The Digital Twin Issue: Putting Theory Into Practice

ISSN 2058-9611 June 2019

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The digital twin issue: Putting theory into practice

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Exploring the digital twin David Philp on what makes a digital twin and how they ﬁt into the drive for smarter cities, intelligent infrastructure and Industry 4.0

A digital twin demonstrator Creating a dynamic digital twin pilot at the University of Cambridge's Institute for Manufacturing

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Introduction

Welcome to the June edition of In our Case Studies section, we high- Editor Andy Jowett BIM Today. light the Institute for Manufacturing’s West Cambridge digital twin project. Production Coordinator These are exciting times for construc- This pilot scheme, which is backed by Emma Faulkner-Dunn tion. New technology combined with the Centre for Digital Built Britain, is Designers data-driven decision making and a creating a dynamic digital twin of the Andrew Bosworth Ben Green whole-life approach are revolutionising IfM and its surrounding campus to the way we plan, design, build and demonstrate its impact on facilities Sales Glyn Jackson operate built assets. management, productivity and occupants’ wellbeing as part of the The editor does not necessarily agree Digital twins are emerging as a key UK’s move towards the creation of a with or endorse any of the views or contents of the articles and features evolutionary step in the Industry 4.0 National Digital Twin. within this document. All articles and journey, creating representations of editorials remain the copyright of the authors, organisations and other physical objects that harness near real- There is much more besides. Stefan relevant authorities by whose kind permission they are reproduced. All time data to improve building manage- Webb of the Connected Places Catapult information has been checked and is ment, productivity and ultimately the looks at how cities can unlock the correct at the time of going to press. The publisher will not be liable for wellbeing of occupants and users. wealth of valuable data contained in any loss suffered directly or indirectly as a result of the use of or reliance on their planning documents, while Mark the information contained herein. In this issue, experts from across Farmer, author the landmark Mod- © Adjacent Digital Politics Ltd 2019 the sector explain the theory of how ernise or Die report, examines at the digital twins work and how this is rise of modular construction and asks Adjacent Digital Politics Ltd and its suppliers collect and process personal being translated into tangible benefits. if the sector is really ready for take-off. information for the purposes of customer analysis and market research. Our group/affiliate companies may David Philp of i3 by Aecom examines Elsewhere, our regular BIM columnist also wish to contact you about our products or services, or the products the characteristics of what makes a John Eynon argues, as only he can, that of carefully selected third parties that we think you may be interested in. digital twin and how they fit into the digital transformation is a lot like the wider drive towards smart cities and Battle of Winterfell (spoilers!) and why intelligent infrastructure. it’s time to give some in the industry a good shake. Meanwhile, Ton De Vries of Bentley Systems answers the key questions We also have a host of Case Studies about the digital twin concept and the showing BIM and digital construction business case behind its adoption. in action around the world, from 3D scanning an iconic skyscraper in Belo Richard Shennan of Mott McDonald Horizonte, Brazil, to transforming discusses the benefits digital twins can Copenhagen Airport and the enor- bring to the AEC sector, while Dr Paul mous challenges involved in building Cureton of ImaginationLancaster exam- an underground gallery beneath the ines the UK’s digital twin ambitions. Grade I listed V&A Museum in Adjacent Digital Politics Ltd Datum House London. Electra Way BIM Today also takes a look at the Crewe Business Park Crewe Geospatial Commission’s new Data As ever, a big thank you to all our Cheshire CW1 6ZF Exploration Licence, which aims to contributors and if you would like to Registered in England & Wales. make it easier to harness information get involved in the debate, please do Company Reg No. 8667479. VAT Registration No. 169 9152 64. for innovation. get in touch. ■ ContentsJune 2019

8 | Exploring the 12 | Making geospatial data 22 | Q&A: Digital twins “digital twin” construct more accessible Ton de Vries, senior director of business David Philp of i3 by Aecom examines A new Data Exploration Licence has development at Bentley Systems, sits the characteristics of a digital twin been launched by the UK’s Geospatial down with BIM Today to discuss the and where they ﬁt in the wider context Commission to simplify access to and digital twin concept and how it could of Industry 4.0, smart cities and use of geospatial data impact not only the construction of intelligent infrastructure individual buildings but also how entire cities are planned and run

18 | Issues and triumphs in the UK construction industry 26 | Digital twin ambitions: Following the ﬁrst meeting of BIM Today’s How to catch up with the 10 | Breaking down the silos new editorial board, Andrew Carpenter of future Architecture and construction expert BIM4Housing and the Structural Timber Dr Paul Cureton of ImaginationLancaster Richard Saxon CBE explores the silos Association discusses the issues currently at Lancaster University and Elliot Hartley, conﬁning the construction industry and facing the construction industry and how managing director of Garsdale Design, delves into the ‘digital twin’ concept the sector can move forward examine the UK’s digital twin ambitions

30 | How digital twins benefit the AEC industry Digital twins offer a whole host of benefits for the AEC industry, says Richard Shennan, digital business development director at Mott MacDonald

36 | Innovating the built environment with digital twins Matthew Durdin, director at Johnson Controls UK&I, explores applications for digital twins in the built environment, how they can be implemented and how building systems can be dramatically improved by using them

42 | Why cities need to unlock their planning data Cities are sitting on a wealth of valuable 50 | Bright future for data locked away in planning documents. It’s time they learn how to better use a construction innovation resource that’s entirely in their control, The Construction Scotland Innovation Centre explains Stefan Webb recently secured a multi-million funding package for the next five years, became a delivery partner for the Construction Innovation Hub and launched 46 | Designing a better future using modular techniques a pilot project that could see homes built offsite by Mark Farmer, founding director of robots. Chief executive Stephen Good takes a look Cast Consultancy and author of the landmark Modernise or Die review, at what lies ahead for the CSIC looks at the rise of modular construction and examines whether the sector is really ready for take-off 54 | Construction connectivity: Getting back to basics Technology such as drones, robotics and 3D printing offer huge potential for construction but the sites of the future cannot become a reality until the industry conquers the basics of construction connectivity, argues Nick Sacke, head of IoT and products at Comms365

58 | The challenges of building defect-free homes 82 | BIM in the UK: Digital is coming Oﬀsite construction can contribute to improvements in delivering better John Eynon on how Game of Thrones is like digital quality buildings, according to a report that calls for urgent changes in the transformation in the built environment, change is culture and processes of housing inevitable – and why some in the UK construction construction. Ron Alalouﬀ of TRADA reviews its conclusions industry need shaking by the lapels

64 | The oﬃce is dead. Long live the oﬃce. Nicola Gillen of AECOM explores how emerging technology and changing needs will shape the next generation of workplace design CASE STUDIES

90 | West Cambridge: 100 | Handheld scanning 70 | Beneﬁts of light Developing a digital twin takes survey of heritage steel framing demonstrator building to the next level Andrew Way, an associate director at The Institute for Manufacturing’s West Handheld scanners have allowed a site the Steel Construction Institute, Cambridge project is highlighting how team to deliver as-built representations discusses how light steel framing can digital twins can harness data from of an art deco skyscraper in Belo deliver fast, adaptable and cost-eﬀective multiple sources to inform better Horizonte, Brazil, four times faster than buildings building management, while improving traditional methods productivity and wellbeing

76 | Impact of big data on construction equipment Big data is already being used by the 94 | Wates tackles 102 | Using 3D VR to verify construction industry through the design, build and operate lifecycle. extraordinary change as it tunnel systems safety Focusing on the build phase of a project, breathes new life into V&A More and more transport infrastructure weather, traﬃc and construction Wates Group’s construction of a £28m is being built below ground. 3D VR can equipment can be analysed to determine underground gallery and main entrance help to ensure tunnel systems and optimal phasing of construction to London’s V&A Museum presented stations are properly ventilated and can activities. Andrew Johnson of Operam enormous challenges – but also brought be safely evacuated in an emergency takes a look huge rewards

86 | Building Innovation Awards: Putting the spotlight 98 | BIM takes oﬀ at on construction pioneers Copenhagen Airport The Building Innovation Awards will Copenhagen Airport created BIM celebrate the pioneering individuals, process standards for existing building organisations and projects that are projects, beating its savings target embracing emerging technologies and and opening the door for other digital transformation to take UK organisations to beneﬁt. Bentley’s 104 | INDEX construction to the next level Chintana Herrin takes a look COMMERCIAL PROFILE

Allplan Bridge: Specialist software that supports the effective use of BIM technology in bridge engineering

One year on from its ﬁrst release, a host of new capabilities have been added to expand Allplan Bridge

year on from its initial launch in the bridge sector, the capabilities of Allplan Bridge are being further expandedA by a new release that contains important functions for smooth processes, such as the definition of the construction sequence, effortless positioning of standardised and repetitive profiles and numerous other detail improvements.

