BIM as a Tool for Developing Smart Buildings in Smart Cities: Potentialities and Challenges

Building Information Modeling (BIM) has established itself as a strategic and indispensable tool for designing and implementing smart buildings within the context of smart cities. This study explores the potentialities and challenges of using BIM across the main stages of the smart building lifecycle: design, construction, and operation and maintenance. We conducted comprehensive, detailed, and interpretative literature research to extract the main concepts and knowledge, enabling us to identify the main potentialities and challenges and classify them by life-cycle phase for smart buildings. Potentialities and challenges were prioritized based on the number of projects that cited them. The inclusion criteria for identifying potentialities and challenges were based on their key attributes: significant impact, information modeling potential, integration capability with other tools and methods, and improved performance in processes and services across all life cycle phases and BIM dimensions. The findings reveal that the main potentials include optimizing information management, reducing operating costs, enhancing environmental sustainability, and enhancing decision-making processes. Furthermore, the study highlights BIM’s role in integrating technologies such as IoT, augmented reality, and energy simulations, contributing to the development of more sustainable and functional buildings. However, challenges to its full adoption persist, including financial constraints, interoperability issues between systems, a lack of specialized technical skills, and organizational resistance to change. The dependence on advanced technological infrastructure and robust connectivity poses an additional challenge, especially in developing countries, where such resources may be scarce or inconsistent. Finally, this study suggests that future research should explore the integration of BIM with emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and digital twins, further expanding its applicability in the smart urban context.