The construction industry is currently undergoing digital transformation due to emerging technologies. Hence new forms of organisation are needed. Collaborating with Building Information Modelling ...(BIM) is complex and challenges the management of projects. The ubiquitous digital information sharing among multi-disciplinary actors in BIM-based projects, activates dense inter-organisational processes. This study offers insights into collaboration with BIM, through the theoretical lens of boundaries. By analysing two projects of BIM-based collaboration in the Netherlands, the interplay between structure and agency of collaboration was discussed. The various artefacts of BIM, as boundary objects were interpreted in multiple ways by different communities of practice and this resulted in poor communication and consequently poor collaboration. The findings challenge the prevalent view of BIM as a software artefact and showed that this view only partially supports collaboration. Additionally, a structurational view (enabled by communication, conflict management, negotiation, and teamwork) as opposed to a structural view of collaboration (e.g. BIM as a software) can fully support the implementation of digital innovations. Finally, the paper revealed a ‘tactical gap’ in the implementation of digital between strategic and operational decision-making needs fine-tuning to ensure better collaboration in projects where digital innovations are adopted. The study concludes with propositions for supporting organisation of teams through integration of activities and the management of BIM-based collaboration in projects beyond merely structural and technological approaches, which dominate the field but from a structurational view instead.
•The software-centred view of BIM only partially supports collaboration management.•Digital technologies need a structurational rather than structural view of collaboration.•Liminal roles support the structurational view of collaborating with digital.•Firms need to address a ‘tactical gap’ in the implementation of digital innovations.•Boundary conditions related to digital necessitate liminality in project management.
BIM and the small construction firm: a critical perspective Dainty, Andrew; Leiringer, Roine; Fernie, Scott ...
Building research and information : the international journal of research, development and demonstration,
08/2017, Letnik:
45, Številka:
6
Journal Article
Recenzirano
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The need for technological and administrative innovation is a recurrent theme in the UK construction-reform agenda, but generic improvement recipes are beginning to give way to a more focused ...prescription: building information modelling (BIM). The current strategy is to mandate the use of BIM for government projects as a way of integrating the design, construction and operation of publicly procured buildings. This aspiration represents a partial turn away from a focus on managerialist agendas towards a belief in the power of digital practices to achieve the aspiration of integrated working, collaboration and innovation, a trend that is being reflected globally in relation to both national and firm-level policy interventions. This paper subjects this so-called 'BIM revolution' to critical scrutiny. By drawing on theories of the digital divide, a critical discourse is developed around the ways in which political reform agendas centred on BIM might not stimulate innovation on a wider scale, but could act to disenfranchise small firms that are unable (or unwilling) to engage with them. This critical analysis presents important new research questions around the technocratic optimism that pervades the current reform discourse, the trajectory of industry development that it creates and the policy process itself.
PurposeRapid advancements in blockchain technology transform various sectors, attracting the attention of industrialists, practitioners, policymakers and academics, and profoundly affect construction ...businesses through smart contracts and crypto-economics. This paper explores the blockchain innovation ecosystem in construction.Design/methodology/approachThrough a qualitative study of 23 diverse interviewees, the study explores how open or closed the blockchain innovation ecosystem in construction is and who its emerging orchestrators are.FindingsThe data showed that construction aims towards an open innovation blockchain ecosystem, although there are elements of hybridisation and closedness, each system pointing out to different orchestrators.Practical implicationsThe study has implications for governments and large companies in construction, showing that open innovation initiatives need to be encouraged by policymakers through rules, regulations and government-sponsored demonstrator projects.Social implicationsThe data showed that there is lack of readiness for business model change to support open innovation blockchain ecosystems in construction.Originality/valueThis is the first study applying the open innovation theory in the construction industry and sheds light into the phenomenon of blockchain, suggesting routes for further democratisation of the technology for policymakers and practitioners.
With the increase of service years, external walls of high-rise buildings tend to suffer from a variety of defects which impose great safety risks. Traditional methods for inspecting high-rise ...building external walls require inspectors to work at height and identify defects manually, which is dangerous and inefficient. In recent years, there has been an increasing trend of using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for inspecting building external walls, but how to manage the information obtained by the UAV is still a problem. In addition, although building information modelling (BIM) with rich geometric and semantic information has been applied in the construction engineering industry, BIM models usually lack updated condition data of facilities. Therefore, this paper presents a method for managing the inspection results of building external walls by mapping defect data from UAV images to BIM models and modelling defects as BIM objects. First, images of building external walls obtained by UAV are processed and useful information such as coordinates are extracted. Considering the small scale of single buildings, a simplified coordinate transformation approach is developed to transform location of real-world defects to coordinates in the BIM model. Meanwhile, a deep learning-based instance segmentation model is developed to detect defects in the captured images and extract their features. In the end, the identified defects are modelled as new objects with detailed information and mapped to the corresponding location of the related BIM component. To validate the feasibility, the proposed method has been applied to a real office building, which successfully mapped and integrated the defects of external walls with the BIM model. This study is applicable to both buildings and infrastructure, and is expected to facilitate structure inspection and decision making in maintenance with integrated data of as-is condition and as-built BIM.
•Proposed a framework for mapping and modelling defect data from UAV images to BIM.•Developed a coordinate transformation method to map real-world data to BIM model.•Developed a deep learning model to detect and segment building wall defects in images.•Modelled defects of building wall as BIM objects with detailed features.