The program, which was first launched in 2018, was conceived as a comprehensive BIM tool for bridge construction, supports engineers in all planning phases, from the initial concept to construction. It was quickly which was released in April, contains several Calculation of accepted in the industry, and the second interesting new functions that, by them- cross-section values release in the autumn of 2018 followed suit, selves, offer substantial added value for the The calculation of cross-sectional values is an with the main new feature being its ability to user. In Allplan Bridge 2019-1, it is now pos- essential step in the generation of an analysis address prestressed structures effectively sible for the first time to map the construc- model. All cross-section values, as well as the and comprehensively. tion process in a 4D model. The construction shear forces for the defined cross-sections, plan is first divided into several construction are calculated automatically as soon as the With this functionality, it is easy to model a phases and then into individual tasks such corresponding calculation option is activated. wide range of types of pre-stressing: with as concrete hardening, tendon stressing or This function is currently available as Techni- immediate or later bond, internal and external, activating the self-weight. The corresponding cal Preview. All types and any geometries of longitudinal, transverse and vertical, as well as components are interactively assigned to the cross-sections are supported. The stiffness with non-standard geometry. tasks. In this way, the temporal dimension is matrix of the individual beam elements is linked to the structure. With this information, automatically created considering the calcu- Based on user-defined 3D points, the program the construction process can be graphically lated cross-section values, beam geometry automatically generates the geometry of a visualised. and material properties. tendon along the bridge structure. Each 3D tendon point is specified by the position along With Allplan Bridge 2019-1, it is also possible the axis, and the position in the cross-section to create several different construction plans in relation to a reference point. In addition, for the same bridge for a variant comparison. direction angle and curvature radius of the The result is a reliable parametric 4D bridge tendon can be specified in each point. model. Once the construction is completed in Allplan Bridge, the model is transferred to ALLPLAN Infrastructure GmbH Integration of the fourth Allplan Engineering, where further steps such www.allplan.com/bridge dimension as detailing, reinforcement and plan creation In a similar vein, the most recent version, are carried out.

Exploring the “digital twin” construct

David Philp of i3 by Aecom examines the characteristics of a digital twin and where they ﬁt in the wider context of Industry 4.0, smart cities and intelligent infrastructure

eveloping a digital twin is fast becoming the This pervasive connectivity, coupled with data analytics, spirit of the modern built environment client will not only reform levels of operational effectiveness with owners, operators and governments but also will allow redesigning of business models seekingD to optimise the use of their data and the where extra insights from the digital twin and its predic- performance of their built assets. The combined tive data models will influence a move from construction cross-sector push towards digital twins will help selling capital facilities to selling services combining support the development of smart cities, intelligent probabilistic data and actuation technologies. The likes infrastructure and construction as a digital economy. of Rolls-Royce and Aggreko, for example, now sell power instead of power generators or aero engines in Our industry is already forging a new relationship the automotive and aviation sectors. This is only possi- with technology, which is driving exponential changes ble because of the extra acumens that digital twinning in our professions, reshaping how we plan, design, and continuous connectivity provide into accurately procure, deliver and operate. determining what’s going on in those systems and how their operation and maintenance can be enhanced. Construction is now very much a data management business where concepts such as Building Information Despite the term “digital twin” becoming more widely Modelling (BIM) and Geographic Information Systems used in our construction vocabulary (often as an (GIS) are already central to driving information-led abstract concept), there is no one agreed definition of efficiency in capital projects and programmes. Clients what it is! Technology vendors in the construction are realising the importance of not just buying a space are already using the term digital twin although physical asset but also buying the corresponding its use is most often motivated by sales. data and information sets. As the convergence between the physical and digital built environment So, in order to describe the digital twin concept, it is matures with intelligent, secure connected networks, first worth exploring its main characteristics: it will begin to shape a new value proposition where • A trustworthy and accurate digital representation of high-performing built assets will enable a new north- something physical (such as a system or built asset star of optimised whole-life asset performance, not such as a building, network or portfolio of assets). just for individual projects but increasingly across • Feedback loops enabling near real-time data portfolios, networks and entire sectors. transportation and connectivity between the virtual replicate and physical environments. This shift forms part of the Industry 4.0 (the fourth • A secure, single source of truth enabled by a industrial revolution) agenda, where digital twinning common data environment. and connecting the physical world to the digital • Analytics, including machine learning and supports better productivity and outcomes across a algorithm simulation, provide insights generating circular lifecycle. many possible future scenarios, while supporting improved decision making. Digital twinning in the context of Industry 4.0 can be conceptualised as the mapping of a physical asset to The Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB) noted that a digital platform using data from sensors, hooking “what distinguishes the digital twin from any other up IoT endpoints on the physical asset to feed and digital models is its connection to the physical twin”. analyse its efficiency, condition and real-time status. This non-static representation is an important 8 characteristic, but triggers the question what level of secure enterprise level asset information model connectivity must a digital model have to been con- should be seen as the first objective. sidered a digital twin, and should there be a level of digital twin maturity measurement? Scaling up beyond a project level and creating a digital estate using digital twin concepts will take time, invest- The diagram above conceptualises the digital twin ment and long-term commitment but the benefits will construct and highlights the frictionless data thread be truly transformative, where the world of data-led and interplay between the physical and digital model. asset performance and intelligence leads to strategic Central to this model is having a good virtual founda- investment policies and new ways of working. tion to connect with, and that is only possible through the use of BIM with its associated lifecycle data. Ultimately, digital twinning is here to stay. It will help move us towards interconnected, high performing, Once in place, this digital representation can resilient built assets that unlock better outcomes for integrate with sensing and analytics layers where users and citizens. It is not simply a buzzword but a advancements in IoT, operational technologies and catalyst for change and reform. To paraphrase Intel’s artificial intelligence are advancing the cyber-physical Gordon Moore, “change [in our built environment] value proposition enabling new levels of operational has never happened this fast before, and it will never productivity. be this slow again”. ■

The value proposition of the digital twin and better data sharing is undeniable at both a macro and ...... micro economic scale. In the United Kingdom, it is David Philp stated that it could release an additional £7bn per Global BIM/MIC Consultancy Director year of beneﬁts across infrastructure sectors. i3 by Aecom Tel: +44 (0)7823 354 924 Undoubtedly, the concept of digital twinning will [email protected] continue to grow and scale-up. However, getting the www.aecom.com/balkans/services/ information management basics right is vital, not it-cybersecurity/i3-aecom/ just on new projects but also in relation to the built assets we already have. Building an accurate and 9 Breaking down the silos Architecture and construction expert Richard Saxon CBE explores the silos conﬁning the construction industry and delves into the ‘digital twin’ concept

he built environment industry is a vast ‘PropTech’ and uses applications that facilitate online undertaking, responsible for 15-20% of GDP trading, financing and customer service. and enabling the rest of the economy. It’s so bigT and diverse that its members tend to see only The construction world focuses on BIM, scanning their own territory and to work in a silo with their and project and cost management applications, all of own subculture. Moving forward, the rise of digital which can interact. methods brings the chance to break down the silo walls and transform the effectiveness of the field. The facility management silo uses space management and maintenance management software, and is What I mean by the ‘built environment’ sector is the becoming aware of the potential of digital building combination of three groups: asset owners, designers management through sensors and analytics. and constructors, and operators and maintainers of Customers for space are increasingly asking for assets. In the building world, these three silos could ‘Smart Buildings’ defined variously, but providing fast be labelled ‘Property’, ‘Construction’ and ‘Facility broadband, good WiFi and applications to support Management’. security, space allocation and hotel-like services.

