B6-Reflection to course AE410/510 Intelligent Building

Reflection to course AE410/510 Intelligent Building

As an Architectural Engineering student, I was been wondering all the time what does intelligent or digital building means. As a senior at Drexel, I am anxious for the year about where I should go for graduate school or what kind of job I am looking for. This course actually gave a really great basic guidance for digital building students like me. It introduced BIM software, like Revit, and database, like MS Access. It is really helpful for students who does not have any experience about these software. It is a chance for them to get one step into the BIM field and it is also a good start for using Revit and Access with a detailed guidance. For students who have used Revit, it is not as effective as those novice students. Though we learned a bit deeper in these software, I still think these course should be recommended to take once the concentration has decided. It will be a great introduction course for those digital concentration student, rather than being an isolated course that has students from different levels.

About the course, the content is great about the future of BIM, robotics, sensors, etc. A lot of materials are not being touched in other courses for Architectural engineering students. Focusing on future gives this course a really deep impression that also encourage students working in this field. The presentations that guest speakers provided are impressive and insightful especially for senior students like me. It really helps me to understand the current situation of the field and what direction it could go. For me, as an international students, I also thought a lot about the BIM trends overseas. It is interesting when I compare the current situation of BIM technology between America and other countries, which also helps me to find the future career directions.

Comment:

Kaptue, I totally agree with you that it is important to see if the cultures in the firm is moving forward or not. Being a new vital force to this industry, it is also our responsibility to help companies move forward and catch the pace of the technology.

Jenny, you have mentioned that possibilities are endless. It is true that we are responsible to ensure the safety when we develop the technology. It is great to see that you can apply these concepts to your career in a close future.

Sean, I agree with you that intelligent building still has a long way to go that the cost, poor coordination and low desire will be the challenge for developing the technology for intelligent buildings.

B5-Object oriented database

Object oriented database is a database management system with data represented in the form of objects. This kind of database system is able to restore the data including classes of objects and is able to inherit properties of classes. It must have inheritance, polymorphism and encapsulation characteristics in order to store and retrieve complex data types. This type of database system is used as a complement of relational database, which dominant in the data center for server-side persistence.

Object-oriented database can handle more complex data types than relational database does. Relational database can only store simple database such as name, date of birth. However, Object oriented database is able to store complex data types, such as graphics, videos, CAD and even geographical satellite information. This makes the successful of object-oriented database much more costly than relational database. On the other hand, it increases the difficulties to transfer the database from relational database to object-oriented database. That is the reason why object-oriented database can only become a complement of relational database.

While retrieving data from the system, it is easier for object-oriented database. The object-oriented database stores the classes of objects and properties of classes. There is a great analogy about how object-oriented database stores complex database. It is simulated as parking a car in a garage. The garage is the database with OODB you can drive the entire car into the garage and leave it to be picked up next time when you want to go for a riding. In a relational database, you will need to dissemble the parts and put the parts in different shelves. When you want to pick up your car, you will have to reassemble the car with the exact parts. Therefore, it will be more difficult to retrieve a data without touching the rest of data in the database storage.

Cite: http://www.odbms.org/introduction-to-odbms/odbms-for-rdbms-users/

Comments:
Jenny,
I totally agree with you that object oriented database will help with BIM software since it stores complex data types. I really like your example showing how convenience it is as OODB in opening file and retrieving data.
Matt,
It is true that it used to be very costly to make the change from RDBMS to OODBMS since the difference of data types they store. But i believe it will be more and more popular with low-cost solutions in the future.
Lin,
I can't agree more that OODB can easily and quickly finish the task of data exchanging and determination of computing. It is also the challenge for OODB to accomplish this tasks with a lower-cost and a higher popularity.

B4 - Project Outline

Topic: Development of BIM and Impact on Residences

Team member: Hanyan Chen, Yidi Li

Type of project: Paper

Outline

1. Introduction
1. What is BIM
2. How does BIM work
2. History of BIM
1. The Beginning
2. Development
3. Why is it important
1. Advantages, benefits in Construction and Design
2. Disadvantages
4. Why is it important to Residence
1. Current application of BIM in Residential Design & Construction
5. Impact of BIM to Residence
1. On Design Style
2. On sustainability (Adaptable Housing)
3. On Construction
4. On Real Estate Industry
6. Future of BIM
1. Brief description of future of BIM
2. Implementation of BIM
3. Challenges BIM might encounter
7. Conclusion

The topic of our project will be Development of BIM and Impact on Residences. Residence is a type of building that relies most on individual preferences. Therefore, the adaptivity of the house becomes the biggest challenge for designing and constructing a residence. “More creative and innovative perspective on designing residential buildings which will accommodate adaptability is needed to enhance building performance, through design concept for adaptable residential buildings (Raji and Gomez, 2012).” “A sustainable building is not a building that must last forever, but a building that can easily adapt to change (Graham, 2006)” BIM can help architects to provide multiple iterations for different preferences. It also let the owner and designer to create different phases of a project, which gives a future assumption of the project. In this case, it gives the owner ability to track over time how the project or assets changes and what changes can be made in the future based on his or her own preference.

