The SmartWins project, funded by the European Commission, aims to strengthen the capacity of Kaunas Technological University (Lithuania) to carry out research and development activities on the digital twin in the construction sector and on methods and technologies for assessing the energy performance of buildings. The aim is to facilitate the transition to an intelligent, sustainable and zero-emission built environment.

Politecnico di Milano, represented by the Department of Energy, is among the 5 international partners of the project. Our role is to contribute to the project with knowledge sharing and training activities. The other project partners are KTU, Centre for Research and Technology-Hellas (CERTH), Contecht and Innotrope.

The training activities have recently started. Professors, researchers and laboratory technicians take turns in giving a series of lectures on key topics related to energy efficiency in buildings. The quality of confined spaces, electric and thermal heat pump technology, RELAB laboratory activities, technologies for controlled contamination environments, underfloor heating combined with displacement ventilation systems, assessment of indoor environmental conditions, and phygital and cognitive buildings will be addressed.

But what are digital twins? They are digital representations of real physical objects or objects to be realised. Their purpose is to have a digital representation useful for design, implementation, simulation, integration, verification, monitoring, maintenance, etc. The main parts that make up a digital twin are: the physical object and the context in which it operates, its digital representation, and the communication channel between the physical and the digital object.

Among the various sectors where the “digital twin” approach can bring great benefits is the construction sector, allowing operators to simulate scenarios and assess their impact on building performance. For example, the impact of using different building materials, heating, cooling, ventilation or visual comfort technologies can be simulated. This allows the most efficient solutions to be identified in the design phase and control parameters to be optimised in the operational phase.

This approach is not yet mature and widespread in the built environment sector, but it has the potential to revolutionise the way we design, build and operate buildings. By providing a common platform for data sharing and collaboration between the various parties involved in the building lifecycle, it can reduce errors, improve efficiency and ensure that everyone is working towards the same goals.