Each is defined separately in official statistics and There is an overlaying concept now developing: the their categories overlap significantly. For example, ‘Digital Twin’. This is an established idea in manufac- Construction is worth 6-7% of GDP but includes turing industry but is new to the built environment. ‘hard FM’: repair, maintenance and improvement, which represents about half of construction spend. The Digital Twin concept suggests that every physical asset should also have a digital double; a data model Property, worth about 7% of GDP, covers the invest- of itself that supports its own good fabrication and ment and trade in assets, the client function for operation, and provides feedback to tune performance private development and the landlord management and upgrade future products. The latter parts of this of occupied space, overlapping with FM. FM itself, involve not just the static information stored in a which covers hard and soft services to occupiers, is model but dynamic information flowing from sensors larger than the construction sector. which, when analysed, can support utilisation, operation and maintenance and progressively automate Professional services to all subsectors are measured these functions. separately and are about 1% of GDP. It’s a Venn diagram of overlapping circles. The Cambridge Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB) was set up by government in 2017 to lead the Digital technology development of national policy and tool creation for Digital technology has arrived in each silo, but it the next stage of digital transformation. CDBB takes distinct forms. The property world calls it defines its goal as to use sensors and analytics to 10 understand how the public benefit from services The digital twin offers a bridge to convey the idea delivered through the built environment, so that the that whole-life performance has to be the basis of assets can be progressively improved to deliver good value. BIM can help make something but unless better outcomes. its empowered by ‘InfraTech’ sensors and analytics, it only takes you part way. Asset information in the “The Digital Twin concept suggests that model must also be constantly updated as changes every physical asset should also have a are made. digital double; a data model of itself that supports its own good fabrication and New ways of working, where suppliers share in the operation, and provides feedback to tune success of outcomes, are appearing first in infra- performance and upgrade future products.” structure work, aligning interests across the silos. It’s a rapidly changing world. With smart technology, that feedback loop doesn’t just mean improving each generation of buildings, Richard Saxon CBE is principal of Consultancy for the but tweaking and tuning existing stock, often auto- Built Environment and a participant in Deploi: BIM matically. CDBB promotes the concept of the Digital Strategies, supporting clients in their use of digital Twin, which it calls “a digital representation of assets, technology. He wrote Going Digital for the UK BIM processes or systems in the built environment which Alliance in 2018. ■ unlocks value by improving decisions in design, construction or operation”. Their first report on this approach is called The Gemini Principles and is worth reading...... Silo-busting is more advanced in infrastructure than Richard Saxon CBE it is in building. Asset owners are usually also the Tel: +44 (0)20 7585 1976 operators and the asset IS the business. So the [email protected] remaining barriers are with design and construction www.saxoncbe.com suppliers. www.deploi.co.uk 11 Making geospatial data more accessible A new Data Exploration Licence has been launched by the UK’s Geospatial Commission to simplify access to and use of geospatial data

pril saw the launch of a new licence that, for Using the licence, anyone can now freely access data the first time, makes geospatial data from key held by these bodies for research, development and agencies accessible in one place. innovation purposes, whereas previously they would A have needed separate licences. The Data Exploration Licence was developed by the Geospatial Commission, an independent committee They can also be confident that they are using data that sits at the heart of government as part of the on consistent, harmonised terms and that various Cabinet Office, as part of a £5m investment to unlock datasets can be used, combined and delivered in the the value of location-based data held by its partner same way, subject to the same conditions. bodies – the British Geological Survey, HM Land Registry, Ordnance Survey, the Coal Authority and There is no cost to access data and users will be the UK Hydrographic Office. permitted to share some of their results with others. 12 Professor John Ludden, chief executive of the British Geological Survey, leaders of the licensing project, said: “BGS are always looking for ways to get its data The 10 projects to win funding in the used in new and novel ways. This new licence gives crowdsourcing data competition are: innovators a safe space to see what’s possible with data without having to worry about financial Communitree commitments or complicated restrictions on how Project partners: Forest Research, Open the data should be used.” University and Treework Services.

Overall, it is estimated that using location-linked data This project will develop the largest and highest more productively could unlock up to £11bn of extra quality urban tree map in the world for use by value for the UK economy every year. business, government and other research needs.

The commission is now working on a national Your.Vu.City geospatial strategy, which it will publish at the end of Project partners: Vu.City, Pipers Projects and the year. University College London.

It is currently running a number of projects to Vu.City will engage the public with the planning inform this work and to improve the UK’s geospatial process to improve the understanding of the data infrastructure by developing consistent data built environment. standards, while improving the accessibility, interoperability and quality of those datasets. Crowd Blackspot Intelligence for 5G Rollout “The Underground Asset Register aims to Project partners: Ranplan Wireless Network prevent disruption and potentially lethal Design and University of Warwick. accidents by bringing together existing data on underground pipes and cables to This project will look at crowdsourcing service create the ﬁrst comprehensive map.” complaints to help guide 5G rollout for rural and urban areas. The Data Exploration Licence is one of four initiatives run by the joint programme between the Crowdsourcing for a Digital Geospatial partner bodies. Joint Strategic Needs Assessment Project partners: City Science Corporation and The others cover: University of Exeter.

• Data discoverability: Through this project, the Relevant databases will be brought together to partner bodies have published catalogues outlining enable members of the public to take an active all of the datasets they hold and have made this role in health outcomes, by crowdsourcing data available on data.gov.uk. such as air quality, to enable practitioners to improve targeting of resources and the health of • Linked identiﬁers: This ongoing work is looking the nation. at how to increase the integration potential of different datasets across partner bodies and beyond, Precision Indoor Positioning in order to drive both operational eﬃciency and Information System (PINPOINT) innovation. Project partner: Cartographix.

• Enhancing of the Core Data Asset: This work This project will use existing WiFi networks led to the partner bodies sharing information and and smartphone sensors to help better indoor approaches on using third-party data to enhance navigation of public buildings. the quality of publicly held geospatial datasets, speciﬁcally their own data. 13 StreetFocus Project partners: Cyclestreets and Planit.

Communities will be able to automatically identify areas that need improvements to street infrastructure.

Coreo Project partner: Natural Apptitude.

This platform will enable anyone to build and run geospatial citizen science projects to improve collection, management and maintenance of geospatial data.

Routing Innovation through Data Engineering (RIDE) Project partner: Beeline.

RIDE will develop route optimisation to increase cyclist safety and uptake.

Generating crowdsourcing geospatial data Project partner: Transreport. Ten winning projects were announced in April. They include a collaborative project to develop a This project will undertake research to understand database of the UK’s urban trees for use by the accessibility issues for transportation and the businesses, government and researchers; a scheme user experience for a wide range of disabilities, to allow communities to automatically identify areas and how the data collected can be used to that need improvements to street infrastructure; and improve the service. Your.Vu.City, which will engage the public with the planning process to improve understanding of the The Neighbourhood Safety Index built environment. Project partner: Synced. “This new licence gives innovators a safe This will produce the ﬁrst integrated live score of space to see what’s possible with data how safe a neighbourhood is. without having to worry about ﬁnancial commitments or complicated restrictions on how the data should be used.”

