From Individual Buildings to Smart Cities: Digital Twins, AI and IoT Set to Drive Sustainability, New Research Reveals
Energy experts from Exergio, a company that develops AI-based tools for commercial buildings, state that a sustainable building environment is too difficult to achieve without AI.
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Integration of AI, IoT and digital twins for smart cities are gaining recognition in both academia and the industry, placing digital twins among trendiest technologies in 2025. Energy experts highlight that AI and IoT technologies will enable the twins to optimize energy systems, reduce waste, and save up to 29%.
A recent study published in Applied Sciences showed how integrating AI tools with digital twins and the Internet of Things (IoT) results in energy optimization and sustainability. Similarly, a world-renowned futurist Bernard Marr recently ranked digital twins (virtual models of physical or upcoming buildings) as one of the top trends that will reshape urban life in 2025.
"Both academia and industry are working together to integrate AI into every digital tool, and digital twins are a good example of this collaboration. We are now moving into Industry 5.0—a phase where technology must balance automation with human-centric and sustainable solutions. However, automation alone is no longer sufficient in building energy management. AI's ability to process vast amounts of real-time data enables smarter, data-driven decisions that improve efficiency and reduce waste,” said Donatas Karčiauskas, the CEO of Exergio.
The research conducted by scientists from Saudi Arabia, Norway, Australia, and Egypt analyzes how AI, IoT, and digital twins can upgrade building environments by addressing two areas: energy optimization and real-time monitoring and predictive analysis.
AI, IoT, and digital twins create an ecosystem that manages energy more efficiently. IoT sensors can monitor real-time data such as energy usage, occupancy, and environmental conditions. On the other hand, digital twins act as virtual replicas of buildings and cause energy systems to run constant simulations and optimize.
AI is mostly used to analyze trends and predict behaviors. In the building sector, it also automates lighting, heating, and cooling to maximize efficiency.
With the help of AI, digital twins are enabled to have control in real-time and operate using predictive capabilities.
According to energy experts, this way, sensors continuously collect data on occupancy, energy use, and environmental factors. Advanced AI models, such as random forest regression, forecast energy needs and balance microgrid power production with ecological and economic considerations.
“From our work with office complexes and commercial properties, we’ve seen real-time monitoring paired with predictive analytics lead to energy savings of up to 29%,” Karčiauskas noted. “The devil’s in the details, and AI can identify inefficiencies invisible to the human eye, such as minor sensor errors causing massive energy waste. With digital twins, we’ll soon model and simulate even more precise strategies for resource optimization. It means that AI can be powerful in several ways–with sensors and IoT alone or in combination with digital twins.”
Exergio’s integrated AI system helped the shopping center in Vilnius, Lithuania to reduce energy savings by 29% and save around €1 million. In another use case, the platform reduced energy waste by 20% in a large office building in Poland. Over nine months, the system saved €80,000.
The study concludes that the future of digital twins, AI, and IoT integrations goes beyond individual buildings, potentially transforming entire cities.
“To finally be able to build net-zero cities, we’re going to need standardized data protocols, robust privacy measures, and collaboration across academia, industry, and policymakers. Smart, sustainable cities will not be possible without the mentioned technologies,” concluded Karčiauskas.
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