The Role of Blockchain-Secured Digital Twins in Promoting Smart Energy Performance-Based Contracts for Buildings

Mohamed Nour El-Din (), João Poças Martins (), Nuno M. M. Ramos and Pedro F. Pereira
Additional contact information
Mohamed Nour El-Din: CONSTRUCT—GEQUALTEC, Faculty of Engineering (FEUP), University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
João Poças Martins: CONSTRUCT—GEQUALTEC, Faculty of Engineering (FEUP), University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Nuno M. M. Ramos: CONSTRUCT—LFC, Faculty of Engineering (FEUP), University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Pedro F. Pereira: CONSTRUCT—LFC, Faculty of Engineering (FEUP), University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 14, 1-23

Abstract: Energy performance-based contracts (EPCs) offer a promising solution for enhancing the energy performance of buildings, which is an overarching step towards achieving Net Zero Carbon Buildings, addressing climate change and improving occupants’ comfort. Despite their potential, their execution is constrained by difficulties that hinder their diffusion in the architecture, engineering, construction, and operation industry. Notably, the Measurement and Verification process is considered a significant impediment due to data sharing, storage, and security challenges. Nevertheless, there have been minimal efforts to analyze research conducted in this field systematically. A systematic analysis of 113 identified journal articles was conducted to fill this gap. A paucity of research tackling the utilization of digital technologies to enhance the implementation of EPCs was found. Consequently, this article proposes a framework integrating Digital Twin and Blockchain technologies to provide an enhanced EPC execution environment. Digital Twin technology leverages the system by monitoring and evaluating energy performance in real-time, predicting future performance, and facilitating informed decisions. Blockchain technology ensures the integrity, transparency, and accountability of information. Moreover, a private Blockchain infrastructure was originally introduced in the framework to eliminate high transaction costs related to on-chain storage and potential concerns regarding the confidentiality of information in open distributed ledgers.

Keywords: performance contracts; digital twins; blockchain; smart contracts; zero carbon buildings; energy savings; energy performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/14/3392/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/14/3392/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:14:p:3392-:d:1432586

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().