In the paper, we will discuss the history or development of BIM and current applications in residential design and construction. We will also talk about the importance of BIM in the industry while addressing the advantages and disadvantages. Then, we will discuss the impact of BIM to residences in aspects of design style, sustainability or adaptability, construction and real estate industry. In the end, we will look into the future of BIM and challenges that BIM might encounter.

Comments: 
Yicheng Li, 
I really like the villa you chose to model. It is a great model to start with and the work you have done is pretty neat. I am really excited to see what the model will be at the end and what you have improved, both for the model and your skills of Revit.
Ren, 
I really like your topic with healthcare building design. It is an aspect that is important but being neglected. As our project doing BIM for residences, I am looking forward to see what is the difference between these two types of building.
Weiyi Tang, 

The topic of future residential house is really interesting, and it is great to have a model built up to show a better explanation. I am looking forward to see how it looks like and compare to what we researched as the development of residences by the influence of BIM.

Future of BIM

In the video of Bill Allen, he talked about the future of BIM in the following 10 years and showed us several BIM software that is changing the industry and our future career. As a software storing building data, BIM has already shown its significant strength in the construction process. It helps all departments involved in a project to better collaborate, reduce the conflicts and field changes, and improve productivity and efficiency.
As an architect, Bill Allen gave us some example of how this BIM software improve his working efficiency, such as using Parametricism plus BIM to create multiple iterations without remodeling buildings every time. For engineering, he mentioned several features that will change the construction industry in the future.
One of the features could be the application of AR/VR. BIM now is helping the owners to better understand the model of the designed building, with 3d models and walkthroughs. In the future, it is possible that we will use AR/VR plus BIM to give a better exhibition of the model to anyone that is not familiar with engineering drawings.
Another feature he mentioned is robotics, including machine robots that work in the field, 3d printing robots and drones. In the future, robotics will be developed more and will be more commonly used in construction process. As to 3d printing, it will be a significant improvement of productivity as long as the problem of material shortage is solved.
Another feature that I can think of is the sharing data repository. Because of the rich data stored and shared by BIM, not only contractors are able to see its interaction with other objects, other parties that does not involved in the construction process are able to backtrack and retrieve the data in order to design a future project around it. On the other hand, we can imagine a city will be constructed with a more detailed design considering how buildings will react to each other. It will also reduce the conflicts between existing infrastructure and new construction. This will create a more comfortable, more efficient, more intelligent and healthier urban environment.
Sources:
Allen, Bill. “The Future of BIM Will Not Be BIM—and It's Coming Faster than You Think.” YouTube, uploaded by Autodesk University, 23 November 2016,   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq6yKyauu-o

Comments:
Yidi Li,
I totally agree with you that AI development will speed up the drawing phases and provide multiple iterations without remodeling over and over again. Also, it is true that AutoCAD took about 20 years to become the mainstream but in my opinion BIM, such as Revit, will take less time than AutoCAD. It was a different era and the penetration of internet is not as strong as now. The whole industry is accepting new technology in order to prevent being knocked out by other competitors.

Matt Mullen,
I totally agree that BIM will give a lot of benefits to owners. They have the opportunity to get involved directly at the beginning of a project and supervise any problem arises during design and construction process. The development of BIM will create a better communication between owners and contractor, even subcontractors, that providing a more understandable model for owners.

Gabriel Grajewski,
It is interesting that the building industry will have a such high requirement of mathematical knowledge for people. In that case, it will need more than 10 years for data optimization becoming mainstream based on the learning curve. It will be really excited if data optimization could be used for major work in the future.

B2 - BIM for Owners and Facility Managers

BIM, building informational Modeling, has been an indispensable process and tool for a project. It helps each department to be involved in every phase from design and construction. As a role of “building handbook”, BIM is a “living repository” that stores building data from multiple departments that involved in facility management. As to owners, BIM gives them a chance to be involved in the beginning of a project, which creates a lot of benefits. In Chapter 4, the BIM Handbook talks about the benefits that BIM will bring to owners and facility managers.
Owners can increase building value much more steadily than traditional facility management. According to Figure 4-1 in BIM Handbook, there is no loss for value of facility documentation due to handover, recreation of information with collaborative BIM-based delivery process in the design and construction phase. The owner is able to have a position in the planning phase that he can have a voice and control of types of equipment or right information and documents. This collaborative process reduces errors and field changes in future facility cycle and produce a more efficient delivery process.
On the other hand, BIM, as a living repository of rich building data, creates a benign delivery system that gives access to all involved departments with real-time and shared asset profiles. Therefore, the objects that are designed for the building is able to be analyzed with relational objects. Facility Manager is able to understand how these objects react to others in the building model, which avoids future field changes and extending the construction schedule. As to the owner, shorten project schedule is always a great benefit. Also, owners can reduce the charges for any field changes happened in the operation phase. BIM 3D models are able to show the location of all the assets in a building, such as HVAC equipment or wires behind the wall. It is more convenient and cheaper to make changes for the involved departments by seeing the 3D model instead of the 2D drawings.
One of another benefit for owners and facility managers will be to have a more accurate cost estimate. Since the owner gets a seat in planning table, he or she gets the chance to provide the feedback at the early phase of a project and therefore will get a more accurate cost estimate.

