Bortom ritningen : Att utnyttja digitala tvillingar för hållbarhet i fastighetsförvaltning

This thesis investigates the perceptions and challenges associated with the adoption of digital twins in building management, with a focus on energy efficiency in Swedish companies. The study aims to understand how these companies define digital twins, their perceived usefulness and ease of use as well as the external factors that may hinder their adoption. The research methodology employed in this paper was semi-structured interviews, chosen for its flexibility in exploring complex topics and gathering detailed insights from participants engaged in the Swedish building sector. The interviews involved experts from real estate, consultancy, construction, engineering and manufacturing firms, who are engaged with digital twins. These interviews aimed to reveal the motivations, benefits and barriers associated with digital twins in building management. The findings reveal that digital twins are generally defined as dynamic digital representations of physical assets, with an emphasis on real-time data integration and bidirectional communication. Despite their potential for optimizing energy efficiency and improving operational performance, digital twins are often perceived as complex and challenging to use. The need for improvement in user-friendliness as well as in education and training, was identified as barriers to the adoption. The study concluded that although digital twins generally are valued for their potential to enhance building management aspects, they are often seen as complex to understand and use. External factors such as cultural resistance, economic constraints, system integration challenges and regulatory compliance issues also affect the adoption of digital twins. Addressing these factors suggests improving user training, intuitive interfaces, implementing incremental adoption strategies and promoting collaborative industry standards. The study also highlights the importance of a practical and context-based approach when defining and using digital twins. These insights could contribute to a better understanding of how to adopt digital twins more broadly in the building management sector.