AI-driven systems for advancing smart building infrastructure: An integrated review for energy management, occupant comfort, and cybernetics

Abstract

The development of smart building infrastructure requires integrated approaches that balance energy efficiency, occupant well-being, and resilient control mechanisms. This study reviews the advanced computational systems, supporting three interconnected fields: cybernetic coordination, energy management, and occupant comfort. Principles of cybernetics provide the overall framework, emphasizing feedback loops, system resilience, and adaptive management to ensure resilient building performance in the face of uncertain or external disturbances. Energy management data-driven optimization strategies, like real-time load forecasting, adaptive HVAC control, and integration with renewable energy sources, have shown measurable reductions in consumption. Research demonstrates the positive effects on occupant comfort of sensor-based monitoring and adaptive environmental controls that adjust to shifting air quality, temperature, and individual preferences. The key technological enablers highlighted in this review include interoperable communication networks, predictive modeling frameworks, and cross-domain integration strategies. It also highlights the ongoing issues such as the lack of equality in standards, inability of prototypes to operate on large scale building projects, and data security and privacy. In contrast to traditional surveys, this review implements a cybernetics-oriented integrative approach, which synthesizes AI-driven smart building functionality as a network of feedback systems and not autonomous parts of technology. This review brings in engineering, architecture, and systems science discoveries to bring out a holistic analysis of how intelligent control systems can contribute to safe, human-specialized and sustainable building settings. These results suggest that occupant behavior should be considered in system design, resiliency against cyber–physical attacks, and disciplinary gaps between application and research should be overcome in the future. Besides energy efficiency, the integrated approach also introduces smart buildings as versatile, socio-technical systems, which can help to attain the long-term sustainability objectives.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Energy Reports, 2026 · DOI ↗