In 2011, the term Digital Twin was originally introduced by Michael Grieves to define the synchronization between two realities: physical objects placed in a real space and virtual objects within in virtual space, linked through the mutual exchange of data throughout the entire lifecycle, both in real-time and asynchronously. Nowadays, Digital Twin is among the principal and emerging technological innovations of both Industry 4.0 and the emerging Industry 5.0, enabling an interaction between physical and virtual objects, Big Data, Internet of Things, and Artificial Intelligence. The construction sector, too, is now exploring the potentialities offered by the Digital Twin approach in enhancing innovative, responsible, and sustainable governance of buildings’ lifecycles. Concerning these issues, this paper proposes visualizing future challenges with a specific focus on the operation and maintenance phase and its related impact on decarbonization via a critical literature review of the current statements. The applied methodology is based on three different questions related to certain research issues performed in the Scopus database. The selected findings were filtered, classified, and discussed. Some future challenges on specific issues have been identified, defining and promoting novel research ideas.

The construction sector is currently undergoing a deep digital transformation resulting from the prioritization of emerging technologies, among which are digital twins. New goals and opportunities are appearing that minimize the impact on a building’s lifecycle, reduce economic, environmental, and extra-social costs, optimize energetic performance, decrease energy consumption and emissions, and enhance the durability and service life of buildings and their components. Among the research activities that have led to the development of a maintenance management model (MMM), this paper deals with the digital-twin approach, considering it instrumental to the innovative governance of the building environment from a lifecycle-based and sustainable perspective. It includes paying attention to efficiency in terms of resource use, energy consumption, and the energy performance of buildings, supporting decarbonization processes, and environmental vulnerability due to natural disasters, extreme weather, and seismic events. Its current implementation is presented here. In this scenario, the authors, operating at BIG srl, an academic spinoff of the Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, Italy, working together with the startup Sysdev, based in Torino, Italy, the company Berna Engineering srl, based in Reggio Calabria, Italy, and ACCA Software spa, based in Avellino, Italy, introduce the experimental application of the DT4SEM for safety and well-being in buildings, which is specifically oriented to seismic behavior monitoring. The proposal, while highlighting the innovative character of DT approaches, responds to the need for reliable data for increasingly effective forecasts and the control of the seismic behavior of buildings, facilitating informed decision-making for building management while also optimizing maintenance schedules.

After years of slightest attention to the environment, low productivity, and least rates of technological innovation, the construction sector has started a slow but in-depth review of its statutes and priorities. The ongoing ecological and digital transition opens to new opportunities connected to the implemental policies of Industry 4.0—at now Industry 5.0—and related enabling technologies. Opportunities that strongly reaffirm the need for innovative, responsible, and sustainable governance of the life cycle of buildings, placing it in the new perspective of Digital Twin approach. Starting from this scenario, the paper presents some ongoing upgrade of a maintenance management model expressly aimed at optimizing activities in the operation and maintenance phase from which evident economic, environmental, and social extra costs arise.

The digital transition and decarbonization are strategic European objectives, supported at different levels by the Green Deal, the Energy Performance Building Directive (EPBD), and policies and tools such as the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI). The SRI measures a building’s ability to use intelligent technologies to reduce its consumption and increase the energy awareness of occupants for energy efficiency. Furthermore, today, it has a limited impact on national regulations and public decision-making. Its application presents challenges including those related to heritage conservation. This paper contributes to the Italian SRI framework through an experimental application in the renovation of a historic building in the metropolitan city of Reggio Calabria (Italy). The analysis evaluates the SRI’s adaptability by comparing its pre-renovated state, current state, and pre-design plan. The SRI calculation integrates assessment tools with BIM models for a potential future digital twin approach. The study, part of a funded national research project, aims to enhance policies for digitalization in the green transition. The paper is organized into the Introduction; Materials and Methods, which contains the methodological approach; Results; and Discussion and Conclusions. Following the experimental application, the results show that standardizing the SRI approach could enhance energy efficiency and digitalization in buildings.

The paper deals with the many issues related to the relationship between project and maintainability in light of the opportunities offered by Industry 4.0 referred to scientific advances and international and national regulatory context. As for industrial products, building maintainability is a design requirement and requires tools, procedures and programming skills. Not new issues, different the connoting characters. Today, Lean Construction and ICT technologies are synergetic methodologies and tools aimed at improving the “predictability” of design. They represent some of the cornerstones of an innovative approach, capable of projecting the construction sector into the era of the fourth revolution and, even more, the design practices from which descend the choices and strategies for managing the life cycle and therefore the characteristics of efficiency and sustainability. In this context, project and maintainability find a re-reading and updating, not only with reference to their operational capacity, but also mainly considering renewed human-centered approaches.