This article presents a state-of-the-art review of the applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Deep Learning (DL) in building and construction industry 4.0 in the ...facets of architectural design and visualization; material design and optimization; structural design and analysis; offsite manufacturing and automation; construction management, progress monitoring, and safety; smart operation, building management and health monitoring; and durability, life cycle analysis, and circular economy. This paper presents a unique perspective on applications of AI/DL/ML in these domains for the complete building lifecycle, from conceptual stage, design stage, construction stage, operational and maintenance stage until the end of life. Furthermore, data collection strategies using smart vision and sensors, data cleaning methods (post-processing), data storage for developing these models are discussed, and the challenges in model development and strategies to overcome these challenges are elaborated. Future trends in these domains and possible research avenues are also presented.
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•AI, ML and DL are transforming the building and construction industry 4.0.•Robotics, IoT, Digital Twins, 4D Printing, Cloud AR/VR, Blockchain are future trends.•AI techniques can be used throughout the whole building lifecycle.•Sensor and vision-based data acquisition can facilitate ML/DL implementation.
•Thirty-eight problems in closing building energy performance gap are identified.•Five BIM functions for closing building energy performance gap are explored.•The relationship between BIM functions ...and identified problems are identified.•Process maps for each BIM function are developed.•An integrated conceptual framework for BIM-based approaches to close building energy performance gap is established.
The building sector is responsible for 32% of global energy consumption and 19% of all energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. The urgent requirement for energy conservation and greenhouse gas emission reduction in the building sector has been recognised at the highest level of governments around the world. One potential solution, which has yet to be critically considered, is the application of Building Information Modeling (BIM) to overcome building energy performance gap (BEPG), defined as the discrepancy between the designed and actual energy consumption in buildings. This study performs a systematic and comprehensive literature review to identify the specific causes of the BEPG, and then analyses the application of BIM for addressing the BEPG. A life-cycle BIM engaged framework was developed, including the function of “information exchange”, “design review”, “energy-related quality control”, “life-cycle commissioning”, and “real-time operation and maintenance management”. It is expected that the proposed framework will assist researchers and practitioners better understand application of BIM to systematically improve building energy performance.
•Introducing the conventional design and emerging integrated design process.•The development of Building Information Modelling and Building Energy Modelling.•Analysing prevailing Building Information ...Modelling based Building Energy Modelling methods.•Outlining future development of Building Information Modelling based Building Energy Modelling.
The emerging of building information modelling provides opportunities to break through the limitations of conventional building energy modelling such as tedious model preparation, model inconsistency and costly implementation, and promotes building energy modelling into the digital building design process. The method of using building information modelling for the building energy modelling process, named building information modelling-based building energy modelling has become a prevalent and attractive topic in both the research and the industry society in recent years. This paper presents an overall review on the building design process, and applications of building information modelling and building energy modelling in the design process. It also provides an in-depth review on the development of building information modelling-based building energy modelling methods and the development of prevalent informational infrastructures. Meanwhile, this literature review provides a special consideration on the maturity of building data transformation between building information modelling and building energy modelling for building energy simulation process, from the step 1 identifying the geometry, thermal properties of buildings to the step 6 the information and components for HVAC systems. In general, the current building information modelling-based building energy modelling methods are thoroughly evaluated and the trends for future developments are outlined. It is realised that the Building Information Modelling based Building Energy Modelling is particular appropriate for the early design stage, where the most suitable and cost effective approaches for energy efficient design can be integrated into the overall building design process.
This research paper reports upon a client driven approach to iteratively develop the FinDD application programming interface (API) plug-in. FinDD integrates building information modelling (BIM) and ...facilities management (FM) via the novel development and application of totems. Totems visualise rich semantic FM data in a 3D object to extend the use and application of COBie thereby minimising costs incurred by the FM team to update and maintain the as-built BIM. Participatory action research was used to develop the proof of concept and involved a study of two multi-storey, mixed-use educational buildings (with a contract value worth ≥£150 million UK Sterling) located within Birmingham, UK. The lead researcher worked for the client's estates department and was instrumental in liaising with members of the project management team, synthesising their semantic data requirements and developing the FinDD API plug-in for Autodesk Revit. Research findings reveal that whilst FinDD was positively received as a bespoke extension of COBie (that was tailored to specifically meet client needs), further development is required to mitigate software inflexibility and augment automation of semantic data transfer, storage and analysis. Future work will validate the API plug-in via user experience and integrate additional databases such as post occupancy evaluations (POE).
•A bespoke application programming interface (API) for BIM-FM integration is presented.•Totems developed visualise rich semantic FM data in 3D objects.•User group feedback provided guidance on the API's functionality.•Standard COBie data drops are challenged and future work is proposed.
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Rapid advancement of technology continues to leverage change and innovation in the construction industry. Continued digitization of the industry offers the opportunity to totally reinvent ...contemporary construction design and delivery practice for future development. Building Information Modelling (BIM) within the context of Architecture, Engineering & Construction (AEC) has been developing since the early 2000s and is considered to be a key technology. Despite major technical advancements in BIM, it has not been fully adopted and its definitive benefits have not been fully capitalized upon by industry stakeholders. The lack of widespread uptake of BIM appears to be linked to the risks and challenges that are potentially impeding its effectiveness. This paper aims to discuss the reality of BIM, its widespread benefits and current level of uptake. The risks and challenges associated with the adoption of BIM, as well as recommendations regarding how future BIM adoption could be developed are also highlighted.
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