Crowdsourcing data to improve services Digital mapping to save lives The commission has also partnered with Innovate Elsewhere, April saw the commission announce UK to launch a competition exploring the beneﬁts plans to create a new digital map known as the and challenges of crowdsourcing data. Underground Asset Register.

Organisations were invited to apply for a share of a It is estimated that accidental strikes on gas, electricity £1.5m pot of government funding for projects that and water pipes and cables cost the UK economy use data linked to a location to improve public £1.2bn a year, causing havoc for residents and road services. Grants of between £50,000 and £750,000 users, while putting workers at risk of serious injury were available. or even death. 14 The Underground Asset Register aims to prevent authorities in the North East of England to explore disruption and potentially lethal accidents by bringing how accurate geospatial data can improve under- together existing data on underground pipes and ground infrastructure maintenance and inform new cables to create the ﬁrst comprehensive map. build development projects.

Two pilot projects backed by £3.9m have been “Overall, it is estimated that using launched in Sunderland and London to test location-linked data more productively prototypes. could unlock up to £11bn of extra value for the UK economy every year.” In the North East, Ordnance Survey is working with Northumbrian Water, Northern Gas Networks, “The investment being made by the Geospatial Northern Powergrid and Openreach to develop a Commission will ultimately enable the utility industry system that allows workers to see underground to more eﬃciently access, use and share data pipes and cables on mobile phones or laptops describing otherwise hidden infrastructure, thereby before they start digging. reducing operational costs, minimising disruption and accelerating completion of site works.” ■ In the capital, work will be led by the Greater London Authority in collaboration with infrastructure providers and local authorities.

David Henderson, managing director of Ordnance Survey Great Britain, said: “The creation of an ...... underground map of utility assets has long been an BIM Today ambition of Ordnance Survey and over the last year, Tel: 0843 504 4560 we have been working closely with Northumbrian [email protected] Water and a consortia of utility companies and local www.pbctoday.co.uk 15 Using AI to simplify BIM BricsCAD® BIM leverages machine learning algorithms (a.k.a. Artiﬁcial Intelligence – “AI”) to help you manage the consistency of your building information model’s overall level of development (LOD). If your desire is to build a digital twin of your building, you’ll need to create a model that is accurate and consistent. The BricsCAD BIM workflow offers two key AI features that help simplify this work.

What BIMify does The Propagate workflow

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www.bricsys.com You choose where Propagate works

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The user experience for BIMify is quite simple. The solid massing model you created becomes a BIM - automatically - when you run BIMify.

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www.bricsys.com Issues and triumphs in the UK construction industry Following the ﬁrst meeting of BIM Today’s new editorial board, Andrew Carpenter of BIM4Housing and the Structural Timber Association discusses the issues currently facing the construction industry and how the sector can move forward

t was my delight to be invited to join the editorial espoused in earlier reports but brought them board of PBC Today and BIM Today. As somebody up-to-date. who’s been a part of the UK construction sector Ifor over 40 years and is currently chief executive of Key issues in UK construction the Structural Timber Association and Constructing 1. Offsite construction Excellence in the South West & Midlands, plus chair There are several key issues that will, in my opinion, of BIM4Housing, I hope I will have something to offer deliver the change we so desperately need. The first both publications. of these is offsite construction, which for the first time in my career is now universally accepted by My passion over the past 20-plus years, since the government, stakeholders, clients and the supply Egan Report of 1998, has been the construction chain as an essential part of our delivery mix. improvement agenda. In Sir John’s groundbreaking report, Rethinking Construction, he pointed out that “It is our responsibility to ensure we the industry was too adversarial and needed to be adopt a position whereby the UK more collaborative and was too fragmented and construction sector is considering our needed to be better integrated. Despite pockets of build methods and material choices with good practice, since then the rump of the sector care and attention.” really hasn’t changed too much in terms of behaviour and culture. Once embedded in our design and build process, it will reduce build time, improve quality, improve I am an optimist, however, and believe the current health & safety, cut down on the number of skilled imperatives around Brexit and the inevitable skills people we need on site but, most importantly in my shortages, Carillion and our obvious unacceptable opinion, improve the image of the UK construction procurement practices, and most notably Grenfell sector, especially amongst our young folk whom we and the subsequent Hackitt Review that focuses on so desperately need to come and join us. They don’t quality and compliance, will at last deliver the change want to spend time on wet and windy building sites we so desperately need. so the more we can do in the clean and safe conditions of a factory, the better. The tribulations of the UK construction industry are now on the front pages of all our newspapers for the I’m pleased to say that from my position as chief wrong reasons. People are reading about the way executive of the Structural Timber Association, I’ve we carry out our business with incredulity and the seen a huge increase in market share in the use of politicians are at last creating the structure to allow timber frame in housing, with about one in three change to take place. This acknowledgement can be homes now expected to be constructed in this seen within the Mark Farmer report, Modernize or manner. This is, of course, offsite construction in its Die, which emphasised the problems previously most sustainable fashion. 18 Andrew Carpenter of BIM4Housing and the Structural Timber Association “For the first time I can remember, we appear to have all our construction ducks 2. Sustainability in a row, with all relevant stakeholders This brings me on to my second key issue, that of and industry bodies singing from the sustainability. This subject has dropped off the politi- same hymn sheet.” cal agenda in the last few years with the demise of the Zero Carbon Hub and Code for Sustainable 3. Digitalisation Homes but has re-emerged recently, most noticeably The third key issue is digitalisation. As with offsite, when school children took time out from their les- you can only get the true benefits of digitalisation sons to emphasise our need to improve the planet’s with a collaborative culture and an integrated supply environmental credentials, especially when it comes chain. We need to quickly move down this path for to carbon. It is our responsibility to ensure we adopt so many well documented reasons but again, most a position whereby the UK construction sector is importantly in my opinion, is to ensure we provide considering our build methods and material choices an industry fit for the 21st century that will prove with care and attention. attractive for young people. If we don’t do this, they will go elsewhere. Again, with my STA hat on, I’ve seen a significant move in favour of CLT (cross-laminated timber) as designers As chair of BIM4Housing, I have noticed a shift in and specifiers attempt to use more timber, it being favour of adopting BIM since the release of the the most sustainable building material. Young people Hackitt Review, which sets out in Chapter Eight the will insist we make these important decisions going “Golden Thread of Information”, and many clients forward so we need to prepare ourselves for this are now beginning to realise the many and varied eventuality. benefits. 19 “I am an optimist, however, and believe The need to attract young people, women, LGBT and the current imperatives around Brexit ethnic minorities into the sector is acknowledged, as and the inevitable skills shortages, is our need to address wellbeing and mental health Carillion and our obvious unacceptable issues. I’m looking forward to playing a small part in procurement practices, and most notably this drive for cultural change so that young men Grenfell and the subsequent Hackitt entering the industry are not savaged, as I was in Review that focuses on quality and 1977, because of my love for musical theatre! ■ compliance, will at last deliver the change we so desperately need.”

