Alastair Watson

Digital buildings - Challenges and opportunities

This paper considers the wider implications of digital buildings (as currently exemplified by building information models) becoming the norm within the building construction sector. Current deployment is reviewed and the growing opportunity to better address previously identified problems (both process and structural) within the construction industry is considered. Taking a 20year perspective, the challenges and the opportunities that digital buildings will present to the construction industry - and to its IT suppliers - are explored against the context of needing to deliver greater value while also addressing sustainability, zero carbon and enhanced resilience objectives.

Representing Engineering Information for Constructional Steelwork

This paper examines the concept of data representation in the construction industry. It is concerned with the formal representation of engineering information to facilitate a more integrated and effective approach to construction. It considers the need for change, describes some of the concepts and methodologies employed in the development of product models, and considers the relevance of ISO/STEP to construction. This paper discusses two techniques in particular— IDEF1X (a graphic modeling language) and EXPRESS (now an International Standard)—emphasizing their relative strengths and weaknesses. The authors suggest approaches to translation between the two languages, highlighting the problems arising from differences in functionality. This paper is based on the authors’ experience during the development and implementation of the CIMsteel Logical Product Model (LPM). The LPM is a product model for structural steelwork building frames, currently covering the design stage of the life cycle.

AN XML METADATA APPROACH TO SEAMLESS PROJECT INFORMATION EXCHANGE BETWEEN HETEROGENEOUS PLATFORMS

A three year Esprit project – ProCure – is ultimately aiming to take a significant but achievable step forward in the application of available information and communication technology (ICT) to the large scale engineering (LSE) construction industry. The ProCure consortium consists of five industrial partners supported by four associated research and expert partners. The project combines leading expertise from three member states to support ICT deployment by three industrial collaborative groups, i.e. UK, Germany and Finland. The basis of the project is in the partners’ belief that sufficient ICT is now available to achieve deployment, with care, in real projects, with an acceptable risk of failure. This paper presents work undertaken within the project to investigate the various metadata standards that exist in order to define a minimum metadata set based on these standards for the implementation of two demonstrators for XML based automated document exchange between a simulation of a corporate document management system and a simulation of a collaborative construction project Web site.

Cladding sector road map for realising the CIM vision

This paper lays out a road map for computer‐integrated design and manufacture of building‐specific cladding systems, describing the key implementation phases and highlighting domains (supply chain organization, software vendors, suppliers, process modellers, etc.) involved in each phase. It takes a holistic look at the way forward, identifying that such a long‐term transformation will need to be managed strategically both at a company and sector level and that training and education within the sector will be pivotal. The development of appropriate cladding information standards is seen as an essential enabler and as a catalyst for change.

Modelling the building cladding attainment processes

The cladding of a modern building is a critical, and expensive, specialist sub‐system of the total building. This paper is concerned with modelling the supply chain processes within the building cladding sector of the UK construction industry. The modelling was conducted within the context of CIMclad, a research project involving a consortia of universities and industry that is seeking to move the cladding sector towards computer integrated design and manufacture. The goal was to better understand the existing supply chain processes. These processes are complex and span a diverse range of players, each of whom may play one or more roles. The methodology employed was a combination of informal mapping of the procurement chain and the application of formal process modelling techniques.