Blog post 5: Rational databases theory

Rational databases are relationships between data which is represented in tables. It is a way to structure and organize data. This theory was developed by E.F Codd in 1970 and have been used since then to manage databases.  A table characterizes one entity type where the rows represent each types and the columns represent the value for the type. The row has its own unique key which is called a primary key. By linking the key with other keys from other tables it is possible for the data to be related with other types. This creates a relationship between other tables and creates specific data. It could be a useful information in a building project where you would like to get information about e.g. the different door which are used in different rooms. A table would then describe the doors with an ID number, name of the door, and material. An other table would describe the rooms in the building also with an ID number, name of the room and size of the room.  Each table could have information about all the doors in the project where many of them has the same name and material but the ID is the unique key. The same is for the rooms where the ID for the room is the unique key. A new table with only the ID numbers of the doors and the rooms can then show the connection between the doors and the rooms. It can then tell how many of a specific door is in a specific room.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvrpuBAMddw

https://aws.amazon.com/relational-database/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relational_database

Blas Andres Rodriguez Vieira: Your post made it easy for my to understand what SLQ is and why it is important. It is interesting how you in the end of your post describes how important it is for almost all business to be able to understand the language of the databases because almost very thing becomes digital and we therefore store more and more data.

Tyler Madden: Interesting how the databases can be used in the construction business to improve effectivity and thereby save more. In the company where I work we sometime makes databases of tables when we are doing inspections of a lot of buildings where we have a specific ID for each building and then we can put in data for the roof, walls, foundation etc. It is a very easy way to get collect all the information we have for each building. And a easy way to get the information further to the owner of the building to tell them how the conditions is of all the e.gs roofs at all the buildings.

Weiyi Tang: Well described how the data in the design phase. It made think of how the simulation programs for energy and indoor climate actually works with the different input data we use.

B4 - Term project

For this term project Nana and I will look into how 3D printing of houses can be a part of the sustainable development in the building industry. We will have a special focus on how the building technology of a 3D printed house is compared to a traditional masonry house. The 3D printed houses we have looked at is built of one massive wall which have made us think of how the heat and moist is transferred through the wall is and what consequences it will have for the building. In many articles it is written that 3D printing of houses can be more sustainable because of less material used and it is faster to build the house, but if heat is transferred through the wall and moist damages the house it will not be more sustainable because more energy will be used in the operation stage of the house. We have earlier work with life cycle assessments and will therefore look at the project with that perspective.  

1.    Introduction and problem statement (1/2 pg.)

·      How is 3D printing of houses implemented in the building industry today?

·       Which building technology problems can occur from 3D printed houses?

·       Can 3D printing be a way to develop a more sustainable building industry?

2.    Results – The construction process of 3D printed houses (1 pg.)

·       The wall build up

·       Material

·       Time

·       Labor

3.    Discussion (1.5 pg.)

·       Building technology

o    Heat and moist transfer

o   Comparison to a tradition masonry wall

·       Building LCA

o   Material

o   Economic

o   Time

4.    Conclusion (1/2 pg.)

5.    References

·       https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-inside-race-perfect-3d-printed

·       https://www.3dnatives.com/en/3d-printed-house-companies-120220184/                

·       https://www.thenational.ae/business/property/dubai-company-ready-to-3d-print-your-house-says-19-year-old-founder-1.47402

·       https://ac.els-cdn.com/S1876610217346969/1-s2.0-S1876610217346969-main.pdf?_tid=df186325-0045-4a8c-b529-1c309df08a13&acdnat=1549384067_ca255cf08c1776a9009a1e525266cd5d

Aaron Goldberg: It really sounds like an exciting project. I like that you are looking at the 3D-printing with an critical perspective of the construction and that you compare it with the traditional manufacturing. I think it is very important to look at the 3D printing with a life cycle perspective and consider all the process and consequences of it.

Blog post 3 - Technology in the AEC industry in 10 years

The technology used in the AEC industry has developed a lot since the computer became a common tool for everyone at the office. BIM have been implemented more and more, though in different levels. But the fully opportunities that BIM can give for the architects, engineers, contractors, and building owner are still only used few places compared with how large the trade is. How it will develop during the next 10 years is a very good question. I think that the implementation of programs like Revit will be larger and it will be a tool that almost very one in the trade will use during the next 10 years. The program have  been on the market since 2000 and is now taught for both architects and engineers at the universities as a necessary tool to know. So with young graduated engineers and architects working in the field during the next 10 years more and more will have the ability to use the tools and companies will have to use less money on training the employees. Though the license are very expensive so the company have to know how much time and money they can save by using the tool, before they invest in the program.

