Reflection

Intelligent Buildings was a course in which I could explore the future of my chosen profession. I enjoyed learning about problems I will be faced with in the future and how professionals and researchers are already working on solutions to said problems. Using technology to solve current issues also gives rise to other difficulties. Through this course, I’ve been taught about the responsibilities I have as a prospective engineer to solve these new problems because of their impacts on society and my profession.

Additionally, this course allowed me to explore some of my weaknesses and work on them. For example, I knew about Revit families before this course, but I’ve never made my own furniture family. I also got to work with databases which was something I wasn’t familiar with. I’m hoping I can use them in the future professionally, although right now, I don’t know where they would fit in. I was also happy to use Revit because it is one of my strengths and I like being able to improve on my current skillset. I was also able to practice my writing skills since we were able to get feedback from the professor on our assignments.

I took this course because I was interested in sensor technology and I believed I would be afforded the opportunity to explore sensors. For my final project I researched CO2 sensors in depth as I believed them to be a viable solution to a serious problem facing the building systems industry. After conducting research, writing a paper, and creating a presentation, I still believe that CO2 sensors are the solution for supplying air on demand. I think my paper and presentation are interesting to read and do a good job at explaining the current status of CO2 sensor technology and their use in everyday applications.

This course touched a lot upon things I have learned in other classes and my Co-Ops. I think a lot of the topics gone over in the class will help me professionally and add to my abilities as an engineer. It also helps to hear about things other students are working on so that we can learn from them as well. Instead of just one teacher we get multiple! I’m looking forward to seeing the presentations in class so I can learn more about some of the topics we have gone over in class and possibly some new topics.

In conclusion, this course is beneficial to people who are new to building systems because a lot of the information presented in the class is common knowledge to people who have been employed by firms who work on buildings over their co-ops. I believe that the project was well geared toward a wide audience because it gave students the opportunity to research something they cared about. All in all, I think the course was beneficial to most students and I think we all took away some important lessons. I feel better prepared for my future in the industry and it was exciting to learn about emerging technology.

Comments:

Robert Borelli: I agree that Professor Mitchell’s videos helped a lot with the assignments. I think that if he hadn’t posted them, I would have had a much more difficult time completing the assignments. Particularly the database assignment. I had a lot of difficulty with that assignment.

Hanyan Chen: I think you have a point with gearing the class more towards digital buildings students. However, I think this class could also be used for students beginning in architectural engineering since it explains and goes over a lot of topics students will encounter on their co-ops.

Laney Fries: I think your “what could happen” comment was spot on. I think that we could have narrowed the topics down to “what is currently happening” instead. We went over a lot of technologies that are arising but not what problems they will solve really.

B5-Reflection

AE 410/510, the Intelligent building, is one of my required class. My concentration is intelligent building for Architectural Engineering as well, so the knowledge for intelligent building helped me to get a basic idea about the technologies would be used in the future building. As a future engineer, this course gave me a primary guide for how the future building would be built, and how many other things I can do other than designing the buildings traditionally. The new BIM model programs, which were introduced in the course, such as the REVIT, Grasshopper, and other BIM programs, would be the most direct help for my future career because those programs would simplify the designing processes. Another helpful thing would be the MS Access database study. I am learning SQL by using Oracle in the information courses, and that was interesting as well, but the difference was that the MS Access was more intuitionistic and easy to be organized and edited.

I am always excited about learning new kinds of stuff. Now is the end of the term, I am still feeling interested in taking this course, but this course is not as simple as I thought. This does not mean that I do not like this course, but I do feel a little bit tired to do the projects and blogs. One thing cannot be denied is that those assignments and projects have helped me to learn more new stuff about intelligent buildings, such as the AI, the database, the BIM models and other interesting technologies. And to listen to the presentation from other professors and engineers were fun and expanded my mind. However, personally, some of the courses were too general to be followed, and there were too many pieces of information jumping up in each class, so it was hard for me to absorb those new bits of knowledge. In other words, I am not confident about this course. No detail was copied into my brain.

Besides those new technologies, I was expecting to hear something about how intelligent buildings would be improved, so that the negative effects from the building to the environment in the future would be decreased. But nothing was mentioned related to the future environment. This is a little bit different from what I thought about the intelligent building. Everything that I have learned from this course only benefits the people inside the building, but not outside of the building.

I am not a critic, and I do love this course, but, for personally, the course is a little bit hard to be patiently followed, and the project was too general to be focused. Hope these parts can be improved in future courses.

Comments:

Tsitsios: Yes, the BIM programs and the MS Access database were the most interesting and helpful things that we learned from this course. These can help us a lot for our future career.


Ren: You are right. The BIM model can simplify the engineers' lives, and there are many other BIM model programs in the business, which might be much more useful than the Revit in some specific categories. The database study will help us a lot for organizing. And, yes, to learn new knowledge from other professors is interesting and beneficial as well.

Laney Fries: Same, I am planning to study construction management in graduate school. The information from this course was a little be complex, but this should be similar to our future works, such as construction, operation, renovation, and demolition. I do agree that the BIM and the database study were the most important and interesting things we learned from this course. And, yes, to learn new knowledge from other professors is interesting and beneficial as well.

B5-Uses of databases in design offices

In my opinion, the most obvious character that the database is playing in office buildings is to control the energy system. The book, Energy Buildings is saying: “The resulting database and model are expected to provide the simple, direct decision-making process for helping estimate the energy-saving potential of some energy conservation measures to retrofit existing office buildings quickly.” For example, the picture below is showing a schematic outline of the research for developing an energy prediction model, which can quickly estimate the annual electricity use of office buildings. 