4. Image My fourth and final key issue centres on something I’ve mentioned throughout and is one of image. The UK construction sector is still thought of by many as ...... being outdated in its behaviours and culture. I’m Andrew Carpenter delighted to say that through my involvement with Chief executive the CLC, Constructing Excellence, Build UK and many Structural Timber Association others, I’m witnessing a substantial and unified Tel: +44 (0)1259 272140 attempt to change this. For the first time I can [email protected] remember, we appear to have all our construction www.structuraltimber.co.uk ducks in a row, with all relevant stakeholders and industry bodies singing from the same hymn sheet. 20 COMMERCIAL PROFILE

Bentley Systems appoints new chief research ofﬁcer

Bentley Systems has announced Dr Nabil Abou-Rahme has joined the company as chief research oﬃcer for Bentley Institute’s Digital Advancement Academies

r Nabil Abou-Rahme will work from Bentley’s London offices, and will lead the company’s efforts in digital Dadvancement research, collaborating with the government, university, and industry visionaries to promote innovative solutions for advancing infrastructure.

Dr Nabil Abou-Rahme joins Bentley from the global consultancy firm Mott MacDonald, where he was actively involved in digital transformation, most recently as head of smart infrastructure and global practice leader for data science, and prior to that, as divisional director for intelligent transport. Dr Nabil Abou-Rahme Bentley Systems CEO Greg Bentley said: “We are gratified to have Dr Abou-Rahme join us to inaugurate our chief research officer role. research experience, and contagious zeal for learning and development tool. Bentley’s ‘going digital,’ Nabil brings the perfect fit to open and collaborative approach to innova- “We are newly able to advance infrastructure lead these collaborative endeavours.” tion is well established, and I am excited to engineering through digital twins, by be leading this portfolio into the next phase converging technologies to simultaneously Dr Nabil Abou-Rahme added: “Bentley has of application.” meet their essential requirements for digital a clear commitment to accelerating the context, digital components, and digital adoption of digital technologies, including chronology. advancing BIM through digital twins.

“Accordingly, an appropriate priority for “A key part of digital advancement research Bentley Institute’s Digital Advancement is a portfolio of demonstrator projects, col- Academies is now to work with authoritative laborative prototypes that allow us to explore research organisations to explore and the art of the possible, while leveraging the Bentley Systems substantiate the growing benefits, which best of academic, technical, and industrial www.bentley.com are already realisable from infrastructure experience within those teams. digital twins. “Our commitment also extends to supporting “By virtue of his unique combination of academic institutions through sponsorship infrastructure engineering expertise and and making our technologies available as a

21 Q&A: Digital twins Ton de Vries, senior director of business development at Bentley Systems, sits down with BIM Today to discuss the digital twin concept and how it could impact not only the construction of individual buildings but also how entire cities are planned and run

he digital twin has been hailed as a key step and operation. General beneﬁts include better visual forward in the transformation of how we design, insights, easier communication with stakeholders, construct and, crucially, operate buildings and the ability to check the status of assets, perform infrastructureT assets. analysis and provide insights for optimisation. Also, utilising iTwin® Services from Bentley enables digital But what is it and what can it do for the built information managers to align engineering data, environment? Ton de Vries of Bentley Systems has reality data and other associated data – from diverse the answers. design tools and other sources – and transform it into a living digital twin, with no disruption to their What is a digital twin? current tools or processes. A digital twin is a digital representation of a physical asset, process or system, as well as the engineering “With the advent of drones, robots and information that allows us to understand and model AI-based computer vision, inspection its performance. Typically, a digital twin can be tasks can be automated through a living continuously synchronised from multiple sources, digital twin, enabling experts to conduct including sensors and continuous surveying, to inspections remotely, vastly increasing represent its near real-time status, working condition productivity and leveraging the or position. knowledge of scarce resources.”

A digital twin enables users to visualise the asset, For CapEx projects, project digital twins provide a check status, perform analysis and generate insights risk-free way of simulating construction, logistics and to predict and optimise asset performance. fabrication sequences with the supply chain, as well as optimising design for passenger flows and enabling How does it differ from a BIM model? stakeholders to visualise emergency evacuations and An infrastructure engineering digital twin represents resilience against flooding and/or extreme weather the near real-time status of every infrastructure asset, conditions. including buildings, roads, street furniture, sidewalks and parks. A BIM model can be part of a digital twin, For OpEx, performance digital twins truly become but a digital twin encompasses all relevant infrastruc- the organisation’s 3D/4D operating system, combin- ture assets and is continuously updated to reflect ing data from continuous surveys, photogrammetry, the near real-time status of the physical assets. LiDAR and sensors. Performance digital twins track changes to assets on a timeline, enabling those What are the key benefits of adopting responsible for asset management to roll the the digital twin model? digital representation of the infrastructure asset and Digital twins provide valuable insight in all stages of related real-world conditions forward or backward the assets; from planning to design, construction in time. 22 How can digital twins be used to boost of their digital world. iModel.js is the cornerstone of citizen engagement with planning and Bentley’s iTwin® Services that combine iModelHub, development? reality modelling and web-enabling software tech- Bentley’s OpenCities™ Planner is an excellent nologies within a connected data environment (CDE) example of how digital twins boost the planning and for infrastructure engineering. development process. OpenCities Planner is a cloud service that enables visualisation of 2D, 3D, GIS data, The concepts in iModel.js are built around one reality models and semantic city models like CityGML theme: openness. Over the long term, open systems in a 3D world. You can design, visualise and commu- will win over closed systems. When we say open, we nicate projects from large-scale city developments to mean our digital platform is open to whatever engi- detailed architectural designs. All you need is a web neering applications and BIM practitioners are using. browser, tablet or a phone as OpenCities Planner is The digital platform is open to whatever repositories completely web-based and plugin-free. and files systems their data is stored in, and it is open in file formats and schemas. OpenCities Planner capabilities, combined with Bentley’s reality modelling offerings, make city-scale A primary reason for having an open-source digital twins broadly accessible. Synchronising reality iModel.js library is to foster innovation and novel and virtuality, OpenCities Planner offers the perfect uses of the technology. The opportunities for web solution to enable every city government in connecting infrastructure digital twins are vast and going digital. Scalable for all organisation types from diverse, and we strongly encourage suggestions for individual planners, architects, GIS engineers, city enhancing iModel.js and the iModel.js community. governments and larger organisations. Our strategy is to create an ecosystem that builds on Citizen and other stakeholders can easily provide top of the iModel.js library and integrates information comments, making it the perfect tool for crowd- systems and software in very many unique and varied sourcing ideas from the public. ways. The opportunity for creating and connecting infrastructure engineering digital twins is such a What are the next steps for digital twins huge endeavour that no single technology vendor heading to city-scale DTs? can build all the tools to satisfy the demand. An With the application of artificial intelligence and open-source ecosystem is best suited to allow digital machine learning, immersive digital operations twins to be efficiently developed and integrated with provide analytics visibility and insights to enhance other systems. ■ the effectiveness of operations staff and help them anticipate and head-off issues before they arise and react more quickly with confidence. With the advent of drones, robots and AI-based computer vision, inspection tasks can be automated through a living digital twin, enabling experts to conduct inspections remotely, vastly increasing productivity and leveraging the knowledge of scarce resources...... Ton de Vries City-scale digital twins are not limited to Bentley Senior Director of Business Development applications only. The OpenSource library iModel.js Bentley Systems can be used by developers and IT professionals to [email protected] quickly and easily create immersive applications that connect their infrastructure digital twins with the rest 23 COMMERCIAL PROFILE

Digital twins will transform infrastructure design and management

Digital twins are transforming the nature of design and construction management, Adam Klatzkin of Bentley Systems discusses the change

ages many computers for each person. provides better quality of data, and better Everybody’s got a mobile phone, a laptop, data management. Ultimately, it’s how we, and a desktop – and web access to their as an industry, can get beyond BIM and information is expected everywhere. create the future of infrastructure.

