. The demonstration study applies one of many possible technology configurations currently available, and promotes the use of open source applications with push-pull functionality. The schema provides a common basis and guide for future studies.

The current movement toward digitisation has promoted the adoption of smart building technology globally. Despite its advantages, its usage in developing countries such as Nigeria is still very low. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate construction professionals' awareness of smart building concepts (SBCs) in the Nigerian construction industry and identify the parameters by which SBCs can be measured.

A quantitative survey was carried out using a questionnaire to gather relevant data in the study area. This paper was conducted on 363 registered construction professionals in the Nigerian construction industry. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Kruskal–Wallis H test analysis.

This paper indicated that the majority of Nigerian construction professionals are aware of SBCs. Furthermore, the Kruskal–Wallis H test shows no significant difference between the awareness level of the various construction professionals. This paper further revealed energy management systems, IT network connectivity, safety and security management systems and building automation systems as the most significant parameters in which SBCs can be measured.

This paper identified significant parameters influencing SBCs awareness in the Nigerian construction industry. These parameters can be integrated into the building during the design stage and can be incorporated into the policymaking process of construction firms to promote the awareness of SBCs and encourage practices related to construction sustainability.

This paper provides empirical evidence on the awareness of SBCs among construction professionals and significant parameters influencing awareness in the Nigerian construction industry.

This study investigates the underlying indicators for measuring the smartness of buildings in the construction industry; where the Smart Building Technology (SBT) concept (which incorporates elements of the Zero Energy Building (NZEB) concept) could ensure efficient energy consumption and high performance of buildings.

An overarching post-positivist and empirical epistemological design was adopted to analyze primary quantitative data collected via a structured questionnaire survey with 227 respondents. The mean ranking analysis and one-sample t-test were employed to analyse data.

Research findings revealed that the level of knowledge of smart building indicators is averagely high in the Ghanaian construction industry. Future research is required to evaluate the awareness level of Smart Building Technologies (SBTs) by construction professionals and identify barriers to its adoption.

A blueprint guidance model (consisting of significant indicators for measuring building smartness) was developed to help improve building performance and inform policymakers.

This study aims to present the post-occupancy evaluation (POE) of a smart building on a university campus.

Literature review was conducted to report on the smart building concept and POE. A total of 49 performance indicators, classified according to the technical, functional and behavioral elements, were investigated. A case study of a smart building in a university campus was selected to assess the users’ satisfaction through POE. A total of 90 users from the academic and administrative staff of the building were contacted through a Web-based questionnaire survey, while 35 usable responses were obtained.

The findings revealed that the occupants were satisfied with several aspects of the building performance indicators; however, issues related to ventilation, control of thermostats, amount of natural lighting through low-E windows and privacy were identified. Ultimately, the study reveals that, although the adoption of smart technologies has the potential to provide an excellent and comfortable work environment, the efficient selection and/or maintenance of the adopted technologies is crucial.

The concept of smart buildings is perceived to be the future of the industry. Despite this growing need for “smartization,” the performance of a building ultimately depends on how it satisfies the needs of those who use them. The value and implication of this study is inherent in its emphasis on the satisfaction of buildings users in futuristic designs of buildings. The study shows that POEs can be used to assess the satisfaction of users of smart buildings to understand what works, as well as what needs redesign or improvement.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the awareness level of smart building technologies (SBTs) among construction professionals in developing countries such as Ghana, and identify the key factors that have the significant capability of influencing the awareness level significantly.

Data were collected through questionnaire survey from 227 construction design team and project managers in the Ghanaian construction industry. Descriptive analysis and multivariate analysis using multiple regression were used to analyze the data.

Averagely low level of SBTs awareness was observed to exist among professionals in the construction industry of Ghana. The study further revealed “training programs” by organizations and “individual knowledge” as the key factors capable of significantly influencing the level of SBTs awareness in the construction industry of developing countries, particularly Ghana.

This paper identified training programs by organizations and individual knowledge as the two key factors having significant capability of influencing the SBTs awareness in the construction industry of developing countries such Ghana. The two factors can be incorporated in policymaking process via considerations to help create SBTs awareness, such as encouragement of continuous professional development toward smart building concept in relation to construction sustainability.

This study conceptualizes from a systematic professional perspective and provides empirical evidence on the key significant factors capable of influencing the awareness of SBTs in the developing countries such as Ghana.

The necessity for sustainable development and high building performance has led to the adoption of smart building technologies (SBTs) in the construction community. The SBTs adoption has been hindered in many different parts of the world due to several constraints underpinning the project management processes to help adopt SBTs. This paper presents a systematic review of relevant literature on barriers underpinning the project management processes on the adoption of SBTs.

This paper presents a systematic review of relevant literature on barriers to technology adoption published in academic peer-reviewed journals and conference papers. The study adopted a systematic review technique on 56 relevant articles and conference papers in relation to barriers to adoption of technology, and barrier frequency was employed to select the most reported barriers.

The study revealed the most reported barriers underpinning project management process towards SBTs adoption, which include lengthy approval process for new SBTs, structure and organization of the construction industry, higher cost for smart construction practices and materials, unfamiliarity with smart building technology and technical difficulty during construction process.

To both the industry practitioners and policymakers, this review provides a valuable reference during implementation. Also, to the academic scholars on embarking on further empirical studies, the developed checklist of SBTs barriers could be important and useful.

This study has contributed to the knowledge of barriers underpinning the project management processes on SBTs adoption by identifying the most reported barriers in literature.