                                                

By the database, the energy treatment methods can be listed out. So how? The database can organize various results by a list of input variables. For example, for previously analyzing the natural light going through a glass curtain wall, the input can be the properties of the curtain wall, the building location characters and the time of the day, so the output can be the amount of energy going into the building, the serving area of the natural light and the efficiency of the wall. The engineers do not need to build the actual sample wall first and then go collecting the data for estimations. The database can serve for the building load and the HVAC system. By putting the data into the database, such as the building envelope, the building thermal mass, the system operations, the refrigeration and heat rejections and so on for the energy control, the tables can be created for each of them, and the tables can interact with each other.

For example, after input a thermal mass table, and a heat rejections table, we can do this in the database (Linux) to get what the thermal load should be in the office building A during the winter:

SQL> SELECT minimum thermal mass required in the office, the maximum heat rejections
1    FROM thermal mass, heat rejection
2    WHERE season= ‘winter’
3    AND building_name= ‘office A’;

Then the possible range for the thermal load will pump up as a result table. By the database, the using time of the energy systems can also be controlled. We can select the office closing time and the office opening time from the time table, and then the unoccupied period for every day through the week, the month, or the year will be listed out, so the heating or cooling systems can automatically switch on an off according to that unaccompanied period. From my Blog 1 (link), you can learn why the time control for the energy system is essential.

After the prediction designs based on the databases, the time and the money which will be used on estimating the energy system in the office building could be reduced, because the data will be organized and shared, so for the operation of the building or the other similar building, the same database can be referenced again for higher efficiency.

Works Cited:

Mao, Jiachen and Pan, Yiqun and Fu, Yangyang. Towards fast energy performance evaluation: A 

pilot study for office buildings; Energy Buildings. Volume 121, 2016, Pages 104-113, ISSN 0378-7788, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2016.03.077

Comments:
Yicheng Li
Yes, as you said, the SQL can help us to organize the large databases and it became the foundation of many nowadays' computer software. For SQL, the data input methods are various and simple enough to be understood, so it has already envolve in our daily life.

Tyler Madden
I totally agree with you that the smarter "relational" databases can improve the efficiency of production because the data tables are separated but they can interact with each other, and the users can use various data sets at the same time and come out with another table for showing the results. Besides Microsoft's SQL server, for the Mac system, the terminal is the SQL server.

Alec Silverstone
Agree. The data appear during the building design, and construction processes are very complex, and if there is not a database to organize those data, the mistakes and misunderstanding between the engineers and the constructors will occur frequently, and to find the reason of the error will be a suffer work. Therefore, the database is essential for construction.

Building Topic Outline: "How Sensor Technology Will Shape Occupant Comfort and Energy Consumption"

I
Identification of sensor technologies
Define sensors and the problem
State argument for research
II
Available technology
Application of sensors in HVAC systems
III
Issues that must be researched regarding enthalpy sensors
How these issues can be sorted
Who will solve these problems and how will the research be conducted
IV
Issues that must be researched regarding CO2 sensors
How these issues can be sorted
Who will solve these problems and how will the research be conducted
V
Benefits of better sensor technologies
How will the building industry change as a result?
VI
Conclusion
VII
References

Sensor technology for HVAC design is still developing and control schemes are often overlooked by mechanical engineers throughout the design process. Most available sensor technologies that are available now are used to optimize the comfort of occupants. The cost of this is measured through increased energy consumption in mechanical systems. However, to the owners of the building, the benefit of making sure all occupants are comfortable is measured in productivity. Ensuring occupant comfort is an integral aspect towards designing now as many new buildings adhere to more stringent wellness standards. I would like to explore how building systems can maintain occupant comfort while also reducing the energy consumption of buildings using the same sensors.

CO2, enthalpy, humidity, temperature, and occupancy sensors are all available for use in mechanical design. Networking these sensors to mechanical systems in the form of complex control schemes is a method of increasing occupant comfort and decreasing energy cost. These sensors can be used to determine outside conditions and whether passive or economizer cycles can be enabled in a mechanical system. CO2 sensors specifically are imperative to smart energy control, yet, they are among the most unreliable sensors among the group listed. Often having to be recalibrated and replaced, CO2 sensors have proven themselves to be a mutable at best solution to reducing energy demand in HVAC systems. In addition to CO2 sensors, Enthalpy sensors which are used in air handling units to create economizer cycles are still yet to be widespread in use because the standard energy practice set in place by ASHRAE codes 90.1 and 189.1 need to change to accommodate higher limit controls.

The paper I will be writing will focus on how CO2 and Enthalpy sensor technology can improve so that HVAC systems and HVAC design practices can reduce energy demand in buildings. Many successful companies have commercialized these sensors which proves that the industry is ready for a breakthrough regarding sensor technologies. When CO2 technology becomes more practical and more widespread, the industry will see a positive shift in occupant comfort. Ganging CO2 sensors together with enthalpy sensors, engineers will be able to increase the prevalence of economizers in HVAC systems. Thus, increasing occupant productivity and reducing energy consumption.

The benefits of researching sensor technology will be felt by employees, they environment, and businesses alike. Sensors must also have the capacity to be wireless now as well. To reduce the cost of wiring and other materials, the ability to network sensors to a central control system is essential. Additionally, by creating a wireless network of sensors, the operational staff can monitor and override the automatic controls of the HVAC system. Giving the operational staff control of the building allows for the ability to maintain acute areas of the building without having to disrupt an entire HVAC system.

Some of the drawbacks of researching sensor technology include the initial investment cost. The biggest issue that undermine the development of CO2 sensors pertain to undiscovered materials that can be mass produced efficiently to give reliable measurements. More experimentation in different climate zones must be conducted to realize the potential of enthalpy sensors. So far, the technology is still relatively unregulated and to pervasively enact positive change, codes must be developed and required. Conducting this research is expensive and often is not beneficial enough to invest in as a private company. However, with the emergence of these technologies and their improvements so far, the industry will continue to develop. In my opinion, it is worth the investment which is why I want to find out what can be done to improve CO2 and enthalpy sensors.