Bentley has completely embraced this new Digital twins will help create safer infrastruc- reality with its iTwin Services, an initiative that ture by enabling better awareness through- was announced at the Year in Infrastructure out the operations and maintenance of 2018 Conference, in London last October. infrastructure along with the integration of iTwin Services brings together concepts that IoT devices such as sensors and cameras. Bentley has been nurturing in recent years, including iModelHub, introduced in 2017. Last October, during Bentley’s Year in entley Systems’ mission is to provide iModelHub is a cloud service that enables Infrastructure Conference, Keith Bentley innovative software and services for the alignment, accountability, and accessibility announced that as part of driving Bentley’s designing, building, and operating the of infrastructure digital twins, and it is a core mission, Bentley is partnering with Hack world’sB infrastructure. The company was part of Bentley’s iTwin Services. Partners, a company that creates innovation founded in 1984, which was a pivotal time movements, in their new InfraHack initiative. in computing, where it went from main- What is a digital twin? frames – one computer for many, many A digital twin is a digital representation of a InfraHack is driving innovation in the infras- people – to desktops where there is one physical asset. It might be a process, people, tructure sector through prototyping sprints computer for every user. systems, devices, a building, a railway, and and product accelerators. The 72-hour Infra- so on. It’s a digital representation that Hack hackathon that jump-starts the innova- Bentley founder and chief technology officer, Keith Bentley recognised the significance of this technology trend and saw the opportunity to move engineering software from a main- frame-driven model to a desktop model, which was extremely successful. Bentley now has 3,500 colleagues, in 50 countries.

One of the things that keeps the company moving forward is a culture that is supportive of trying new things, and I’m particularly energised by some of our current initiatives, which are aligning with another pivotal point in computing technology – the widespread adoption of cloud computing. This latest shift is characterised by a framework that lever-

24 COMMERCIAL PROFILE

tion, will be held on 16-19 May, and is also Infrastructure projects and assets contain Could you possibly trust it? iModelHub has sponsored by other industry heavyweights vast amounts of information that come from a change ledger – a timeline of change that including the National Infrastructure Com- many different applications, and this data is captures everything. You can roll it back in mission, Mott MacDonald, Fujitsu, KPMG, typically siloed. Digital twins, created with time to see how you got to where you are, and the Centre for Digital Built Britain. iModelHub, can incorporate all the engi- and you’ll be able to roll it forward in time neering information generated during the with our recent SYNCHRO acquisition. InfraHack brings together the entirety of the lifecycle of an infrastructure asset. iModel- Through 4D plans and schedules, you can infrastructure industry from technology Hub aligns the disparate digital components roll forward into what you’re planning to do providers and engineering consultancies, to created by different applications while as well, which is amazing. government bodies and infrastructure maintaining an extensive change ledger. operators, bringing the industry supply chain Another exciting dimension of this is that Ultimately, digital twins are going to trans- and the infrastructure owner-operators there is an open-source, JavaScript library, form the design and management of infras- together with grassroots innovators in a way called iModel.js, for accessing and leveraging tructure and enable us to achieve more that no other initiative does. Bentley is the data in iModelHub. This library will open sustainable development for generations. providing access to its iModelHub for the the door for anyone to build services or That’s the vision for digital twins. The greater participants to examine infrastructure data applications that leverage the power of the the accessibility of information, and the more and workflows at the InfraHack hackathon, digital twin. open the platform, then the greater the which will help accelerate their exploration opportunity for information to be re-used. of industry data, putting Bentley at the This is digital transformation – this is what forefront of innovation in this industry. we are hearing everywhere right now. It’s about the reuse of information. It’s about River Tamoor Baig, founder and CEO of Hack having a singular piece of information such Partners, said: “Bentley is one of the biggest as a digital component that is accessible for enablers of infrastructure development and many different workflows and different pur- enhancement, globally. In my opinion, poses. You’re not going to achieve that result they’re one of most critical companies that without an open ecosystem. There are a lot the wider public hasn’t heard of. of start-ups today. But, very often, they focus on a niche, and it’s hard for them to interop- “It was a no-brainer to collaborate with them erate and play in the larger system. This new on InfraHack given the services that the framework for infrastructure digital twins is Bentley Systems suite offers. It’s clear to us The best part is that the framework is not an exciting opportunity for everyone to par- that Bentley has a very forward-thinking disruptive to current engineering workflows. ticipate. innovation-driven mindset, which aligns well Engineers and designers can continue to use with Hack Partners and the InfraHack initia- the tools they want, and their application- To listen to the podcast with Adam Klatzkin, tive. Together, I believe that we are going to based data can be incorporated into a sin- please click here. make our hackathon produce outcomes for gular model along with other types of data, the industry that reach new heights.” such as reality models captured by drones. You can imagine being able to achieve so I recently took part in a Hack Partners many new types of insights, by leveraging all Innovation in Industry podcast where I noted this normalised data – through dashboards, that; “by participating in InfraHack, it gives us artificial intelligence, and automation. an opportunity to create a deeper connection with the tech industry at large, a deeper When you consider all the parties working connection with young people – inspire on a project, you also need to think about them and see what they can do with this very accountability. We’re tracking all the changes open, powerful, and easy-to-get-started-with – everything that happens – throughout a Adam Klatzkin technology.“ During the podcast with River project or throughout an entire asset lifecycle Senior Director of Tamoor Baig, I got to discuss the details of and maintaining it for as long as is needed. infrastructure digital twins Bentley’s development of the iModelHub We like to draw an analogy to a bank Bentley Systems and the fantastic benefits it brings to the account. Imagine you logged into your bank www.bentley.com infrastructure industry, as well as detailing account and all you had was the balance. You Bentley’s capabilities in digital twins. had no clue how you got to that balance.

25 Digital twin ambitions: How to catch up with the future Dr Paul Cureton of ImaginationLancaster at Lancaster University and Elliot Hartley, managing director of Garsdale Design, examine the UK’s digital twin ambitions

“[If to develop future] infrastructure is Kingdom, a legacy of privatised, individual/commercial to encourage national coherence rather data commissions or high price points for acquisition than a new kind of balkanisation, then its is slowly changing as CIMs value comes more to development must be guided by policies the fore as a precursor for digital twin ambition. and standards that assure interoperability Local authorities such as Milton Keynes, Bristol between all the subnetworks of the and Cambridge, planning departments and early national system.” adopters, alongside the Connected Places Catapult William Mitchell, City of Bits (1995) et al, have explored this potential. Multiple London CIMs exist, the Greater London Authority ambition illiam Mitchell’s prophetic book City of Bits for a new digital twin and the public interface is charted early virtual convergence for cities perhaps the most exciting development. and ubiquitous computing, and today, digitalW twins are the star of the moment, featuring as While the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) key strategic goals and commissions in key global and the Digital Framework Task Group (DFTG) are performing cities as part of a technological push for laying the foundations for the UK’s digital twin ambi- smart cities and the IoT. With these developments, it tion, the primary issue remains the communication is worth discussing two elements that are integral for and accessibility of built environment datasets. The digital twin ambition; first, City Information Models NIC’s report Data for the Public Good (2017) cited (CIMs) and secondly, barriers to accessing 3D this very challenge. geospatial data. While there have been successes, such as the Envi- The City of Helsinki recently released a city informa- ronment Agency’s open data LiDAR release, or TFL’s, tion model as open data with a reality capture mesh many, many more useful key city elements remain. and a semantic (classified) model up to LOD2. This baseline allows further planning and analytics from The UK’s digital twin ambition and innovation drive building energy performance, water consumption within the context of a global Digital Life and Smart and solar energy potential. Potential for interior City innovation race is behind, in the sense of playing characteristics in the future offers an exciting devel- catch-up. We need to reverse this future through opment and future planned buildings as CityGML closer ‘plantech’, open data and connected BIM, while formats all help build longevity into the model. Hosted also maintaining and developing standards through via Cesium and a web browser also creates a machine learning and AI and, most importantly, valuable public interface without large computational engaging communities and audiences beyond silos. demand. IFC standards, along with VR porting all connect into an exciting digital workflow. Starting with a CIM and clear open data policy, Lancaster University is developing a model for its Helsinki is, of course, not alone in this development region through a commercial partnership. This early and its creation relies on various governmental research-driven work provides qualitative 3D assets. strategic objectives and innovations. In the United With our project at Lancaster University, we’re seeking 26 can be taken from other industries.

