Enhancing Smart Building Sustainability with Hybrid Fog–Cloud Architectures: Insights from Simulated IoT Data

Abstract

The growing demand for energy-efficient urban infrastructure has positioned smart buildings as pivotal in achieving sustainable cities. This study examines the integration of hybrid Fog–Cloud architectures in optimizing energy usage, reducing latency, and managing network bandwidth in smart building environments using simulated IoT data. A mixed-method approach was employed, combining simulations of fixed and scalable scenarios with comparative analysis of Fog and Cloud systems. The key simulators used in this study were the MATLAB Simulink and the iFogSim2 simulation toolkit, to ensure data is generated and analyzed. Key findings reveal latency reductions of over 80% and network bandwidth usage improvements exceeding 30%, with Fog systems consuming significantly less energy and emitting 31% less CO₂ compared to Cloud-only setups. For instance, Fog bandwidth usage ranged from 9.54 Gbps for 20 devices to 75.98 Gbps for 200 devices, compared to Cloud systems at 14.56 Gbps and 110.89 Gbps, respectively. Additionally, energy savings were evident across both fixed and scalable scenarios, with Fog systems consistently outperforming Cloud systems as device counts increased. These improvements align with global sustainability goals, particularly the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11, emphasizing sustainable cities and communities. This study underscores the transformative potential of hybrid architectures in revolutionizing building operations through resource efficiency and environmental sustainability, paving the way for scalable and resilient IoT ecosystems.