Relevant papers:

http://www.cmfnh.com/documents/ASHRAE_Journal_QA.pdf

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316364813_SMART_HVAC_SENSORS_FOR_SMART_ENERGY

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/4266818

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/5346631

Comments:
Laney Fries:
I think the inclusion of AI within residential homes will become more commonplace as time goes on. It is already popular through the use of Amazon echo and other similar devices. It will be interesting to see what other applications they have in residential atmospheres.
Calvin Tang:
Your topic would pertain more to this class if you included a section on how your method of design will change over time. It would also be interested to read about any notes you may have about the flaws and benefits of your current method.
Qiaodan Lin:
Predicting the future of the buidling industry in ten years is an interesting concept. However, I would like to hear about a longer term. Maybe a time frame larger than what we have discussed in class. Maybe you could include a short section of this in your report.

B4:Group project_Future residential houses

Group project outline link

  The basic idea of this project is to learn about future residential buildings and to try to design a simple model. The propers of this project is to know how convenience the future residential house can be and what we as the future engineers can do to realize these ideas. In the final report, there will be two parts-90% of the research results and discussion about the future residential building and 10% of a BIM model for showing a better explanation for the future residential building. For the first part, the research results for the current buildings and future buildings will be displayed, the discussions, and the personal thinkings from the group members for the researching results. The discussion will focus on three aspects: the exterior, the house system with database controlling, and the environmentally friendly building, which specific for the energy saving and zero construction waste. For the BIM model, the 3D model, the floor plans, the elevations, and the sections will be showing in the report. This model will only be used to explain the idea, so the evaluation of the BIM model will be concise. BIM tools- Revit and Formit will be our tools to create the models. The models' properties are initially assumed: 10 years later, this four-people residential house will be located in Philadelphia, PA, USA. This house will be a 2,500 square foot two-story building with one-car parking and one storage. 

  Since there are three members in this group, labor separation is necessary for this relatively large project. Generally, every member should write about the personal thinking of the researching results. I will in charge of the current residential houses, and the model designing on the Revit and Formit. Chun Ming Tse will research the future residential buildings, and assist to draw the Revit model. Lin Qiaodanthe will be responsible for the discussion and conclusion. The research will be taking place on the Drexel online library, Prof. Mitchell's shared Evernote, and the Google search. As an example, here is the first piece of information for this project: link.

Comments:

Alec Silverstone: 

Your idea is very interesting. The robots will definitely play an essential role in the future intelligent building. Actually, some of the robots have already started to show their abilities for current buildings. The only thing I am worried about is your 3rd part of the report-the intelligent building design. Are you only going to talk about only the intelligent building? Or are you going to focus on the robotic technology-related story with the intelligent building? If you are doing the first one, won't that be abrupt? If you are doing the second one, I think you can combine this to the 2nd part of the report.

Christain Tait:

I am also interesting about the AR. I think AR is much more efficient than the 3D printed models because the size of the printed model is fixed, the editing of the model is tough and for some aspects, it is not accurate. And the 2D printed BIM models, those are showing the limit faces of the building and they are not intuitionistic. The AR can solve all these problems and even do better. However, currently, the AR model is only an idea so it may take a long time to come to be the truth.

Wenhan Fu:

Yes, you are right, future buildings will develop to be the intelligent building and the environmentally friendly building. I think these two parts cannot be separated, because saving the energy and environment is being the main part for a lot of other categories, for example, the vehicles-Tesla. You can start your research from the existing environmental friendly buildings, the environmental friendly certifications, such as BEAM Plus in Hongkong, LEED, BREEAM, and WELL.

B3 - Current Advantages of BIM

 BIM offers many benefits over traditional paper drawings in the modern age. These advantages are best described by splitting them into the following categories; functionality, ease of use, and connectivity. Functionally, BIM software allows designers to convey an extremely granular amount of information about their design in an easily navigable manner. Assigning metadata such as material properties to a model element allows for the combination of visual elements with quantitative and qualitative information, a practice that is typically only available to paper drawings in the form of label leaders and hatching patterns. Whereas excessive labeling can convolute and obscure a paper drawing, BIM drawings and models display this information only when an object is highlighted, leading to a more legible drawing overall. 

BIM drawings are not only easy to parse, they are also incredibly easy to disseminate and transport in almost all applications. The ease of use associated with storing an entire project’s drawing portfolio on a laptop or tablet no thicker than a couple of inches at most is unbelievable. The less cumbersome and more readily available a cohesive building plan is, the more likely it is to be carefully reviewed in detail throughout the design process and the more likely it is to be constantly referenced and updated throughout construction. 

The nature of these plans (typically) being stored on a firm’s intranet allows for another degree of company-wide integration; having any authorized employee able to view and edit BIM drawings in real time, even remotely, and see those changes reflected across all copies of the drawing instantaneously is an incredible asset to any design or construction team. 

In addition to this, most BIM suites also offer interconnectivity between several applications that can all use the same model. For example, Autodesk Revit integrates directly with Robot, a structural analysis application that utilizes a Revit model and the associated metadata with minimal effort required to import and export. 

I can understand how the transition to BIM can be somewhat intimidating for established professionals who have only ever worked with paper drawings due to the unfamiliarity and relatively high cost of entry, but i believe the benefits i’ve explained are blatant and pervasive enough to encourage continual widespread adoption of BIM throughout the AEC industry.

The Promise of BIM

Traditional drafting is very time consuming and ineffective compared to modern BIM technologies. BIM allows architects and engineers to easily input building information and draft entire buildings in one model. As such, clash analysis of building elements becomes easier to detect in a 3-D virtual environment. Additionally, BIM software is capable of extracting data from entities in the model into the form of “smart schedules.” Building information also reduces redundant labor in the design process. Models created using Revit or other BIM software can be exported into programs that analyze certain aspects of the buildings design. [1]

Clash analysis of building elements such as ducts and beams, helps mitigate potential in-field construction issues. Additionally, coordination between building elements in a 3-D environment is conducive to designing comprehensive buildings with coordination between building disciplines. BIM software conjunctively aids in the optimization of building systems and their operation using available add-ons to Revit. This helps Architects and Engineers reduce energy costs and consequentially the CO2 footprint in buildings. [2] Traditional hand drafting and calculations are not as comprehensive and do not allow the engineer to compare different building systems solutions. By using BIM, architects and engineers contribute to environmental stewardship and sustainability in design.

