Blog Post 4 Borrelli

Title: Use of AI in the Lifecycle of a building

Topic: I will discuss how AI is used now and how it can be used in the future during the Design, Construction and Life of the building.

Project Type: Paper

Key Points

1. How the Architectural Industry is using AI right now 
2. How The Architectural Industry can use AI in the future
3. How the Architectural Industry benefits from increased use of AI
4. Potential Downfalls of using AI in the Architectural Industry
5. Feasibility of Implementing AI in the Industry 

1. Introduction to AI
1. What is AI 
2. How does AI work
3. Can AI be used in the Architectural Industry 
2. Current Use of AI in the Design Process
1. How is AI currently being used 
2. How is it currently benefiting the industry 
3. Inclusion of AI in BIM
3. Future use of AI in Design 
1. My personal view on where AI can be used in this sector
2. AI projects that are already in development 
3. How the projects claim to improve the industry 
4. Current use of AI in construction 
1. How is AI currently being used 
2. How is it currently benefiting the industry 
3. Inclusion of Doxel Robot
4. Inclusion of Built Robotics autonomous bulldozer 
5. Future use of AI in construction
1. My personal views on where AI can be used in the sector
2. AI projects that are already in development. (Humanoid Robots)
3. How the projects claim to improve the industry 
6. Current use of AI in Building’s lifetime 
1. How AI is currently being used 
2. How is it currently benefiting the industry 
3. Inclusion of Zaha Hadid Architecture Analytics 
4. Inclusion of Google Deepmind AI HVAC
7. Future use of AI in Buildings Lifetime
1.  My personal views on where AI can be used in the sector 
2. AI projects that are already in development. (Security, HVAC, Productivity)
3. How projects claim to improve the industry 
8. How Feasible is implementing AI 
1. Challenges of implementation 
2. Likely Timeframes 

9. Cons of implementing AI
1. Why AI might not be the future
2. How AI can hurt the industry
10. Conclusion 
1. Do the pros of AI outweigh the cons 
2. Reiterate facts about future and current use of AI as it relates to the feasibility

For my term project I will be researching the use of AI currently and in the future throughout the life cycle of a building. I will be starting at its conception in the design phase, then move to its use in construction and lastly, how it can be used for the rest of the life of the building. For the design process I aim to focus on AI being leveraged in BIM modeling. I would like to see how it is being used now and what its limitations are which can be improved upon in the future.  Next I will go over the current use of AI in the construction industry. I will review the Doxel Robot that we have seen in class as well as autonomous construction vehicles. I will then go over some humanoid robot projects and how they claim to function and improve the industry. Lastly I will go over the rest of the life of the building. I will talk about Zaha Architecture Analytics and how they are improving productivity in buildings with the use of sensors and then I will discuss Google’s Deeplearn AI’s ability to reduce HVAC running costs. Then I will talk about the future of AI as it relates to security, climate control, productivity and networks in a building. By the end of the project I hope to have a much deeper understanding of where this industry stands and where it is headed with respect to Artificial Intelligence. 

Comments:

Alec Silverstone: I’m excited to see what you find as far as robotics in the construction field. Like you said there are a lot of industries that are benefiting from robotics already such as the car industry. I’m curious to see what solutions are out there to make those types of robots more mobile. 

Christian Tait: I agree that AR is going to be a huge part of the Architectural Industry. Being able to overlay data and items over a project site in real time will be incredibly valuable in making the design and construction process run more fluidly. I’m excited to see what you find as far as what is being done already and what can be done in the future with this technology. 

Kyle Breiman: I like the idea of looking into 3D printing of steel. I’m curious how viable it could really be in a wide variety of scenarios. I personally believe that there is enough space in the paper to include the glass and concrete though.

  

B3 "Bill Allen Future of BIM" Robert Borrelli

B3

Robert Borrelli

In 2016, AutoDesk University’s Bill Allen Claimed that the future of BIM will not be BIM and it’s coming faster than you think. Bill Allen believes that within the next 10 years the AEC industry is going to become more automated than ever. Instead of deciding where doors, windows, walls and rooms will be located, we will rely on AI to maximize functionality an efficiency. This will be done by letting the computer make decisions when given a set of parameters to abide by. Then there will be multiple options for the user to choose from and they can see what is best for the project.

