WOOD AND GENERATIVE ALGORITHMS FOR THE COMPARISON BETWEEN MODELS AND REALITY

Abstract. This study examines the emblematic case of a test room and its relation to digital modelling. This space is the result of a multi-optimization process that has been physically built for the verification of the initial hypotheses. As a result, it is actually a Physical Twin, designed to be transformable by removing a wall. The same space, on the other hand, has become useful for testing the Digital Twin logic by associating a BIM model with a dynamic representation of the data captured by the sensors. The representation is thus placed at the core of this cyclic phase between reality and representation, with the goal of validating the proposed theories through empirical practice, improving digital computational ability, and identifying pathways for monitoring space's interactions with the environment and those who live in it

Prioritizing BIM Capabilities of an Organization: An Interpretive Structural Modeling Analysis

The Indian Architectural Engineering and Construction sector is grappling with the adoption of BIM as is evident from a relatively low level of adoption. While there have been sufficient number of successful (and unsuccessful) project level implementations of BIM in India, the maturity level of the overall industry and its constituents remains relatively low. One of the challenges faced, especially at the organizational level, is an understanding and development of the organization's BIM capabilities. These capabilities need attention in terms of their effectiveness and hierarchy of implementation in order to overcome the challenges of adoption and increasing maturity levels in BIM usage. The inability to identify crucial BIM capabilities is one of the primary barriers to ineffective BIM implementation and slow adoption in India. The aim of this study is to investigate the dynamics of different BIM capabilities and to understand how these capabilities can be represented as a set of interrelated elements by adopting Interpretive Structure Modeling (ISM) technique Accordingly, a clear understanding regarding the nature of each BIM capability is developed that will help the organizations to plan the strategic implementation of BIM on any project and gain systematic, logical and productive results. Through the three-phased study, it was concluded that BIM capabilities namely visualization, energy and environment analysis, structural analysis, MEP system modelling, constructability analysis, and BIM for as-built were found to be the independent BIM capabilities having strong driving power but weak dependence power. Facilities management is a dependent BIM capability with weak driving power but strong dependence power. This study provides a roadmap to BIM implementers by highlighting the driving and dependence power of each BIM capability which is deemed useful for enhanced delivery of construction projects. Significant theoretical and practical implications are envisioned for both researchers and project managers through the findings of this study

Ontology-Based Hazard Knowledge Representation and Identification for Deep Refurbishment Projects

The delivery of construction projects in general can be complex and demanding and presents well-documented challenges to the control of cost, safety, and quality. This situation becomes even more challenging in the case of renovation projects due to the high level of interaction with occupants, especially when they remain in the building over the renovation period. The safety of project participants as well as that of occupants when they are present in the renovation site must be ensured. Although the planning and management of such projects can be greatly enhanced by exploiting some of the advantages of Building Information Modelling (BIM), the process of construction hazard identification and renovation scenarios assessment is still human-based and so requires considerable time and effort. Moreover, there is little research that addresses how hazard identification can best be represented and processed automatically in order to optimise and develop more effective strategies for managing construction projects, particularly those involving the systematic renovation of existing properties for better energy performance. Using BIM along with Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools could help in processing the massive amount of newly-available data and knowledge (e.g., feedback, images captured from smart devices, IoT sensors) that are increasingly obtainable. A prerequisite for doing so is the development of a dedicated ontology that would enable the formalisation of domain knowledge, including associated concepts, relations, and constraints that are specific to renovation project hazard. The authors propose an ontology and demonstrate its application by developing a knowledge-based system for application within the context of deep renovation projects that are part of a large European research project: the RINNO project

Knotworking - A novel BIM-based collaboration practice in building design projects

Knotworking represents a distributed collaborative expertise in pursuit of a task that is organized among designers from different design disciplines. Construction processes involve phases and tasks that cannot be solved in one organization only, as integration of expert knowledge from various sources is needed. Through knotworking, groups of people, tasks and tools are set to work intensively for a short period of time to solve a problem or accomplish a task. Knotworking requires intensive collaboration across organizational boundaries and hierarchies. The practice of knotworking has been developed and applied in the development of healthcare organizations, libraries and school-university relationships, but it has not previously been applied in the construction industry. In this paper, we describe the concept of knotworking and the findings of a case study that we completed in the Finnish construction industry. We will also compare the similarities and differences of the Big Room and knotworking in terms of participants, duration, target, space/infrastructure, benefits and challenges. Finally, we present some suggestions for further research and experimentation on knotworking in construction projects.Peer reviewe

The Utilization of Building Information Modeling In Nigerian Construction Industry: Challenges and Prospects