To achieve digital twin and smart city ambitions Garsdale Design, Birmingham CIM model, 2018 at a governmental and strategic level, it is to implement much of the ambitions of larger, more imperative that we can prove outlier cities and urban well-known cities on a smaller, more practical scale areas can adopt these new technologies. Think smart focusing on outcomes. cities and digital twins and too often you hear about world cities. Challenges for digital twins and CIMs are not technological ones; hardware and software providers Too often, smart cities and digital twin discussions are ready with workflows, monitoring systems and and marketing focus on big, broad-brush ideas. But management tools, such as ESRI’s forthcoming we must always return to the main goal: improving ArcGIS Urban. the life of its citizens, not just in big ways but also in small ways like improving the information for Here in the UK, we’re not deficient in official standards commuters. or guidance either, with our knowledge and expertise being exported worldwide. Primarily, the challenges Improving links and joining up interrelated services the UK faces is data and an organisational problem. is the mark of the true success of a smart city and digital twin technology. The UK’s digital twin ambition Accessibility to data 2D or 3D is hindered by price revolves around data coherence, accessibility and and licensing. Perhaps this is where the Geospatial direct input from city communities, which many Commission has a role in facilitating or improving countries are already working on but is a future that access (cost and licensing) to allow for innovation the UK has only just started to conceive. ■ and not just for experimentation under exploratory licences.

Organisationally, there are additional challenges, from budgetary pressure limiting risk-taking innovation to knowledge transfer. The competing standards and software licensing models currently are making ...... organisations nervous about choosing directions Dr Paul Cureton when it comes to digital twin ambitions. Senior Lecturer in Design ImaginationLancaster Do they adopt open source tools, which can be Tel: +44 (0)1524 510873 perceived as requiring extra work and can be [email protected] sometimes limited by a lack of widespread adoption http://148.88.47.13/html/imagination/ in the workforce, coupled with cheaper yet potentially uncertain costs? Or do they adopt established pro- prietary systems where concerns over vendor lock-in and increased costs, which are under increasing Elliot Hartley scrutiny, are tempered by a large workforce who can Managing Director use the tools? Garsdale Design Tel: +44 (0)15396 20875 One thing is certain: there is space for innovation [email protected] here both in data acquisition with a variety of vendors www.garsdaledesign.co.uk producing smaller and cheaper sensors. There is also new funding and purchasing methods, which 27 users. In practice, a minority of clients used the CIC model protocol, others preferring either a bespoke form, or to not use one at all. Unclear client instructions have become a potentially serious problem for contracts and insurers. One common weakness is that some clients have been asking their appointees for ‘Level 2 BIM’, without further definition. The Winfield-Rock Report (ref 1) of 2018 revealed that hardly any members of the industry shared the same understanding of what Level 2 BIM was and was not. Lawyers were often unfamiliar with the concept.

The BIM Task Group of 2012-16 was formed to develop BIM for use by the public sector and was mandated for use by central government departments by April 2016. It developed a suite of tools and codes to deliver government construction strategy. This strategy was about delivering better value buildings at handover and in use, buildings which meet their business case for investment. So, we have a code of practice for the capital phase, another for the operations phase and a tool for transferring data from the as-built model to the asset and facility managers of the scheme. We also have a process called Soft Legal and Contractual Landings for ensuring that operation and management matters are well looked after in the design and build process and that the operators of the building are fully capable of safely looking after the facility. A post-occupancy evaluation at three years after occupation checks on the outcome in use and compares it to the business case. There are further codes of practice for security of data and for heath and safety practice, plus tools for selecting team members based on their BIM issues of BIM. capabilities. That’s the full Level 2 content. These tools are all worthy and useful but not to most of the private sector, nor to many of the non-central governmental public sector. They do not necessarily need the full set, or they are not ready to go that far. So, clients asking for some of Defining Level 2. Richard Saxon, Chairman of JCT Level 2 BIM need to be able to say which parts they mean. A commercial developer is unlikely to concern itself with the life-cycle of the investment, focussing on BIM to improve project delivery. Few corporate clients yet have a joined-up view of the creation and operation of built assets. Not many private or public clients yet have a project decision process which When UK BIM was defined following the Government mandate published in 2011, it was seen as vital requires specific information from the team at each decision point. But there are also things that some clients want from that BIM should not be blocked by issues arising from the conventions of the standard form building BIM which are not in the official Level 2 toolkit. contract and the insurance industry. A working party within the BIM Task Group explored the issues with I tackled this issue on behalf of the UK BIM Alliance in 2018. The Alliance succeeded to the role of the BIM Task Group once the legal and insurance communities and found that provided that no change was implied in the liabilities the mandate went live. It is an industry body of volunteers aiming to make BIM ‘Business as Usual’ as soon as possible. of participants then issues should not arise. The key point was that each participating profession and The result was a publication called ‘Going Digital, a guide for building owners, construction clients and their advisers’ (ref 2). trade should have its contribution clearly held separately so that responsibility and liability could be My co-authors were May Winfield, leading BIM lawyer and Kester Robinson, director of Deploi: BIM Strategies. The publication seen and insured. Level 2 BIM became defined by this requirement, with separate profession models is concise and avoids the jargon barrier which has built up from the draft standards (the PAS 1192 series). It aims to reach the ‘federated’ to ensure co-ordination, yet discrete so that liabilities could be audited. The Common Data mainstream client who is not likely to ask for BIM out of enthusiasm for the new technology, but on the basis of a business case. Environment holds these models distinctly. Once the industry understood that initial legal qualms about ‘Going Digital’ identifies eight steps for clients to The instructions to be given then depend on which, confused responsibilities were not valid, the way was open to define each player’s role in a project in consider, four of them essential and four optional: if any, of the optional steps is in the strategy. BIM terms. 1. Become aware of the potential of BIM for your 5. Consider team formation methods in the light of the projects; benefits of good collaboration; The way in which BIM instructions were to be given to each appointed firm was by means of a ‘Protocol’ attached to their appointments or contracts by the client. In 2013 the Construction Industry Council published a government-approved model 2. Form a strategy for its use, including any 6. Identify decision-support information needed at Protocol to guide clients in instructing their suppliers. A second edition was produced in 2018, picking up feedback from initial incremental steps; each stage in the project; 3. Equip your office to act as an involved client, 7. Identify operational and maintenance information handling digital information; needs; 4. Instruct your team formally, using an information 8. Consider the use of standard digital models of protocol. repeatedly-used elements, from specific products to rooms and even complete buildings. ‘Level 2’ then becomes a definable thing, with employer’s instructions to set down the chosen content. The core of Level 2 is the creation of a ‘federated’ set of digital models, geometry and data, shared in a Common Data Environment by a collaborative team. The model evolves through the project stages until it represents the as-built asset. How the client needs it to help them is wide open to customisation. JCT is also pitching in to help clients and their advisers define their requirements. ‘BIM and JCT Contracts’ is due to be published shortly, produced by the JCT BIM Working Group and co-authored by May Winfield, Associate Director of Buro Happold and a legal authority on BIM, Andrew Croft of Beale and Co, involved in the drafting of the CIC Protocol, and David John Gibbs, BIM advisory and dispute resolution at HKA. The guidance points to clauses in a JCT contract which are relevant to BIM-using projects and suggests what should be considered when completing the contract and the attached Information Protocol. (ref 3)