I believe that Bill Allen is correct as far as where the future of the AEC industry is going. I believe that the use of AI will dramatically improve the speed at which designs can be finalized and will give birth to new ideas that humans have never thought of. I do, however, believe that the time frame that Bill Allen suggests is a bit short. It will be hard for automation to take place on a large scale in as little as 10 years. I believe there will be much hesitation from the people in the AEC industry. More specifically, I think that the older generation will have a hard time accepting this as a new norm. They have been doing things their way for a long time and they may see this as a threat to their job. It will be much harder for them to get a grasp of this new technology compared to recent graduates who may have been exposed to it during their education. In addition to some people feeling threated by the new technology, cost also has a great deal to do with the feasibility of automation becoming mainstream in the AEC industry. While larger firms may be able to dive into this technology, smaller firms may not be able to afford the software, or the training required to operate it. I believe it will take longer than the 10 years that Bill Allen predicts for the price of implementing automation to lower to an acceptable level.

Comments:

Christian Tait- I completely agree that BIM’s uses are just going to increase over time as more technology is introduced into the field. I think that using AR and VR with a BIM model could really help get a close to real-life visualization which will help architects make a more informed decision about a project.

Hanyan Chen- I also agree that Data is an extremely important part of the future of this industry. Being able to neatly store and share data to whoever needs it will make the process of designing and building a structure much more fluid.

Aaron Goldberg- I agree with your “adopting” analogy. I don’t think that what Bill Allen is talking about will be fully integrated into the industry and will only be done by the biggest, most forward-thinking companies. I think that 20 years is a good estimate as to when full integration will happen.

Group E- Practicality of the Future of BIM

       Group E discussed whether the proposed developments in BIM and technology to integrate design and technical engineering will be both possible and practical.

       After discussion among the group, it was determined that while the future of BIM does show to be integrated with the engineering field (that is, rapid iterative modeling integrating with the necessary engineering work), there are several proposed issues with the practicality. The group holds integrated technology is possible, even maybe in the next 10 years. Yet, at the same time, we believe there will be issues with practicality.

       First, and quite obviously, there will be a steep learning curve. With any new software and technology, there will always be a gap in the skills and knowledge of professionals with the technology. This introduces a need to advance education and introduce these developments into higher education. As a group of all non-architectural engineering students, we've never seen Revit or similar programs before. This means students and professionals like us in these fields are at a severe disadvantage when trying to adopt this technology. 

       On a similar note, there comes the "threat" to older generations in the work force. As is quite common in company culture, there exist large age gaps between employees (especially due to increased diversity and the need for older people to remain employed). So, this will further prove that before we can implement the technology, we have to overcome the hindrance of age and skill level. 

       It is also important to note that certain fields of engineering have different views than others. Architectural and structural engineers always work with static projects, while mechanical engineers always work with moving elements. So how would they work together? How can we design something while also making it work at the same time? The only way to know is to wait and see. 

Chapter 6 BIM in the Construction Industry (Borrelli)

Chapter 6 BIM in the construction industry

Robert Borrelli

B2

BIM modeling is an incredibly helpful tool that can save both time and money on a construction project. One important benefit of having everyone on a project contribute to the BIM model would be to avoid any clashing. Without a modeling tool like BIM, many clashes are not detected until the build process has already begun. Reworking clashes this late can cause serious time and cost issues.

Another major advantage to BIM would be the ability to create a more accurate cost analysis. A computer-generated design helps a contractor know exactly how much material is going to be needed to complete a project, which makes it easier to calculate the correct cost for the material. Having an accurate 3D model isn’t the only benefit to BIM, however. The program is also capable of analyzing performance levels of different components on the build. This could include knowing the structural loads that will be exerted and even the heating and cooling loads for HVAC systems. Data like this can improve structural stability and give an insight into the type of components that need to be used to fulfill the needs of the building.

Another helpful tool that BIM has is the ability to list the specifications of every single component that is planned to be included in the building. This becomes especially important when working with electrical equipment. Certain electronics can only be powered in a certain voltage and current range, so it is extremely important to know the specifications of all electronics to ensure proper functionality.

BIM is also an incredibly powerful tool to track the process of a project. Status of completion and scheduling can be assigned to each component to create a visual representation of what is done and what still needs to be done. Another advantage to computer generated model design as opposed to sketching a design is the fact that different elements of the project can be placed in layers. This allows a contractor or designer to get visuals of only the layers they want while hiding unnecessary layers. This can be helpful when modeling temporary structures that are only there for the construction of the project such as scaffolding. The ability to hide and show different layers on a project gives the user a greater ability to understand and present the parts of a project that are important to them.

