The global buildings and construction sector remains a dominant contributor to anthropogenic climate change, and deep decarbonization has positioned digital twin technology as a transformative pathway for intelligent building energy management. Despite considerable research momentum, the field lacks a coherent synthesis mapping AI capabilities onto the full digital twin lifecycle—from sensor-driven calibration through real-world deployment to district-scale operation. This review addresses this gap through six objectives: analyzing AI-enhanced modeling approaches for building digital twins; examining data infrastructure and interoperability requirements; evaluating validation, calibration, and uncertainty quantification practices; synthesizing real-world implementation evidence across diverse building typologies; assessing integration with renewable energy systems and smart grids; and identifying challenges, research gaps, and a strategic deployment roadmap. Physics-based, data-driven, and hybrid modeling strategies occupy distinct and complementary roles. Physics-informed surrogate models preserve thermodynamic interpretability while reducing computational overhead; deep learning architectures—including recurrent networks and reinforcement learning agents—deliver adaptive control; and federated learning frameworks enable privacy-preserving optimization across distributed building portfolios. Rigorous multi-metric validation aligned with established calibration standards proves essential for trustworthy deployment, while Bayesian and ensemble-based uncertainty quantification methods emerge as indispensable components of operationally credible digital twins. Evidence from real-world deployments in residential, commercial, healthcare, and industrial facilities confirms that AI-powered digital twins consistently deliver substantial energy savings and measurable improvements in occupant comfort. Scaling to district and urban levels introduces challenges in data governance, computational architecture, and multi-stakeholder coordination, yet federated digital twin frameworks are beginning to demonstrate viable pathways. The paper concludes with a decade-long strategic roadmap spanning technological maturation, market development, regulatory alignment, and decarbonization impact—positioning AI-enhanced digital twins not as incremental optimization tools, but as the foundational infrastructure for the coordinated transformation of the global building stock.
Łukasz Łach (Tue,) studied this question.