BIM software takes views of the building model to create plans. Changes made in the model are propagated throughout all the plans to reduce redundant labor. Not only does this create coherent, well-coordinated plans, but it also mitigates monetary losses. Additionally, an advantage that BIM has over traditional drafting in this regard is the ability to update room areas, family properties, and other important building information when these elements are worked on in the model. These elements can also be connected into building systems which can be examined using analytical add on software. [3]

The advantages of BIM over other methods of representing building plans are demonstrated through the wide adoption of software such as Revit. By streamlining the design process to eliminate unwieldy methods, designers have the tools to improve building designs which has other positive implications.

[1] Meng, et al. Study on Improving Engineering Information Management by Interating BIM and Internet of Things,Advances in Computer Science Research (ACSR) No. 83, (2018)

[2] Sandvik an Fougner. BIM as a Tool for Sustainable Design, Research Gate, (2018)

[3] Sampaio.Building Information Modeling (BIM) Aplications in an Education Context, Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Lisbon, (2018)

Comments:

To Harvin Bandal: 

I also had a similar experience with older engineers not being able to use modern design software. I found their hands-on experience to be valuable, but it was difficult to communicate with them because I think they have a different concept of how a building should be designed. In order to design more efficient buildings, I think that these older engineers should either learn how to use design software or be rendered obscure by people who are willing to learn the design software.

To Jenny Fretta: 

I concur that entire buildings will not be printed. However, I think that different components can be printed and then manufactured automatedly. I think the future for construction workers is bleak regarding the need for them to labor in ways other than to maintain the robots that do their current job for them.

To Gabriel Grajewski: 

I disagree about the building industry not manipulating data. I have designed HVAC systems for past co-ops and more often than not, in order to design an HVAC system effectively, data must be manipulated to yield comprehensive design solutions.

B3-How far will the AEC industry go in 10 years?

The computers used half-century to walk into ordinary people's life. How long will it take for the AEC industry? There was an advertising slogan for 4G (the fourth generation of broadband cellular network technology) when the 3G was commonly used several years ago-"The future is here." However, now, in China, 5G has already walked into our life. Therefore, the future is never far away from us. In Bill's presentation, I agree with his appointment that data optimization is the AEC industry's future. I believe that for one day, those AI BIMs and the robots will take an important role in the building designing process and take some jobs from the designers, but how long will they take? Ten years? Or another half-century?

About five years ago, the 3D printed residential houses were selling in some countries, which were high-efficiency for both money and time, and even environmental friendly since the printer was using construction wastes as the ink. However, for 2019, most buildings are still constructing by human beings. Why? It is because the technology for 3D printing houses is not progressed enough to receive the truths from the public. For the safety reasons, most of those 3D-printed buildings were dismantled in several months after built. It is improving, but not good enough. So we cannot predict how far the 3D printing construction will go in 10 years. 

For the Grasshopper and the Dynamo, which are the BIM programs that Bill mentioned in the presentation, since the sample programs have already been created, and they were only going to feed the applicable algorithmic modelings to the Revit and let the designers choose the model at the last, I am holding a positive viewpoint for their developments in following 10 years. Since human is still the object to make the final decisions, and the program itself is only providing reasonable options, this method is similar for nowadays’ AI working theory. Like the food delivery apps, it will help you to get rid of those far restaurants, the food you do not like, and show up all the options with a rated list. All you need to do is to choose your food at the last step. 

The AEC industry will realize the data optimization, but this will not come true instantaneously, and this might be a long journey so that it can be ten years, 20 years or a half-century. Haste makes waste, so nothing should go in a rush. The human beings already finished a lot of amazing pioneering works in 10,000 years, which is an extremely short period for the Earth, which is about 4.5 billion years old. Bill said in the presentation that we are fortunate for living now because many exciting things are happening. Future will be here, and the future will never be far away from us. 

Works cited:

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:


Matt Mullen:

I agree with you that the VR walkthrough will be more popular than the 3D printing models in the future. One is because the VR will cost less money and the 3D printing models might create wastes. The other reason is that the 3D printed model is a static model and VR is an intuitionistic digital model, so if the model needs any change, VR walkthrough model is only going to change the alternative part while the 3D model is going to be rebuilt entirely.



Gabriel Grajewski:

I agree with you because I believe that to realize the data optimization will take a long time for the AEC industry, but I do not have an exact idea about how long it will be. Although they are progressing the data manipulation, the data gathering is still the central part of the AEC industry. Many examples, which Bill provided in the presentation, were the underlying ideas and samples. Therefore, the data optimization is not easy to be realized in only ten years.



Jenny Fretta:

Like you, I doubt that 3D printing will be used to construct an entire building ten years later. Because of the limitation of the materials, the development of the 3D-printing technique for the building was not fast in the past ten years. The limitation of the materials will still be a problem either before founding or creating new material or another printing method. Although the improving speed is ideal, the progress of it never stops. The road is 3D printable now, so it is sure that 3D printing will assist a lot for the construction in the future.

Group D - Week 3 - Thursday Discussion

This tech will not completely replace humans, yes the popularity is rising, but there are still many things to be considered. There is still a need for human interaction in projects and between the clients. For now, final check from humans will still be required. Eventually, robots may be able to do this. As companies start using these technologies, some costs come with it all that is too high for most firms.

We think that the projected rate is much faster than it is going. Yes, Revit is being used in many firms and growing. While going forward, older generations might not hit the ground running with the newer technologies and programs. By the time this comes, population growth will/might decline so the workforce that will be lost can be replaced with automation.