Though I think that the fully implementation of tools like Rhino/Grasshopper and Dynamo in the AEC industry will take more than 10 years. When the industry still have not fully have implemented Revit yet, which has been on the market for almost 20 years, I think it will take more than 10 years to implement the next steep of BIM. But I think that more and more people will start using the tools and see the many opportunities it can give to optimize e.g. the design, geometry, materials, and time. Maybe the implementation of the tools will develop in relation to the larger focus on sustainability, because the tools can be used to minimize the materials for the building and do integrated design easily. But I think it really depends on the size of the projects. For a large project the time which is put in the building up the models can be a large saving in the  end because it will be easier to change the parameters. But for a smaller project the time and money probably will not be saved in the end because only few changes will be made during the design, which could be done without the tools.

So to sum up my assessment of where the technology for the AEC industry will be in 10 years I think that Revit will be almost fully implemented but the next step of using the dynamic and parametric tools like Rhino/Grasshopper and Dynamo will take more than 10 years to fully implement in the industry.

Matt Mullen: Interesting that you also can use VR walkthroughs as a tool to minimize changes orders given by the owners, because they can see the walk around in the building before it is built. I think that also shows that more and more tools are being developed to investigate problems before they occur.

Parametric modelling used to optimization

By using parametric modelling in manufacturing it is possible to optimize a building to be complex in its shape and use the optimal amount of material for the building The parametric design can be used in the design phase to investigate how the different parts of a product can be put together to give different kinds of solutions for the whole product. The parts can be varied to find the optimal solution. [1] One variable could e.g. be how large an overhang should be in relation to how big a window is and how much daylight is needed in a room without getting overheat. This could be investigated by running a daylight simulation connected to the programs like Rhino and Grasshopper, which connects the geometric data and the results from the simulation. It is here possible to change the size of the window and the overhang, and get the optimal sizes for the best daylight factor without the room to be overheated. In the BIM handbook chapter 2 it though said that it is not possible to link the data from a program like Rhino where the geometry is studied into the design development, because the object is not linked to the other objects. But I think that is because the book is from 2011, and with the connection to Grasshopper, it is namely possible to connect the data and use it in the design development phase. An example of how the parametric modelling can be used is described in the article “Solar analysis in Grasshopper” [2] 

It is also described in the BIM handbook that parametric modelling can be used to incorporate the knowledge from earlier designs and manufacturing processes, to find out what works and what doesn’t. It is again way optimize the products and get data that can be needed in design and production. 

I find these two examples of what parametric design can be used to very interesting. I think it a way for us engineers to be able to think more innovative and use our time more efficient. In stead of designing an overhang and a window separately, then do a daylight and a indoor climate simulation, and get a result where we have to change one parameter at a time, we can instead get the result quickly by using parametric modelling tools as Rhino and Grasshopper connected to the simulation tools. It is a way to easier do integrated design which I think will be even a bigger part of how we design our buildings in the future.  

[1] Eastman, Charles M. BIM Handbook : A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers and Contractors. Vol. 2nd ed, Wiley, 2011.

[2] Danil Nagy, Solar analysis in Grasshopper, Feb 26 2017,  https://medium.com/generative-design/solar-analysis-in-grasshopper-5dae76c9b6cb

Alkiviadis Tsitsios: Interesting topic! I know that in Denmark BIM is integrated very much in the construction phase. A BIM tool for contractor called Dalux is very much used in Denmark. In this use it is possible to have 2D and 3D drawings, schedules, task lists, punchlists, safety reports all connected in one program on a smartphone or IPad. It think it shows that BIM is not just a tool for design, but many tools which can be used through all the phases of a building process.

Weiyi Tang: As you write in you post a newer and more efficient way of doing projects could be Intergraded Project Delivery. I do also very much like the thought of doing this kind of project instead of the traditional Design-Bid-Build delivery, but I know from an article that I once read that it is mostly the engineers how likes this method. The architects can feel that they are more limited in the design phase and that it takes too long time for them. Though I think that it is just a matter of getting used to the way of working closer together, and of course form a good team which can work together.