The aim of this research is to appraise the challenges and prospects in the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in the construction industry in Nigeria. It analyzed the uses of BIM in the construction industry, determined the stakeholders perception of the benefits, risk and benchmarks in the adoption of BIM in construction practice and process. It examined the extent of its interoperability in bringing together the different participants and processes of construction works for efficiency and effective construction management and timely project delivery. It compared the findings with the same studies carried out and/or currently being carried out in many parts of the world. Primary data were collected through structured questionnaires. The questionnaires were distributed and collected through personal contacts, letters, online groups and e-mails. Direct observation and interviews were made with professionals in the construction industry The secondary data were obtained from the exploration of various relevant literature and previous researches that have been done in relevant areas. A purposive and modified BIM measurement survey was used for this research work to gather the opinion and views of various construction professionals and clients A total of One Hundred and Fifty (150) questionnaires were distributed based on the sample population. One Hundred and Thirty-two (132) questionnaires were retrieved and used to obtain the required information for data. Tools used the purpose of this research include mean score, percentile and inferential method of statistical analysis. The statistical package for social science (SPSS) was basically used to create the frequency tables and the charts. The study showed that the application of BIM is economical and easy leading to improvement, enhanced technical and general management of construction projects which can lead to total control of cost estimates, prompt delivery of projects and quality are the most important key performance indicators in construction

Education Needs to Support Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Collaboration Using Building Information Modeling

Projects in the construction industry involve multidisciplinary collaboration between the disciplines of architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC), and others. Conventionally, the collaboration between these disciplines relied on the recurrent exchange of relevant drawings and documents. Building information modeling (BIM) as a model-based process has given AEC professionals the tools to more efficiently plan, design, construct, and manage buildings and infrastructure. Yet the AEC industry has been reluctant in fully adopting the BIM as a single standard. This study explores and identifies the bottlenecks in adopting BIM as a single product lifecycle standard in the construction industry and advise on educating new engineers to become the generation to use a virtual collaborative working space covering the entire building lifecycle. Two conducted surveys targeting the AEC academia and industry revealed the needs for multilevel cross-disciplinary interactive collaborative BIM process modeling, and skilled workforce to increase the graduates’ marketability and BIM adaptability. It is concluded that the new age collaborative culture requires new generation of AEC players that are enabled to work on a shared virtual product model supported by proactive BIM skills learned through undergraduate programs

Design Coordination Using Cloud-based Smart Building Element Models

Construction industry involves a multitude of stakeholders who perform their project-centric work from various dispersed locations. This involvement of numerous stakeholders, which is common in the construction industry compared to the other industries, has led to fragmentation of the design process. The limitations and complexities resulting from this fragmentation can be overcome by proper design coordination. Shifting from two-dimensional design process, the industry has recently embraced Building Information Models (BIM) that allow an information rich visualization of the facility from the feasibility stage of the project enabling efficient information transfer among the stakeholders. Deploying the BIM on the ‘cloud’ platform or cloud computing (CC) can further enhance the design coordination especially clash detection. While BIM is certainly an improvement compared to the paper-based design process no direct mechanism exists to capture the iterative characteristic feature of the process. It is important to capture the design evolution that emerges as a result of change propagation while resolving any coordination issues requiring a record of the history of design changes. Very few researchers have investigated the use of building element level versioning using object parameters that can store the design information changes. A conceptual framework using the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) that allows version and audit history to be retrieved at any instance of time via a cloud-based BIM model server is proposed. The utility of the framework is also discussed with the help of an example

Measuring the Benefits of Building Information Modeling (BIM) Adoption: Trends, Gaps, and Future Directions

Building information modelling (BIM) adopters require well-documented, quantitative, and financial simulation studies as solid evidence for the benefits of BIM to implement it and evaluate its success. However, to move towards more practical analyses to be performed by the end-users, more discussions on process to measure BIM benefit should be held, despite the large number of studies related to BIM benefit indicators. Therefore, this study examines the proposed and simulated methods used to measure the benefits of BIM in previous studies. A systematic literature review (SLR) of 21 articles was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and analysed using meta-ethnography and thematic qualitative analysis. The SLR depicted the trends of studies published over the years. The results indicate that out of the 31 BIM benefits identified, only 17 BIM benefits have been measured in simulations. 4 other BIM benefits were suggested to be explored in line with their magnitude of importance. Comparative case studies were used conventionally to collect the data for measuring these benefits. This has since shifted to conducting case studies of single BIM projects along with supplementary data collection for counterfactual assessment. Furthermore, predictive ex-ante studies are currently blooming. At present, ongoing studies are being conducted to demonstrate the detailed technique with which to calculate and measure the benefits of BIM. This paper provides researchers and analysts with initial insights that can be used to move forward with BIM benefit measurements

Formulating project-level building information modeling evaluation framework from the perspectives of organizations: a review

This study identifies Building Information Modeling (BIM) benefits in the presentations of previous project participants and specialties. Based on recent data, a framework for evaluating the project-level BIM benefits from the perspectives of different stakeholders involved in the project is proposed. In order to maximize the benefits for each user or stakeholder, the functions and methods for implementing BIM on construction projects are explained. The results show that the advantages of implementing BIM in construction projects can be effectively evaluated by the proposed framework. Results presented herein provide documentation to improve the understanding of BIM benefits to all construction industry stakeholders