Sources:

[1] Sacks, Rafael. BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Designers, Engineers, Contractors, and Facility Managers. Wiley, 2018.

Andy Kuriatnikov:

I completely agree that using BIM to store data about components is a very crucial step to make the job easier for many workers down the road. Having arrays of data saves both time and money throughout all the steps of the construction process.

Hailey Ihlow:

It may be very easy for people to think that BIM is simply the solution for everything in this field, but as you said, there are still some specified areas where BIM falls short. While it may be great to try and code a solution that works in BIM, many companies do not have the money or expertise to create a solution.

Nana Lin Rasmussen:

Interoperability is extremely important in any field considering there is never just one solution that will work in all scenarios. I agree that increasing interoperability is going to be a massive part of the future of Architectural Engineering.

BIM Handbook Chapter 6 - BIM for Contractors

 Building Information System (BIM) has been a big part of the modern construction industry. Not only the owner and the architects/engineers benefit from the technology, contractors also enjoy the many benefits brought by from the BIM technology. For a contractor point of view, timely manner and money are two critical elements in their business. BIM technology has potential to help the contractors to deliver the project perfectly with a maximize benefits. Although constructors are not design firms who needs to develop the BIM model from the beginning, there are a ton of contractors that are currently develop beam to support coordination, clash detection, estimating, 4D CAD, procurement, and so forth (Eastman, 2011).

One thing I noticed interesting here is although the design teams whether or not developed the models during the design stages, the contractors are creating their own building models from scratch to support coordination. In my point of view, this is extreme inefficiency as the contactor has to develop models during their construction stage. I believe as the BIM becomes more and more essential for the future construction industry, the use of BIM needs to be more standardized. The work distribution between different parties needs to be clear. In that way the whole construction phases will be more efficient and can save more time as well as money for all parties.

One of the prospects the constructor benefits from using the BIM technology is the construction analysis and planning. Traditional bar charts were used to plan projects but it unable to show the link between different activities in a sequence. Also, most people cannot determine if the schedule is feasible or not. BIM technology provides a better solution to the problem. The first method is by using 4D CAD. 4D CAD is 3D models with also time associations, which means the construction schedule is also linked to the model. Another approach is use analysis tools that incorporate BIM components.

Overall, although the constructors do not develop the design directly, there are also multiple benefits towards the contractors assisting them to save money and time.

1.      Eastman, Charles M. BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers and Contractors. Vol 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley; 2011. http://ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=364239&site=ehost-live.

Comments:

Yidi Li: You listed several benefits for contractors to use the BIM in the future work. They are certainly beneficial for the contractors as long-term development. One thing I noticed in your post is the current scheduling system is in needs for improvements, I think the 4D model as one of the approaches will be really beneficial for the contractors in their future development.

Qiaodan Lin: I learned several points from your post about BIM for owners and facility manager. One thing I think is worth mentioning is the cooperation between architectural design to MEP development. The details can be then including in one model rater than in 2D they are in different plans. That will minimize the conflicts and is easier for contractors to work with.

Michal Tse: Your personal experience is really interesting. The conflicts between contractors and architects/engineers are always there. BIM indeed is a great way to cooperate between different parties. Not only between the stakeholders but also between contractors and sub-contractors; and between different sub-contractors.

Wenhan Fu Week 2 Blog: Database, Network, Sociology, Future

Wenhan Fu

Week 2 Blog: Database, Network, Sociology, Future

Database has already been used for decades in a ton of different industries. It provides the users with more efficiency to access, backup and analysis the different data sets. As the internet industry growing exponentially, the database industry also has tremendous changes. The increasingly enormous amounts of data flooding websites and businesses and the different database system brings chaos [1]. Therefore, many companies may find out there once organized data nowadays are promiscuous. In the future, the one database that can provide a single system that does everything from full-text search to in-memory storage, graph analysis, and more will be the solution to the companies to reorganize its data [1].

Another close topic will be the network, network consists of two or more computers that are linked in order to share resources and exchange files. It has been changed a lot within the past decades, it has become wireless, faster, safer and etc. In the future, it will continue to develop mostly in these aspects: The demise of the WLAN controller, ethernet switches become transparent, everything else in the cloud [2]. Moreover, the speed of the network has been improved a lot in the last 10 years, nowadays 4G network has been covered for 99% of the United States territory, the next generation which is the 5G network has already been standardized and will be used commercially with in the next few years.

