Forecasting and Monitoring Smart Buildings with the Internet of Things, Digital Twins and Blockchain

Smart buildings have grown in numbers and capabilities worldwide. Smart buildings rely on the sensor networks and Internet of Things (IoT), which allows the development and optimization performance through various methods, including efficient energy management solutions and predictive technologies for future decisions. Smart buildings generate data in real-time, and human-based choices are often taken in real-time. IoT provides connectivity for the various sensors. Smart buildings must ensure the proper operation with minimum time and energy with regards to dynamic human demands and performance in real-time. Blockchain technology can ensure data integrity and regulated autonomous flow of information between users who have a varying degree of trust. Therefore, the combination of Blockchain and the IoT can achieve data integrity between IoT devices installed in the smart buildings where multiple humans are involved and have different non-overlapping expectations from the building’s environment and response. In this paper, a set of predictive technologies are analyzed, and their common parameters are shown to affect the possible prediction and visualization of the IoT data for users. A digital twin based on Blockchain is proposed where individual users owing some sensors can use and visualize processed data based on rules set by the owners in the Blockchain.