Blog 2 - BIM with Architects and Engineers

Chapter 5 of the reading talks about the advantages and disadvantages of BIM for architects an engineer. The authors break this topic into three impacts of BIM in design- conceptual design, engineering integration, and construction-level modeling. The conceptual design phase consists of the initial concepts being put into place and creating the basic framework for the completed project and where the architects are the key player. Regarding this aspect, BIM often falls short in the architect’s eyes because of the learning curve associated with it (page 205). The ability for an architect to free hand designs gives them artistic freedom, but also imagine past what is known. Past free hand, architects rely on programs such as SketchUp that are not completely integrated with BIM yet. While this freedom of expression is important, the architects mainly hold issue with the learning curve – projects in the conceptual design phase rely on the leaders, and if the leaders find difficulties in using BIM software, the phase overall can’t utilize it. As for the integration of engineering, BIM like many other programs can take an inflow of more information, such as engineering designs, and integrate them within the designs already utilized by one person. While there are many programs that can integrate, BIM integrates much easier and often better (i.e. not losing information) that what is currently used. In terms of the construction-level modeling, this phase includes detailing, specifications, and cost estimation. These parts are the key strengths of BIM and is why BIM is currently the most successful regarding this. The use of BIM is especially successful in the IPD (Integrated Project Delivery) method and the design-build method as the architects and the engineers work more closely than in the tradition (design-bid-build) method. “Building information models now have distinct objects that can be easily counted, and along with volumes and areas of materials, can be automatically computed, almost instantaneously” (page 229) This technology behind BIM allows more accurate estimations and is one of the reasons it is especially successful with cost estimation. While utilizing BIM is successful in construction-level modeling the best right now, I believe that until the architects and engineers utilize BIM more will then show the best effects BIM has.

References:

(1)   Eastman, Charles M. et al. BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Desginers, Engineers and Contractors. Second Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2011. http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzM2NDIzOV9fQU41?sid=b9142b55-46d8-4f4c-9144-9219418803f1@sdc-v-sessmgr06&vid=0&format=EB&rid=1

Responses:

Harvin Bhandal – your discussion of chapter 2 brings up many of the great qualities BIM has and how useful it can be. I think it’ll be very interesting in the future when another program (other than Revit) will be able to be more “powerful” and a lot user friendly – it will help expand the system overall as well as making it more user friendly for others. BIM may be used and successfully used now, but with the improvements in the coming years, it will be interesting to see what changes about the pros and cons list you provided.

Tyler Madden – you bring up great points about BIM from a contractor’s perspective, but I think some of the points you bring up at the end are the most important. BIM is a useful tool for everyone as the author points out, and while it does need a lot of improvements that are necessary before it can reach its full potential, there also needs to be improvements on the contractor side. As you said, many contractors use minimal technology and up to date software and working with contractors to improve this will not only allow them to have an easier time using BIM, but also help improve their efficiency overall.

Jenny Fretta – I haven’t thought about the benefits of BIM from an owner’s perspective before, but you bring up many interesting points. An owner’s two biggest needs are a short schedule and the cheapest option while still being reasonable – as you point out, BIM makes both of these more possible.

B2 - BIM for Architects and Engineers

Chapter 5 is dedicated to describing the ways BIM is beneficial to modern design.

A major takeaway from using BIM software as opposed to AutoCAD on projects is the collaboration aspect. Originally, clients would work with architects, engineers and contractors to produce multiple sets of drawings. In one project the sheet list would include the following sections: G- (general notes and details), ARCH- (architectural sheets), C- (civil engineering plans), E- (electrical plans), S- (structural engineering plans), and so on. Each of the disciplines would be in contact with one another to produce a final plan set that included everything and this would happen for 30% submission, 70% submission, and so on.

The disadvantage to working in separate teams in separate drawings like this is coordination and communication would have to run perfect to meet deadlines and avoid tension and stress. If one team did not relay its information to another, it could take weeks to get that information and then display it in another discipline. If the civil plans relied on the architectural plans but the architectural plans were not completed or had additional information added, this could set back the civil group. The BIM software allows perfect collaboration between teams. From my understanding, and what I’ve seen at coop and work, the teams have one basic model to work from. All disciplines can see each other’s information and everyone is held accountable. With BIM there is no need to wait a week to hear back from the structural group about the size of their columns, anyone a part of the team can go in and read the drawing information.

Another benefit to using BIM is its more intuitive than earlier software. BIM programs like Revit are programmed with rules and codes that fit the specifications and locations. BIM can “anticipate and consider the full range of expertise of the design team” [1]. In Revit it is possible to set the working parameters of the project from the beginning. The team can use the base model to derive certain designs based on these parameters.

Personally, I believe moving to BIM software is the next step for engineering and architecture firms. Our office is starting to have Revit training and lessons on how to properly utilize the software. As long as everyone uses the program correctly, it seems like a more cohesive way to work and make sure the entire team is on the same page. 

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

Comments:

Jenny Fretta
This chapter seems to tie in well with Chapter 5. A big note in Chapter 5 is that BIM allows for great collaboration between disciplines to avoid hiccups later on down the road. It's interesting to piece them together to note that avoiding these issues is also time saving and cost beneficial to the client and owners. It seems that both the owners and engineers can benefit from using BIM software.

Julie Handsted Andersen
This chapter is interesting for design. Too often do architects and engineers clash because of unused space or odd shapes that are not structurally beneficial. It's interesting that the BIM software can still use any modern or unique shapes in building design while optimizing the space available. It's also amazing that it can pull from past designs to automatically factor in what does and doesn't work in a space.

Nana Lin Rasmussen
This section seems to tie in well with Chapter 5 as well. The ability of IFC to create different plans in different disciplines benefits everyone when working on a major project. The ease of exchange and compatibility will be the driving force for moving all firms to BIM.

