Towards Digital Twins of buildings and smart energy networks: Current and future trends

The European Union is actively promoting the digitalization of energy systems as a mean of achieving urban decarbonization. In addition, the future expansion of distributed energy networks, prosumers (for both heating and electricity) and electric vehicles, will create the need for a smart real-time and predictive management. In this framework, Digital Twins will play a key role offering management tools and planning strategies in urban energy systems. Given the recent emergence of this technology, this work aims to elucidate the definition of Digital Twin by conducting a comprehensive review of various practical applications and methodologies outlined in the current literature. This analysis will examine different applications in the context of buildings, district heating networks, and micro-grids, exploring different scopes, such as fault detection, energy saving and support for grid operators. Additionally, several methodologies for developing Digital Twins will be highlighted including Deep Learning and physical-based algorithms. Finally, the benefits of smart networks and buildings using Digital Twins in different pilots across Europe will be demonstrated through future activities of the DigiBUILD project. Within this context the project aims to develop various innovative applications, such as Electric Vehicles smart charging to increase renewable energy consumption, optimization of heat generation in 4th generation District Heating, and pro-active management and fault detection in buildings with a focus on enhancing occupant comfort.