Source Cited:
Eastman, Charles M. BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers and Contractors. Vol. 2nd ed, Wiley, 2011. EBSCOhost, http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzM2NDIzOV9fQU41?sid=bc728db5-ac2a-463a-be02-b1d1edcfc78a@pdc-v-sessmgr02&vid=0&format=EB&lpid=lp_71&rid=0


Comments:
Jenny Fretta:
I totally agree that the conflict and collisions can be a problem between subcontractors in the field. In this respect, BIM helps the facility manager and owners to create a streamline working delivery process which will benefits the project.

Alec Silverstone:
You mentioned that BIM acts as the bridge that unites key contributors such as the designers, the architects, the engineers and contractors. It is also giving a position to the owners. It is true that BIM gives the facility management system a chance to collaborate in the design phase to eliminate the loss.

Julie Hansted Andersen:
I really like the examples you gave and the future you described for BIM parametric modelling. It is an indispensable tool in order to design an avant-garde building. As to owners, it is a great tool to estimate the energy efficiency and even accurate cost estimate. On the other hand, it is a tool that connect the architects, MEP engineers and other department in order to get the accurate measurements and a preliminary design and performance.

Blog 1 – Robotics, AI, BIM and Future

Blog 1 – Robotics, AI and Future
Week 2
Hanyan Chen
B1
Robotics, AI and Future

Robotics
Robotic Milkers and an Automated Greenhouse: Inside a High-Tech Small Farm
It was a significant year for robotics and autonomous system. Robotics is being hotly debated whether it will make humans' life better and safer or not. This article is talking about a small farm called Rivendale Farms in Bulger using the cutting-edge technology includes milking machine, sensors to monitor the movement, health condition of the animals and sensors to control temperature, humidity and sunlight for crops. It became a laboratory for the robotic technology for smaller farms. The farm’s dairy operation is overseen by one staff now while it will need five workers without the robotics technology. [1] This kind of robotics is applied to improve the efficiency, and reduce the pressure comes from labor shortage, and it is generally changing the small farms and make humans' life better.

AI and Future
This clever AI hid data from its creators to cheat at its appointed task
Is this the year 'weaponized' AI bots do battle?
Unlike robotic technology, AI has always been a controversial topic. I saw there is an article in the beginning of 2018, Is this the year 'weaponized' AI bots do battle?, which asked if AI is our enemy or ally. In this article, AI will allow for early diagnosis in order to save heart and cancer patients. But the question is what will be limit for AI that it will not do things out of control. On the other hand, will humans' safety been ensured while AI-powered system is working. [2] There is another article published at the end of 2018, This clever AI hid data from its creators to cheat at its appointed task, which is talking about the machine learning agent "intended to transform aerial images into street maps and back was found to be cheating by hiding information it would need later in a nearly imperceptible, high-frequency signal" [3]. As the technology is developing, the voice of debating is never stopped for this topic. It is a topic related to ethic, and is always easy to catch people's eyes. AI, as still a debated topic, will have to be researched more in a way that ensures humans life in the future.

Work Cited:
[1]Robotic Milkers and an Automated Greenhouse: Inside a High-Tech Small Farm
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/13/technology/farm-technology-milkers-robots.html
[2]This clever AI hid data from its creators to cheat at its appointed task
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/31/this-clever-ai-hid-data-from-its-creators-to-cheat-at-its-appointed-task/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29
[3]Is this the year 'weaponized' AI bots do battle?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42559967

Comments:

To Lin
I totally agree that the technology is the biggest influence on the productivity. Technology is always the way to make things more efficient. Not only robots for manufacturing, but also AI technology, which make people's life more convenient. It is also an aspect that increase the efficiency of people's life.

To Samantha, 
Thanks for your post, I am amazed that AI and robotics are being used for art now. Robotics are used to be used for completing dangerous but simplex work. Now it is used for improving efficiency. It is amazing that AI can be such creative for an artwork. It is a mix of science and art.

Introduction - Hanyan Chen

My name is Hanyan Chen from Deqing, China. I am an Architectural Engineering student concentrated in digital buildings. I was born and grew up in Deqing, a small town close to Shanghai but surrounded by mountains where there are a bunch of hostels and resorts. If you search Mogan Mountain, you will get bunch of nice pictures.

Naked Retreats on Mogan Mountain

My first co-op experience was at the City of Philadelphia where i worked for city departments for space planning and small project management. Then i had my second co-op in Cushman & Wakefield in Shanghai, China. It is a real estate consulting company offering integrated solutions to landlords, tenants and investors. I worked as the assistant of the project manager to complete the project positioning and planning related work.

As grown up with my parents who are both architectural engineers in China, i got opportunities to see different houses built on the mountain. These houses are changing over the time and i have seen houses, such as the resorts, with considerate service by those attentive staffs. 

In my opinion, an intelligent building should make you feel living with a thoughtful housekeeper but there isn't anyone physically "live" with you. Or even you don't notice that the house is performed as a human to take care of your living environment. 

Dummy Post - Student Names

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