B2_Chapter 5_Scope of design services

  For Chapter 5, the author introduced the BIM (Building Information Modeling) for the architects and engineers.  Many experts of architectural, engineering and construction are currently using BIM tools for modeling. This design approach is evolving from simple warehouses to new complex buildings.  The BIM provides a virtual building model for the design teams (such as architects, surveyors, civil engineers, structural engineers, mechanical and electrical engineers) to be delivered to the contractor/owner, who can add their professional information, update, and track at each stage. Change and maintain this standard, single model. The result is a desire to reduce the information gaps and communication conflicts that occur when the project provides and receives information between participants.

  Design-bid-build is a traditional project delivery process. In this process, architects and engineers will do the design work individually, so they will not cooperate with the constructor and fabricators. When there is litigation, since collaboration is not the architects’ responsibility, they may withhold the information for their design. Therefore, it is not efficient both for money and time. For the improvement, there is the design-build process. In order to involve in the larger projects and to deal with the capitalization, the large firms will cooperate with small firms. For design-build delivery, the efficiency raised, but I like the new option—Integrated Project Delivery (IPD). For IPD, the architects, engineers, constructors, fabricators, and the owners will come together to form a single cooperation unit. During the collaboration, the architect and the engineer can receive potential payment and benefits for their contribution for the design performance, such as the project can be finished before the deadline, the building sustainability, the energy use saving, and environmentally friendly improvements. The reason why I like IPD the most is that it can dramatically increase the efficiency of time. Because of the potentially lucrative rule, the architects and the engineers will push the effort to design a better building. On the other hand, the technic improvement for saving the environment and energy will happen during this process. Moreover, the collaboration will reduce the conflicts between the constructors/owners and the designers. Different from the traditional methods, architecture and engineering take important roles in IPD, so it also benefits the design services.



Work 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://ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=364239&site=ehost-live.

Comments:

Harvin Bhandal:
I agree that using BIM tools will save your time and your money, for example, when you finished a 2-D drawing on Revit, you can also get a 3-D model for your floor, and you can also use Revit to analysis the sunlight effects on your design. You mentioned in your article that you never used Revit before.  Don't need to worry, the processes for using it is not complicated, and you might also find fun from it because when you can put your thought from the brain on an actual 3-D model is very cool.

Alec Silverstone:
I agree with you. Because of designed-bid-build and designed-build, which are the two traditional procurement processes, the relationship between architects, engineers, and constructors is not close cooperation. Therefore, for many cases, the constructors will join into the project at the very late, so the conflicts are hard to avoid at that time.  This case will waste time and money.

Christian Tait:
I agree with you because when I use Sketchup and Revit, or other Autodesk related products, I suffered a lot because of their incompatibility. Formit is undoubtedly a great product, but for now, it is not as widely used as Sketchup. As well, for some function tools, such as the content library, Formit is not as developed as Sketchup, because the database of Formit is not as plentiful as that of Sketchup. Therefore, the different BIM products from different companies cannot perfectly match each other, which is a problem for BIM.

Blog 1 - HVAC, Sensors and the future

When I look at sensor technology and how it will progress into the future, I imagine how important it will be for HVAC. Nests, for example, utilizes phone apps to change the temperature within a house while you are not home, and also utilizes location abilities to sense when a person arrives home and to change the indoor temperature. Moving into the future, it would be no surprise to me at least if Nest continues with more sensor technology to improve their system overall. While Nest is just one example of the use of sensors and HVAC, another interesting source that one company has decided to pull from are the vents in a house with central air. Keen Home has created a smart vent that can be preprogrammed to be open or closed during certain hours of the day, similar to the Nest. (1). These smart vents also come preprogrammed, which shows a move that Nest could not do. When the vent is assigned a specific location, it comes programmed given the estimated time the space is used. For example, if there is a home office, the Keen program will automatically estimate the vent should be open during typical working hours when one would spend the most amount of time. As stated in The Brilliant Air Vents You Never Knew You Needed, “..rather than compete with the Nests and Winks and Honeywells of the market, Keen is more like a new member of a relay team, carrying the baton forward.” The idea of the smart vent moves HVAC designs into the future with different technologies, but there is still much more that can be done to improve the use of systems going forward. It’s not just in smaller systems, such as the thermostat or vent that technology is moving towards the future. There are also programs that improved HVAC design. OpenStudio, is used to “support whole building energy modeling using EnergyPlus and advanced daylight analysis using Radiance” (2). With programs like OpenStudio out there that work to improve the design process and products like Nest and Keen that improve the efficiency in use continuously make moves towards the future of a more overall efficient design.

One of the largest pushes forward is getting rid of batteries in sensors so that there is no need for replacing. One article that talks about this brings up the idea of thermoelectric technology in many products, such as refrigerators, headphones, watches, etc. (3) In doing this, “charging” or repowering an item only has to be done in bolts or rarely, as opposed to batteries continuously being in use. Doing this allows products to be much more efficient and shows the steps that are happening to create a better (in some cases future) – but technology is also a fear many have.

(1)    “The Brilliant Air Vents You Never Knew You Needed” (January 14, 2015) https://www.wired.com/2015/01/brilliant-air-vents-never-knew-needed/

(2)    OpenStudio (November 25, 2015) https://www.openstudio.net/

(3)    “Here Comes the Thermoelectric Future: We Tried Out the Next Generation of Self-Powered Sensors” (January 4, 2019) https://www.cnet.com/news/thermoelectric-future-we-tried-out-the-next-generation-of-self-powered-sensors/

RESPONSES:

To Maalik – I agree how crazy it is the spending that occurs in automation and development is continuing to grow. While I specifically focused on household HVAC systems and sensors, your research into AI use brings to light a whole new level of futuristic designs.

To Hailey - I also use small technology regularly, such as my headphones, and I think it's fascinating how the technology improves and continues to get small. I also looked at the thermoelectric technology moving to the future, and in moving towards using thermoelectricity, I see that technology will be able to be used more often, and improved as well. 