Jenny Fretta: By this blog post I think that it once again shows that BIM really is effective to the matter of having an overview a building and the different processes through the whole life cycle of a building. I think the way that the owner and facility manager can keep take of errors and the cost is very interesting also in terms of how a building can be more sustainable with lower energy use and thereby also lower cost.

Blog 1: The future with technology, AI, and software

The future is out there in the unknow space. We don’t really know what will happen but one thing is for sure, our future will be influenced by the technology. Looking 30 years back most people were not aware of how the internet and computers would be a normal part of our lives as it is today. But some people in the tech business has an idea of what the future could look like in 30 years ahead. One of the things almost everyone in the article “What will tech look like in 2039” agrees on is that Artificial Intelligent (AI) will be a bigger part of everyone’s lives in the future. Rajen Sheth compares what AI will do to our society with what the industrial revolution did in the 1800-century.

“The Industrial Revolution magnified the human's physical ability and made it so that you can actually build more capable products and replicate them at a faster rate. I think AI is the same for people's mental abilities”. [1]

The technology and the especially AI will not only influence our lives at home but especially at our jobs. The architectural field is one of places where technology and software now have replaced some of the jobs. Their work have become easier at some point, faster, and can secure more precision. A 3D printers can build a physical model quickly compared to a handcraft model. A digital model of buildings can make it easier to find collisions and change details in the buildings. Also rendering is used to create a presentable picture of the building which is a big part of winning an architectural competition and thereby get the project. This is just some of the examples of how software and technology influences a job field like the architects. [2]

With the influence of the technology in the working fields to develop peoples both mentally and physical  abilities, it will also mean that there is a greater need for people in the tech industry than ever before. Two-third of the Americans don’t have a four years degree and their jobs can be threaten be the technology. As written in the article “Are robots coming for your job? Eventually yes”:  “In 2030 up to a third of the Americans work force will have to switch to new occupations”. That is a huge challenge for the society. The college Holberton school in San Francisco has made an alternative school which can be a part of the solution for the challenge of getting more people in the tech industry. They have made a public-privat partnership which offers a two year college software engineering program without tuition. Instead, when the graduates get a job they will have to pay back the school 17 percent of their salary for three year. By this program they hope that it will be easier to attract students into the tech business and thereby be a part of the solution for the challenge of getting a third of the Americans work force to switch to the tech business and be prepared for the future in technology. [3]

References:

[1] Rob Marvin, "What tech will look like in 2039", PCMag, January 3 2019

[2]  Christine, "Software for architects: The must-have tool for the trade" http://smarterware.org/2018/11/software-for-architects-the-must-have-tools-of-the-trade/, November 12 2018
[3] Steve Lohr, "Are robots coming for your job? Eventually yes", New York Times, September 21 2018 

Comments on other blogpost:

Harvi Bhandal: 

I agree that it is very important that we need to have some principles like Google have developed to secure that the society benifits from using AI. It seems like it can be dangerous if we don't know how to use AI correct and If we don't have clear laws about it. I know from one of my friends in Denmark who wrote his master thesis at law school about AI, that it is a field which is not clear yet. I therefore think that is also a part of the tech future which has to be developed. 

Weiyi Tang:

I think there is a good point in how intelligent buildings in relation to the HVAC systems can be optimized to reduce the energy use and thereby be a part of the solution of the environmental challenges. It is the use stage of a building which contributes to the larges amount of CO2 emissions in the lifetime of the building. And as you said 40% of the greenhouse gasses is produced by buildings. So using less energy in buildings will have a huge impact on the total emission greenhouse gasses and thereby a huge impact of future of the earth.

Unknown - The future of sociology, databases, and networking: 

Very interesting blog post! One of the things that really comes into my mind is; what it will do to us, as human beings, if the internet is our only network. Will we then be lonely or is the network on the internet enough for us to satisfy our social needs. 
One of the other things that got me thinking, was the last part about that we don't need to hand in a job application ourselves but it will be send online. Will we then be jugde only by how we are writting and our behavior on the internet? We know how much a first impression can mean for us. So how will we look at eachother if the first impression comes from the internet or a database. Will we then be able to how people really are? I think that is also very interesting to think about in relation to sociology, databases and networking in the future.

Dummy Post - Student Names

This is here to allow me to make your last names as labels.