Major opportunities of digital twins for smart buildings: a scientometric and content analysis

Purpose: Digital twins provide enormous opportunities for smart buildings. However, an up-to-date intellectual landscape to understand and identify the major opportunities of digital twins for smart buildings is still not enough. This study, therefore, performs an up-to-date comprehensive literature review to identify the major opportunities of digital twins for smart buildings. Design/methodology/approach: Scientometric and content analysis are utilised to comprehensively evaluate the intellectual landscape of the general knowledge of digital twins for smart buildings. Findings: The study uncovered 24 opportunities that were further categorised into four major opportunities: efficient building performance (smart “building” environment), efficient building process (smart construction site environment), information efficiency and effective user interactions. The study further identified the limitations of the existing studies and made recommendations for future research in the methodology adopted and the research domain. Five research domains were considered for future research, namely “real-time data acquisition, processing and storage”, “security and privacy issues”, “standardised and domain modelling”, “collaboration between the building industry and the digital twin developers” and “skilled workforce to enable a seamless transition from theory to practice”. Practical implications: All stakeholders, including practitioners, policymakers and researchers in the field of “architecture, engineering, construction and operations” (AECO), may benefit from the findings of this study by gaining an in-depth understanding of the opportunities of digital twins and their implementation in smart buildings in the AECO industry. The limitations and the possible research directions may serve as guidelines for streamlining the practical adoption and implementation of digital twins for smart buildings. Originality/value: This study adopted scientometric and content analysis to comprehensively assess the intellectual landscape of relevant literature and identify four major opportunities of digital twins for smart building, to which scholars have given limited attention. Finally, a research direction framework is presented to address the identified limitations of existing studies and help envision the ideal state of digital twins for smart buildings

Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Construction Industry: A literature review of academic research

Over the past 3 years, the global construction sector has been severely affected by the noxious coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Visionary construction stakeholders, including governments, practitioners, and academia, all have been actively devising strategies to deal with the crisis caused by the pandemic. Despite the rich contributions by academia, an in-depth review of their research works to understand how the pandemic has been handled to position the construction industry for post-pandemic actions and future pandemics is hitherto lacking. Hence, an up-to-date literature review is conducted in this study to better understand this terra incognita. It does so by adopting a six-step thematic analysis of 159 empirical peer-reviewed research articles in relation to COVID-19 on construction. The review discovered a growing research interest from different countries from 2020 to 2022. The existing studies can be put under four major topics, namely the COVID-19 impacts, challenges and opportunities, responding strategies, and post-COVID-19 interventions. A framework consisting of four categories of responding strategies, namely vaccination, personal responsibility of workers, government-instructional practices, and organisation-based approaches, is proposed through the lens of the socio-technical system theory to handle the pandemic crisis in construction. Limitations of the existing studies were further identified. Four pertinent research directions were finally proposed: building upon and testing the proposed COVID-19 response framework, adoption of more advanced innovative strategies to increase productivity amid pandemics and survive the risk of future pandemics, beyond the technological response to COVID-19 in construction, and post-pandemic view of the construction industry. This study contributes to the knowledge body by providing a candid evaluation of the knowledge contributed by academia to deal with the risks of future pandemics in the global construction industry

Cyber-Physical Systems and Digital Twins for “Cognitive Building” in the Construction Industry

Purpose: Despite the growing attention on the relevance of improved building management systems with cognition in recent years in the architecture, engineering, construction and operation (AECO) community, no review has been conducted to understand the human-environment interaction features of cyber-physical systems (CPS) and digital twins (DTs) in developing the concept of a cognitive building (CB). Thus, this paper aims to review existing studies on CPS and DTs for CB to propose a comprehensive system architecture that considers human-environment interactions. Design/methodology/approach: Scientometric analysis and content analysis were adopted for this study. Findings: The scientometric analysis of 1,042 journal papers showed the major themes of CPS/DTs for CB, and these can be categorized into three key technologies to realize CB in the AECO community: CPS, DTs and cognitive computing (CC). Content analysis of 44 relevant publications in the built environment assisted in understanding and evidently confirming the claim of this study on the integration of CPS and DTs for CB in construction by also involving the CC. It is found and confirmed that CB can be realized with CPS and DTs along with the CC. A CB system architecture (CBSA) is proposed from the three key technologies considering the human-environment interactions in the loop. The study discovered the potential applications of the CBSA across the building lifecycle phases, including the design, construction and operations and maintenance, with the potential promise of endowing resilience, intelligence, greater efficiency and self-adaptiveness. Based on the findings of the review, four research directions are proposed: human-environment interactions, CB for sustainable building performance, CB concept for modular buildings and moving beyond CB. Originality/value: This study stands out for comprehensively surveying the intellectual core and the landscape of the general body of knowledge on CPS/DTs for CB in the built environment. It makes a distinctive contribution to knowledge as it does not only propose CBSA by integrating CPS and DTs along with CC but also suggests some potential practical applications. These may require expert judgments and real case examples to enhance reproducibility and validation

Developing a user perception model for smart living: A partial least squares structural equation modelling approach