Week 1 Post - Hailey Ihlow - Group D

Topics: Sensors, AI, Future

Self-powered sensors – self-powered living – Sensors for wearable technology and sensors for data analysis; those are some key topics I am pulling from the tag. There is a need for energy generation that does not rely on fossil fuel, but there are other benefits to this as well. The sensors are used for energy usage and generation depending on the use. For example, there is a watch that runs on the heat of the user; this takes away the need for charging every few days. While the charge is not a lot for a high-powered smartwatch, it does have potential as technology advances. The current tech is bulky but has gotten smaller as the technology advances. As sensors in this regard get better and smaller applications will expand to other daily used items such as headphones. I use my headphones about 70% of my day. With devices that are powered by the world around them, what will that mean when AI systems are installed and implemented into the same devices. [1]

Will, we let them “…control over our computers, toasters, cars.” A lot of companies are using cloud-like systems to save data, but those are not AI like for now. Before I delve further into the AI realm, a constant paranoia is that Siri or other phone applications are listening to our conversations. This “listening” is how companies such as Google and Amazon make their products edgier, by knowing the clients (us) as we use their products. With the system knowing what we search, ready, like, etc. the product can learn and use this for future use to potentially help the user. In another setting AI is a large part of the self-driving car. While there is still a lot to be designed with this technology the capabilities are at the fingertips of these large companies. I think this technology will be hard to implement since there are some sacrifices to be made with the self-driving car. Not only giving up the actual driving but the companies that run these will have control over everything around transportation. How long it takes to get there if you take the high way or local streets. Self-driving cars can be comparable to the phone listening to our conversations. The car will know where you usually go and need to go when taking away choices we have as of now. [2]

As tech advances so do we. Advancement while is usually a good thing it may have its problems. Considering “what tech will look like in 2039” article one of the first topics discussed is biology hacking. Biology hacking, while having amazing perks speaks to some cons as well. This article touches on the medical advancements and helpfulness that this technology can bring us. The article even mentions AI, and how that tech can help determine things within our codes to help our health. As with most tech and advancements setting principles and rules helps not only the tech but us from being vulnerable to our creation and other creations.  [3]

There is a lot in the future that is near and far regarding how technology will change and how it will change us. While technology is something humans rely on eventually the line of what is and is not technology may fade away.

References:

 [1] Stein, Scott. (2019, January,4). Here comes the thermoelectric future: We tried out the next generation of self-powered sensors. https://www.cnet.com/news/thermoelectric-future-we-tried-out-the-next-generation-of-self-powered-sensors/.

[2] Miller, Paul. (2018, May,7). What is edge computing? https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/5/7/17327584/edge-computing-cloud-google-microsoft-apple-amazon.

[3] Marvin, Rob. (2019, January,3). What tech will look lie in 2039? https://www.pcmag.com/news/365676/what-tech-will-look-like-in-2039

Responses:

1.       Tyler Madden, you have really good information in here from a perspective I have not read much on before. I think with knowledge being more and more accessible to the users this topic will be higher and higher on the list of issues discussed. As professor Mitchel said, we are living in a world that is changing very fast around us, and I think topics that you bring up in here are important to keep in mind as we move forward

.

2.       Harvin Bhandal, I read some of the same articles you did. There was a lot of interesting information in there regarding the future of these devices. In regards to the workforces that won't get affected by AI. Is there a timeline on that because while yet, executives might be safer than nurses, but I think that there are applications for doctors and nurses within the AI field. From a human perspective “bedside table” might disappear but that is gone in some cases anyways overall good selection of thoughts.

3.       Blas Andres Rodriguez, you have made some points. The construction field is going to get affected by technology. I see that when I am at work and in classes as professors that still work in the field talk about the changes they see. I use Revit at work, and I collaborate with architects and clients about how fire protection networks will go through a building. While it's not a hard task to design the logistics of installation and correct space for the network is the issue. So BIM/Revit is helpful in the long run. In the past CAD was implemented, and there was a higher chance in crashes. Now being able to see the network go through the building the designers from both sides can adjust as needed. 

Blog Post 1: Link Between Sensors, Building Operations, and AI

Sensor technologies are becoming imperative to intelligent building design. The use of thermostats kicked off the beginning of HVAC sensor technology but as other sensors are developed the thermostat must evolve beyond its current binary capabilities. Other technologies such as CO2 sensors, enthalpy sensors, and occupancy sensors have been implemented in building design to reduce energy consumption by HVAC systems. As these specialized sensors become more used, thermostats that at one point in time controlled entire HVAC systems, will become intelligent monitoring systems coordinating the specialized sensors. As renewable energy becomes adapted more widely, terminal sensors will be self-powered, wireless, and communicative [1]. Sensors will report errors in building envelopes, report damage, and report other data that pertains to what they are designed to do specifically.

Home automation and IoT have become buzzwords regarding building automation. As Home automation becomes more economically viable for the average American, data can be recorded and collected to achieve more accuracy for energy modeling and BIM. [2] Using 3-D models of buildings to monitor operating conditions in a building will allow for engineers and occupants to achieve an engaging synergy that encourages energy consciousness.

Additionally, the IoT may allow self-powered sensors to repair and maintain themselves using AI to physically repair damaged or weathered sensors. This could also be applied to a larger scale where buildings are maintained, repaired, and constructed using robots. [3] However, as robots become able to do jobs better and more efficiently than humans, the building industry will naturally require less humans. Naturally, this is an issue for many people and it is a question that has yet to be solved. But with the good news of reducing energy consumption we can think about a greener future instead of an unemployed future.

[1] Stein, Scott. “A Thermoelectric Future: Meet the next Generation of Self-Powered Sensors.” CNET, CNET, 4 Jan. 2019, www.cnet.com/news/thermoelectric-future-we-tried-out-the-next-generation-of-self-powered-sensors/.

