Imagine being able to see every system, every piece of equipment, even every desk and light fitting in a building – all in real time, all digitally.
That’s the promise of digital twins, a technology that’s moving beyond hype and theory into measurable operational impact for businesses and building occupants alike.
Speaking to UC Today on the sidelines of the recent ISE 2026 in Barcelona, Brian Churchard, Senior Digital Solutions Lead at Johnson Controls, explained it simply: “A digital twin is effectively a database of building systems, building features, other technology within that building.
“It really builds a digital package of what’s going on in the building and allows us to interrogate that data set to provide some real core benefits – for occupants, for facilities teams, and even for execs like CFOs and sustainability officers.”
In short, a digital twin is a living, breathing digital replica of a building’s physical and operational systems – giving organisations visibility and insight that was previously available only through manual checks or legacy building management systems.
Operational Benefits: Spotting Problems Before They Escalate
When asked how digital twins are applied in smart buildings, Churchard emphasised their role in asset management.
“A digital twin is very much used if you look at it from an asset management perspective,” he said. “Companies can use that to identify any faults within that piece of equipment, like a chiller or a BMS system, or even to any extent physical systems that you’ve got on site. You can also then start to look at cost-benefit analysis. So, you get to look at the operational cost of your building.”
This capability allows maintenance teams to intervene before small faults escalate into costly failures. From a financial perspective, it provides more precise budgeting and resource allocation, reducing unexpected downtime.
Churchard also stressed that digital twins enhance the environment for building occupants. “It’s providing both operational efficiency, energy efficiency, but it’s also then providing a better environment and a greater environment for our building users and occupants as well,” he said.
Justifying the Investment
Businesses often ask how they can justify the upfront cost of digital twins. Churchard’s advice is pragmatic: focus on data with purpose.
“Not trying to digitise everything, trying to digitise key parts or drive value,” he explained. “That could be everything from the building system – heating, lighting, and cooling – and digitising that and bringing that potentially into a digital twin or a fault detection diagnostic platform or something of that nature.”
By targeting high-value areas such as mechanical equipment, Churchard says organisations can often generate a clear return on investment.
“Typically, you can save around about 10-20 percent of your energy consumption. Looking at the operational side, you can also reduce operational costs by perhaps up to around about 10% as well”
Beyond energy and cost savings, digital twins accelerate building commissioning and create stronger accountability during handover.
“On deployment, potentially on building new buildings as well, you’ve then got an operational commissioning efficiency. You’re actually going to be able to commission your building faster, commission it more accurately, and again, when it comes over to handover, you can then also challenge potentially main contractors or builders that set your systems up,” he added.
Beyond Facilities Management
The value of digital twins extends far beyond facilities teams. Churchard highlighted how executive teams can leverage this data for strategic decision-making. “CFOs, sustainability leaders, and exec teams get actionable insight,” he noted. By centralizing building data and providing real-time analytics, organizations can align their operations with broader business objectives, including ESG targets.
He also highlighted emerging trends in the smart building space, including cybersecurity and platform evolution.
“There was a fantastic session yesterday around edge device cybersecurity, and also some of the sessions we’ve had predominantly around the smart building session,” he said. “Some of the panel talks were very, very interesting around platforms that are being developed, around networking, around the entire built environment as well.”
For Churchard, innovations like these represent the next frontier – combining operational intelligence with secure, scalable infrastructure to support smarter, safer buildings.
Looking Ahead
Digital twins are increasingly moving from pilot projects into operational reality, but Churchard cautions that adoption is far from uniform. “It’s very specific on a company or an industry-by-industry basis,” he said.
For some organisations, the driver is energy efficiency; for others, it is operational transparency or compliance with ESG targets.
The broader challenge, he suggests, is integrating these systems into existing infrastructure without creating unnecessary complexity or risk.
Cybersecurity, in particular, is emerging as a critical factor, as more devices at the edge become connected and data volumes grow.
For now, digital twins offer a lens into how buildings perform in practice, revealing inefficiencies and opportunities that were previously invisible.
As the technology matures, its impact is likely to be felt less as a “cutting-edge innovation” and more as a standard operational tool – quietly reshaping how commercial real estate and facilities management measure performance.