Smart living is highly advocated to improve the quality of life by involving original and innovative solutions. This trend has been jointly driven by policymakers and domain specialists such as urban planners, property developers, and computer engineers. However, little attention has been paid to understanding the perception of the actual users, whose opinions should have been considered in the design and development of smart living systems. To address the gap, this study aims to investigate the user perceptions towards smart living by adopting an exploratory sequential quantitative research method. A user perception model is proposed based on a comprehensive literature review. Using smart student residence as an example scenario, 221 valid data was obtained through open-ended questionnaires, which were then analysed using a partial least squares structural equation modelling approach. This approach analysed the complex relationship among the identified latent dimensions in realising smart living based on the users' perceptions. The finding demonstrated four significant dimensions to consider in realising smart living: system-to-user conditions, system-to-system conformity conditions, safety and service-related conditions, and tracking and monitoring-related conditions. The proposed model explained 78.3% of the variance in realising smart living for the users considered in the study's context. The study makes a unique contribution to the knowledge body by proposing a model to understand smart living from users' perspectives. It reflects the increasing clamour to incorporate user perspectives into the design of smart living systems. The developed model could serve as a decision-support tool to fulfil users' expectations of smart living

Quality Assurance of Cross-border Construction Logistics and Supply Chain during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from the Hong Kong–Mainland China links

This study examines the quality assurance (QA) practices of cross-border construction logistics and supply chain (Cb-CLSC) amid the pandemic by adopting an embedded mixed-method design involving a comprehensive desk literature review and experts across the Hong Kong–Mainland China links. The study revealed 10 critical QA practices, with the top three critical practices comprising 'understanding requirements, norms, and standards of quality', 'assigning clear responsibilities to qualified workers' and 'recording and documenting work processes, project routine, and seamless implementations'. This attained a relatively good percentage agreement of 55% between the industry and academia. Sentiment analysis denoted the impacts of the pandemic to be largely neutral, i.e. the created opportunities neutralise the negative impacts. This study deepens the understanding of the subject matter to help practitioners, researchers and policymakers develop innovative approaches and make operational decisions to position QA adequately for the post-pandemic era and endure the risks of future pandemics

Digital twin-enabled human-robot collaborative teaming towards sustainable and healthy built environments

Development of sustainable and healthy built environments (SHBE) is highly advocated to achieve collective societal good. Part of the pathway to SHBE is the engagement of robots to manage the ever-complex facilities for tasks such as inspection and disinfection. However, despite the increasing advancements of robot intelligence, it is still “mission impossible” for robots to independently undertake such open-ended problems as facility management, calling for a need to “team up” the robots with humans. Leveraging digital twin's ability to capture real-time data and inform decision-making via dynamic simulation, this study aims to develop a human-robot teaming framework for facility management to achieve sustainability and healthiness in the built environments. A digital twin-enabled prototype system is developed based on the framework. Case studies showed that the framework can safely and efficiently incorporate robotics into facility management tasks (e.g., patrolling, inspection, and cleaning) by allowing humans to plan, oversee, manage, and cooperate with the robot via the digital twin's bi-directional mechanism. The study lays out a high-level framework, under which purposeful efforts can be made to unlock digital twin's full potential in collaborating humans and robots in facility management towards SHBE

A Framework for Smart Building Technologies Implementation in the Ghanaian Construction Industry: A PLS-SEM Approach

This study sought to identify the dimensions and the significant critical factors capable of enhancing Smart Building Technologies' (SBTs') implementation for smart building projects in developing countries. A desk literature review is first conducted to identify and categorize the potential factors. It is further analyzed using partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) based on 227 valid data from experts in Ghana. The study revealed four underlying dimensions (i.e., ‘processes and control'[PC], ‘people and skills'[PS], ‘methods and techniques'[MT], and ‘knowledge sharing'[KS]) consisting 14 significant critical factors capable of enhancing SBTs implementation for smart building projects, with the top three comprising ‘appropriate procedures/practices for managing smart building projects (MT3)', ‘appropriate tools/techniques to guide smart building projects to their delivery (MT2)', and ‘skills and experience required to pick project team members for smart building projects (PS1)’. Further analysis with PLS-SEM revealed a significant positive effect of the four underlying dimensions and their positive interrelationships toward framework development. Besides the unique contribution of this study to the knowledge body, it also provides project managers and a construction design team with a structured knowledge of the skills, expertise, attitudes, decision-making, processes, control mechanisms, and effective delivery of smart building projects in developing countries

Assessing the level of awareness of smart building technologies (SBTs) in the developing countries

Purpose: 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. Design/methodology/approach: 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. Findings: 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. Practical implications: 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. Originality/value: 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

Exploration of latent barriers inhibiting project management processes in adopting smart building technologies (SBTs) in the developing countries

Purpose: While smart building technologies (SBTs) implementation ensures sustainability, their adoption is hampered by latent barriers, especially in project management processes. These latent barriers must be addressed to facilitate the successful and widespread adoption of SBTs. Therefore, this study aims to explore the significant latent barriers inhibiting the project management processes in adopting SBTs in developing countries. Design/methodology/approach: A positivist research philosophy couched within a deductive approach was adopted to undertake a quantitative questionnaire survey of 227 project management and design team participants. Descriptive and inferential analytical tools (including a one sample T-test and exploratory factor analysis) were then adopted to interpret data collected. Findings: The results reveal that the “high cost of smart sustainable materials and equipment” is the major significant barrier hindering the adoption of SBTs in developing countries. Latent barriers were: “structure and time-related barriers,” “construction-related barriers” and “human, policy and cost-related barriers”. Originality/value: The study contributes novel insights into the prevailing nascent discourse on SBTs from the perspectives of construction project managers and design teams in developing countries, particularly. Furthermore, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that ascertains the significant barriers inhibiting project management processes in adopting SBTs in developing countries

Underlying indicators for measuring smartness of buildings in the construction industry

Purpose: 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. Design/methodology/approach: 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. Findings: 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. Originality/value: A blueprint guidance model (consisting of significant indicators for measuring building smartness) was developed to help improve building performance and inform policymakers