[2] Khemlani, Lachmi. “Three Tech Trends Shifting the BIM Industry in 2016AECbytes Viewpoint #80 (July 21, 2016).” Technology Toolkit for Sustainable Design at Orcutt Winslow Partnership: AECbytes Feature, www.aecbytes.com/viewpoint/2016/issue_80.html.

[3] B1M, The. “The Construction Robots Are Coming | The B1M.” YouTube, YouTube, 30 May 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKGGHdl3NyQ.

Blog 1-The HVAC system and the environmental challenges for the future buildings

  Now is 2019, so the “future” is here. Currently, for those new buildings, computers and smartphones are not the only staffs can connect to the internet and log in the database. The doorbell can record guess’ message when we are not home; the lights would be turned off automatically when there is no one occupied in the room; the fire alarm would call the fireman for us. But the future is still coming. “The home devices are able to communicate with each other, send the message to the host, and take commands for improving. This is not science fiction anymore. Because of the Internet of Things (IoT), it is possible to build the home automation.” Wrote by Colon and Griffith. [1] When it comes to practice, the HVAC system would be the main part to be automated. Here is an AD for the air vent, “Keen’s Smart Vents make it possible for homeowners to close the vents when the room is not in use with an app, instead of a ladder. The vents are rigged with sensors for temperature and pressure. After you install it, you can set up a profile for the room to tell the vent how it should work. For an office room, the original program is set to work between 9 in the morning and 6 in the afternoon for the workdays. If there is a hard-working guy wants to stay longer, he can use the app to adjusted time. Keen will also remember user habits and intelligently open and close vents accordingly. Initial studies show that Keen can reduce 22% of running time on the air vents.” [2] The benefit of the automated HVAC system and the electricity system is to save our planet. Rhodes wrote, “If we turn down the air vents during the unoccupied period, the efficiency of a 3,500-square-foot building can decrease to the same efficiency serving a 2,000-square-foot home.” [2] A lot of energy would be saved.  

  Of course, as engineer students, we all have been told that environmental problem is not an ignorable problem for the building constructions. “40% of greenhouse gas is produced by the buildings in the U.S. In New York, this number even raises to 80%. This happens because the commercial buildings waste a large amount of energy by heating and lighting unoccupied buildings. There is also another problem for the architects and engineers, the green building conferences are packed with everything from recycled building materials to solar awnings. The challenge is choosing the products that offer the best return on investment and fitting them into an overall design.” Martin LaMonica wrote. [3] For better life of our progenies, engineers should start to save the Earth. However, to construct a green building is not as easy as its definition. Martin LaMonica wrote: “One of the challenges in green building design is making dramatic energy reductions to existing buildings. The constructor would fill the insulations, such as the vacuum insulation panels, between the brick walls or ceilings. The building will use efficient lighting and HVAC systems. Engineers and designers can save energy and money by using smaller HVAC machines in an insulated and tight constructed building. Another method to improve the overall efficiency of the building is by certain practices like, to precool the conference rooms before meetings, Cheimets says.” [3]

 The development of the buildings and technology is important but it does not mean that we can ignore the problems they have, such as environmental problems. I believe the balance is much more essential than the developing speed. 

Reference:

[1] Colon, Alex and Griffith, Eric. “The Best Smart Home Devices for 2019.” PCMAG, 1 Nov. 2018,

https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2410889,00.asp. Accessed 13 Jan. 2019.

[2] Rhodes, Margaret. “The Brilliant Air Vents You Never Knew You Needed” Wired, 14 Jan. 2015,

https://www.wired.com/2015/01/brilliant-air-vents-never-knew-needed/. Accessed 13 Jan. 2019

[3] LaMonica, Martin. “Putting Building Science into Practice” Technology Review, 21 Jan. 2013,

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/510131/putting-building-science-into-practice/. Accessed 13 Jan. 2019.

Comments for others:

Alec Silverstone: (Blog Post 1- The Future of Sociology, Databases, and Networking)

I totally agree with your appointment. The problem is very serious. The database is not only sharing the information, which been put into the database on your own initiative but also passively. For example, nowadays, everybody talks to their smartphones for doing a favor, and we think they are helpful. However, did you ever think about that the devices are "monitoring" us by that function as well? One time, my friend told me about "23andme" which is a genetic resolution test and I had never heard about that and never searched anything related to the "23andme" using my smartphone before. But a few hours later, there was an ad of "23andme" showing on my device, and I and my friends were freaked out that time. If the personal privacy is not "personal" anymore, then who will care about the "person" as an individual in the future? Undeniable, the "big data" makes a convenient life, and humans will get more benefits from it in the future. However, the sociology will become one of the largest roadblocks for the development of the database.

Christian Tait:

Yes, the material is the largest limitations of 3-D printing. When it comes for the building construction, 3-D printing is an environmentally friendly method. The construction wastes can be reused by 3-D printing. In 2014, at Shanghai, China, there were 10 3-D printed houses built out for selling. The large properties of the "ink" were from the construction wastes. In this case, the building cost and the constructing time would decrease, and it is good for the environment. However, some parts of construction wastes were not safe enough, and for separate those harmful wastes, the cost would rise back. Also, the material is not fully developed, so the stability of the building is a big problem. So, because of the materials, 3-D printing still has a long path to go for constructing purpose.

Tyler Madden:
There is another interesting story about the facial identifying. Xueyou Zhang is a super famous artist in China, polices caught five escaped criminals on his concerts. This happened because of the real-name facial identifying system at ticket checking entrances. As you said, even though the database is touching our privacy, it is also helping us to get rid of the hiding dangerous. This contradiction will be sharpening in the future.

Group D - Week 1

Who has the most interesting background?
Hailey Ihlow cooped abroad in Singapore.

Who came from the furthest away?
Weiyi Tang came here from China.

Who has the most relevant background?
Andrei Kuriatnikov used Revit for all three coops.