Digitisation of the built environment is seen as a significant factor for innovation in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Operation sector. However, lack of data and information in as-built digital models considerably limits the potential of Building Information Modelling in Facility Management. Therefore, optimisation of data collection and management is needed, all the more so now that Industry 4.0 has widened the use of sensors into buildings and infrastructures. A literature review on the two main pillars of digitalisation in construction, Building Information Modelling and Internet of Things, is presented, along with a bibliographic analysis of two citations and abstracts databases focusing on the operations stage. The bibliographic research has been carried out using Web of Science and Scopus databases. The article is aimed at providing a detailed analysis of BIM–IoT integration for Facility Management (FM) process improvements. Issues, opportunities and areas where further research efforts are required are outlined. Finally, four key areas of further research development in FM management have been proposed, focusing on optimising data collection and management.

In the Architecture, Engineering, construction and Operations (AEcO) there is a growing interest in the use of the building Information modelling (bIm). Through integration of information and processes in a digital model, bIm can optimise resources along the lifecycle of a physical asset. Despite the potential savings are much higher in the operational phase, bIm is nowadays mostly used in design and construction stages and there are still many barriers hindering its implementation in Facility management (Fm). Its scarce integration with live data, i.e. data that changes at high frequency, can be considered one of its major limitations in Fm. The aim of this research is to overcome this limit and prove that buildings or infrastructures operations can benefit from a digital model updated with live data. The scope of the research concerns the optimisation of Fm operations. The optimisation of operations can be further enhanced by the use of maintenance smart contracts allowing a better integration between users' behaviour and maintenance implementation. In this case study research, the Image recognition (Imr), a type of Artificial Intelligence (AI), has been used to detect users' movements in an office building, providing real time occupancy data. This data has been stored in a bIm model, employed as single reliable source of information for Fm. This integration can enhance maintenance management contracts if the bIm model is coupled with a smart contract. Far from being a comprehensive case study, this research demonstrates how the transition from bIm to the Asset Information model (AIm) and, finally, to the Digital Twin (i.e. a near-real-time digital clone of a physical asset, of its conditions and processes) is desirable because of the outstanding benefits that have already been measured in other industrial sectors by applying the principles of Industry 4.0.

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Digital Asset Management is a key discipline enabling a sustainable and high-quality built environment. The physical asset is nowadays more and more integrated within the digital environment, therefore it produces a great amount of information during its life cycle. This information should be used to improve process management during the use phase of the asset, according to a servitised and crossdisciplinary approach. Accordingly, a methodological framework for asset management business processes reengineering is here presented. Through the application of the proposed set methods and procedures, it is possible to leverage innovative Information and Communication technologies (ICTs) for the development of improved information management practices in digital built environment management. The case studies developed demonstrated the possibility to effectively implement innovative Digital Asset Management processes and address different core areas of the discipline.

Sustainability certification of construction products is a key issue to be managed and controlled during the construction phase, in order to implement design choices and reduce buildings impact on the environment. Within this context, sustainability assessment protocols play an important role, since they provide a systematic approach for the sustainability rating of the building. The aim of this research is to define a BIM-based methodology to automate the sustainability certification process in construction phase. According to the proposed methodology, the contractor proposes a building component whose technical data are uploaded to a Document Management System (DMS) used as Common Data Environment (CDE). If the component passes a set of semi-automated authorisation steps, compliant with the work supervisor’s, client’s, and sustainability accredited professional’s needs, then it is uploaded to the BIM Model. The case study (an office building in Italy) confirmed that the proposed methodology allows to achieve a higher efficiency, minimizing the certification times and efforts. Nevertheless, this methodology should be validated in further case studies. Moreover, it may be improved and further automated to cope with product dictionaries and templates under development in CEN technical committee 442.