Sociology contains a lot of topics. With the development of the modern technology, the study of the sociology also looked over in these prospective. One of the is the threats of the robotics. With the robotics ability to learn, many scientists are concerned that developments in human technology may soon pose new, extinction-level risks to our species as a whole [3]. It is truly a dialectical topic and will be discuss a lot I the future.

1.      Finley, K. “World’s Many Databases Unite to Form One Simple Super-services” Wired.com, Feb. 2014, https://www.wired.com/2014/02/orchestrate/

2.      Mathias, C. “What is the future of networking for enterprises?” SearchingNetworking. Com, N.A, https://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/opinion/What-is-the-future-of-networking-for-enterprises

3.      N.A. “Foundation to Study the threats from robotics and other future technologies.” N.A. http://cser.org/index.html

Comments on Robert Borrelli's post:

I see you focused a lot on architectural field and that is what I have not been focused on. Your post provided me with some details about the database important pieces of information and other insights. But maybe a little more discussion about the future development will be even better for your post.

Comments on Alkiviadis Tsitsios's post:

Your post is really interesting and you noticed a lot of insights of these three topics. One thing interesting that caught up my mind is the 5G network. As you stated, it is really a fast pace the network development and I am really curious where will this fast growing industry leads us to.

Blog 1- Database, Network, Sociology, Future (Borrelli, Robert)

Week 2

Robert Borrelli

B1

Database, Network, Sociology, Future

Database [1]

Throughout the span of an architectural project, there are a lot of pieces of information that have to be kept track of. The most important pieces of information include:

• intermediate analysis results during planning and design,
• design documents, including drawings and specifications,
• construction schedules and cost estimates,
• quality control and assurance records,
• chronological files of project correspondence and memorandum,
• construction field activity and inspection logs,
• legal contracts and regulatory documents. [1] 

One of the best ways to organize most of these types of data would be a database. The way that a database is typically used can be described as a relational data model. This can be accomplished by having rows of data, where each column contains a certain relationship to a specific attribute. Databases will become increasingly important as time progresses and processes become more automated. Having an organized bookkeeping system will make it easy on the coders and automated system that the coders plan to implement.

Network [2]

Internet Protocol networks are extremely important for all kinds of buildings. Sensors that automate climate control and security are often connected to a network. Cameras can be connected to the internet so they can be accessed from anywhere in the world and climate control systems can gather real-time climate data from network-connected temperature, pressure and humidity sensors. While this does make buildings a lot easier to manage, it raises some potential threats. Anything that is connected to the internet can be hacked and taken advantage of. This makes it necessary to take cybersecurity measures to keep unauthorized users from having access to the network, cameras and climate control systems.

Sociology [3]

Architectural Sociology tries to explain the impact that architectural design has on people. This is a very important idea that a designer must think about while in the process of designing a building. Their choices have a big impact on how people act and what people do in the space that they design. The design of a building also has to take into account the environment it is being put in to. Sociologists can give extremely important information to an architect in terms of what the community needs now as well as in the future. The author of the article referenced admits that this is a small field and it will likely take a lot of time to make a difference in the architectural field.

Reference:

[1] https://www.cmu.edu/cee/projects/PMbook/14_Organization_and_Use_of_Project_Information.html

[2]

https://www.hpac.com/managing-facilities/understanding-networks-modern-building-automation-systems

[3]

http://www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/savvy/footnotes/dec02/fn17.html

Comments

To Kunlun Ren (AI, Computer, Software)

It’s very interesting to see how China’s use of AI in the public transportation sector is far ahead of the US. Some of the US rail systems still don’t have swipeable cards to enter a train. China’s use of facial recognition in this field is sure to make public transportation easier, faster and safer for all involved.

To Richard Kimball (Security, AI, Computing)

I completely agree that many people only see the positives to adding more technology and connected devices into our daily lives. If more things become connected to the internet, the value of hacking will only increase as time goes on. Many companies are more focused on making a “smart device” without thinking of the security risks that come along with it. There are a lot of steps that can be taken by the consumer to help protect themselves from a cyber attack, but the majority of the population either doesn’t know there is a risk or don’t have the technological background to prevent it.

Group E Introduction

This post is to answer the questions posed by the professor at the beginning of the lesson today (1/10/2019). So, let's list them:

Which group member has the most diverse background?

Chun Ming Tse- He is from Hong Kong, China and he is here as an exchange student for one or two terms!

Who is furthest from home?

Wenhan Fu- He is from Chengdu, China!

Who has a relevant background to this course?

Robert Borrelli claims this spot, as he has some background in databases. 

We hope you learned a little bit about us!