Research within the Dig-IT Lab is organised around six themes, covering the integration of the physical and digital, business models, technology, and human well-being, with a strong focus on the growing application of digital twins for various smart building uses.
Business models
The real estate industry is being transformed by digital technologies, especially digital twins, which link virtual and physical buildings to optimise operations. These solutions support IoT and AI, improve efficiency, reduce energy and maintenance costs, enhance flexibility, and enable new value propositions and business models.
Digital twins
Digital twins are envisioned as a key enabler of the digital transformation in buildings. They support a more sustainable built environment by integrating, optimising, and intelligently managing building systems. A building digital twin is a dynamic virtual representation using real-time data and models to improve operations, maintenance, and energy use. Despite their benefits, digital twins face challenges in data integration, interoperability, scalability, and cyber-security. Research at the Dig-IT Lab aims to demonstrate large-scale feasibility and societal impact through shared knowledge and industry collaboration.
Ethics and law
Focusing only on technical efficiency risks neglecting human and social aspects. To ensure well-being and quality of life in buildings, it is essential to address ethical dimensions such as trust, transparency, explainability, privacy, fairness, responsibility, and safety. Research in this area applies ethical and legal analysis contextually, integrated across all activities. It also examines how to manage control and services from smart building data in compliance with Swedish and EU law, particularly regarding privacy.
Organisation
This research area examines how actors in construction and real estate, especially property owners and developers, adapt to technologies like digital twins. It focuses on how these adaptations affect collaboration, value creation, and industry transformation. By studying strategies, interaction, and adaptation patterns, the research explores dynamic capabilities, reorganisation of value creation, and how digital tools drive change, in collaboration with the Business Models theme.
Sector coupling
This cross-disciplinary theme explores how digitalisation can couple construction and energy sectors to enhance building sustainability and efficiency. It leverages digital technologies, including digital twins, to optimise energy use, integrate renewables, enable market participation, and foster innovative business models. The research produces integrated energy management systems, tools, case studies, policy guidance, and societal outreach to drive sector transformation.
Sustainability and circularity
This cross-disciplinary research theme examines how digitalisation of buildings can reduce environmental impacts and resource use. It supports sustainability and circularity in Dig-IT Lab research, focusing on decarbonisation, circular solutions, and systems-level impacts. Research in this area is conducted in collaboration with other research themes, developing studies with partners, and guiding PhD students to integrate sustainability into their work.
Swedish