# Exploring the Benefits and Limitations of Digital Twin Technology in Building Energy
## 5 Digital Twin Technology for Energy Sector Development
### Software for Energy Prediction-Actual Software Cases
[76] used a variety of building energy simulation tools (EnergyPlus, TRNSYS, IDA ICE, and IES-VE building energy simulation tools) to model a naturally ventilated single-story double-skin facade, followed by validation and inter-software comparison. The results show that there are differences in the performance of the various building energy simulation tools in predicting, for example, chamber air temperature and surface temperature. For example, TRNSYS performed well in predicting the solar radiation transmitted through the double-skin facade, while IDA-ICE was less accurate in predicting high temperatures. Section 7 points out that there are some challenges with the building energy simulation tools in predicting the performance of naturally ventilated single-story double-skin facades, such as predicting chamber air temperatures and surface temperatures. In addition, detailed studies should be conducted for specific opening types to model the flow more accurately through DSF chambers. The discussion section of the article focuses on the evaluation of the performance of four building energy simulation tools (EnergyPlus, TRNSYS, IDA-ICE and IES-VE) in predicting the thermal behavior of naturally ventilated single-story double-skin curtain walls. The article notes that it was not possible to determine which tool performed best for all the quantities analyzed (particularly the cavity air temperature, which was the least accurate parameter of all the software because of the underestimation of daytime peaks.) IES-VE was the most accurate in predicting supply air and thermal buffer patterns when shading devices were deployed, while EnergyPlus was the most accurate in predicting outdoor air curtain patterns. TRNSYS performed best in predicting surface temperature and solar radiation through the double-skinned curtain wall. In addition, the study explores the challenges designers may face when modelling naturally ventilated double-skinned curtain walls using whole-building simulation tools. In addition, the study clarifies which challenges have a greater impact on the performance of building energy simulation tools in order to improve their reliability. [PERSON] et al. [105] used multiple building energy simulation tools for modeling and energy analysis of office units in Boston, USA and Madrid, Spain to assess the cross-validation of energy simulation tools software tools and the energy efficiency of the buildings. A variety of software tools were used in the article for the simulation of energy management systems, including TRNSYS, IDA ICE, and EnergyPlus. The results showed that the mean percentage error values showed good agreement between the programs, with deviations between the results of the different software and the mean ranging from 0.1% to 5.3%. However, the hourly energy demand analysis showed normalized root mean square error values between 35% and 50%, which is well above the acceptable standard. It is recommended that multiple modelling tools be used in the early design stages and that detailed hourly analyses be conducted to predict the energy demand of buildings more accurately. In the study by [PERSON] et al. [42], they focused on energy consumption during the operational phase of the building life cycle. Using Autodesk Revit and EnergyPlus as BIM and energy simulation tools, they propose an effective technical framework to address the interoperability between the two tools. They used this framework to simulate the energy consumption of a Canadian home and carried out sensitivity and parametric analyses. The results of the analysis compared to monitoring data and the results of another simulation tool, HOT2000, predicted a total energy consumption difference of no more than 8.0%. [PERSON] and his team investigated the practical application of BIM and BaMa in the manufacture of building energy models and digital twins for industrial facilities. They first used BIM technology to create and simplify building models, followed by BaMa for the construction and simulation of building energy models.