Digital Twin Approaches and BIM-Based Protocols for the Governance of the Built Environment

Abstract

A complex and articulated system of possible actions takes shape in the ongoing dual digital and ecological revolution. Among these renovation and maintenance are the expression of a transformation perspective capable of involving the different scales: environment, landscape, territory, city, and buildings. They constitute key action to achieve the decarbonization of the building stock by 2050. To achieve these objectives, structuring information systems is one of the main methodological approaches to use for the control of the entire life cycle of buildings, especially for maintenance and operation phases. In fact, according to decision theory, the primary element to operate with is information. Referring to this context the paper presents a methodology based on digital twin approach which inspired BIM-based protocols. They have a double articulation: the Built Environment Protocol and the BIM-Based Protocol for Smart Buildings and Smart Communities. BIM together with the other enabling technologies and the digital twin approach are the key aspects. They simplify governance operations by reinforcing the concept of interaction between users and buildings through the connection between the real and the virtual.

The experimentation applied to the case study of the University Citadel of Reggio Calabria demonstrates how BIM-based protocols could be able to start up innovative governance actions of the existing environment through the systemization and organization of information for maintenance processes.