References. 1. The Winfield Rock Report, published by the UK BIMAlliance in February 2018, can be downloaded from the Alliance website under Resources. 2. Going Digital, a guide for building owners, construction clients and their advisers, published by the UK BIM Alliance in October 2018, can be downloaded from the Alliance website under Resources. 3. BIM and JCT Contracts, published by JCT, Summer 2019, in print and online. www.jctltd.co.uk/category/bim

Building on a legacy of excellence. Read more on BIM Author: Richard Saxon CBE is Chairman of JCT Ltd, principal of Consultancy for the Built Environment, non-executive director of BLP Insurance and associate director corporate.jctltd.co.uk/category/bim/ of Deploi: BIM Strategies. www.saxoncbe.com users. In practice, a minority of clients used the CIC model protocol, others preferring either a bespoke form, or to not use one at all. Unclear client instructions have become a potentially serious problem for contracts and insurers. One common weakness is that some clients have been asking their appointees for ‘Level 2 BIM’, without further definition. The Winfield-Rock Report (ref 1) of 2018 revealed that hardly any members of the industry shared the same understanding of what Level 2 BIM was and was not. Lawyers were often unfamiliar with the concept.

here is much excitement about the idea of a Across the industry, there are many immediate and digital twin across all parts of our industry. In challenging problems that could be addressed by 2016, it was identified by Gartner as a top today’s technology, with the primary barriers being Ttrend for 2017, and they were certainly right in terms organisational structures and a culture of collaborative of the rise of the use of the term, which continued working around a common dataset. Even entry-level exponentially through 2018. digital information models can yield significant benefits if these barriers can be lowered. In reality though, few ‘mature’ digital twins yet exist in the built environment and infrastructure industries. By setting out an organisational strategy for a Today’s position is that organisations need to focus mature digital twin, these early steps can be along a on potential benefits of organised digital information defined pathway, building value at each stage. The that can be realised quickly, especially in view of the need to focus on purpose, along with security and urgent need to increase efficiency, deliver enhanced openness, are central to the Gemini Principles, social, economic and environmental outcomes and published by the Centre for Digital Built Britain reduce risk. (CDBB) in 2018 to establish a standard approach. 30 The vision is for an interconnected or federated reports and dashboards with a layer of analytics world of digital twins that can combine at system, behind them. An essential starting point is to develop city or even national scale. a single source of always accurate data, geolocated, and available in a secure manner to those that can The building blocks of a digital twin for individual benefit from it, when and where they need it. buildings or for wider-scale neighbourhoods, systems and infrastructure always include a graphical element. Whenever failures occur, from misjudged investments The technology to provide this is mature, ranging that waste public money, through unintended nega- from models of new buildings delivered in interactive tive social or environmental impact of interventions, 3D format as part of the contractor’s delivery to rapid to major disasters with devastating human conse- context capture using drones, standing scanners and quences, there is reflection on the ‘what if’ scenarios, even personal mobile devices. usually including reference to the availability of information in one form or another. One can view the “A true digital twin collects live responsibilities of those involved in the regulation, information regarding the condition and planning, design, construction and through-life performance of things and feeds it into operation and maintenance of our built environment the platform where the twin lives, as an ongoing series of decisions. The ‘what if’ con- generating live reports and dashboards siderations then centre on how decisions might have with a layer of analytics behind them.” been better made if more meaningful and accurate information were available and taken into considera- Wider context is readily available in established GIS tion. A first step towards creating a meaningful digital technology through organisations like Ordnance twin is therefore to look at the roles and decision- Survey. A key consideration here is not to confuse a making structures in the organisation that is intend- realistic-looking geospatial model with a high-quality ing to invest in the twin to fulfil its objectives. digital twin. Indeed, to overburden models with a level of graphical detail that is unnecessary for the If the purposes for which the development of a digital purpose is to make a digital twin unnecessarily bulky twin can be articulated then the related decision- and awkward to use. making can be mapped. Implementing organisations must look at how they are currently managing data The next step in considering the components of the and develop an information-centric approach that may twin is to determine what level of non-graphical require changes in responsibilities. The digital twin information and documentation is required concern- strategy always needs to start from the present and ing the characteristics of building component parts deliver quick wins based on current data, as well as or systems. This typically includes both static and setting out the roadmap for incorporation of wider dynamic data. datasets both static and dynamic. For the purposes to be fulfilled, role-based decision-support tools such as A true digital twin collects live information regarding dashboards must be developed, providing insights the condition and performance of things and feeds it that enable actions and positive social, economic and into the platform where the twin lives, generating live environmental impact. 31 Image: © Centre for Digital Built Britain Image: © Centre

In the world of planning and building control, the At a time when all of us in the industry need to opportunities could not be clearer. The ﬁrst step show that we can respond to harrowing failures such of developing a single source of always accurate as Grenfell and future challenges such as carbon information about physical assets, their location and reduction, the successful application of digital trans- related documentation to be updated as changes formation to make better decisions is a responsibility occur in design, construction and operation, would that we all share. ■ be a huge step forward.

“A key consideration here is not to confuse a realistic-looking geospatial model with a high-quality digital twin. Indeed, to overburden models with a level of graphical detail that is unnecessary for the purpose is to make a digital twin unnecessarily bulky and awkward to use.” ...... Richard Shennan There is the potential to go beyond static into dynamic Digital Business Development Director information, to gather live data from buildings and Mott MacDonald the wider built environment, interpret it, and bring it Tel: +44 (0)20 7651 0300 into ongoing decisions in pursuit of reduced risk and [email protected] a better future. This is only limited by our ability to www.mottmac.com shape and manage organisational structures that can take advantage of increasingly mature digital twins. 32 SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT INTRODUCTION TO BIM AND AUTODESK REVIT

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Building on the expertise in the School of Architecture, “This course gave me the basic understanding (and a lot Design and Built Environment at Nottingham Trent more!) to help me move forward. I really enjoyed it. It University, this course provides a hands-on learning was well paced and ideal with a small class – I think this environment for all construction professionals in the is really important, so that questions can be asked and creation of a Revit BIM model. answered.” JC

Learn how to navigate the Autodesk Revit interface, “I enjoyed the course and look forward to putting into apply the basic modifying and modelling tools, create practice what I learnt. Many thanks to Geoff for a drawing sheets and schedules, and undertake BIM brilliant three days.” DS analysis. “Geoff was very good at adapting the course to meet Fee: £675 + VAT our needs, especially with regards to the huge number of Location: Nottingham Trent University, City Campus questions asked by the group. And it was good to receive paper handouts as well and digital copies.” MW Read more and book your place today: www.ntu.ac.uk/bim ANY QUESTIONS? Contact the short course team: Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)115 848 2813

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Hurley Palmer Flatt gives Principal Place a digital makeover

Building one of the tallest structures in London with Hurley Palmer Flatt and Bluebeam Revu

K-based multi-disciplinary engineering firm Hurley Palmer Flatt understands the importance of efficient projectU delivery, as 2018 marks the firm’s fifth decade in the built environment business.

Recently, the firm implemented Bluebeam Revu, the project efficiency and collaboration solution trusted by over 1.4m design and construction professionals worldwide on Principal Place, a residential high-rise project in the Shoreditch area of London, expected to reach 50 storeys.

Modern in build and execution, the project is set to feature 175-metre tall towers offering 300 new residential apartments, a residential campus-structured IP integrated cabling solution, audio visual home automa- “That saved us using two or three staff mem- Striving for accuracy tion systems, site-wide security coverage, bers, a couple of hours each. The savings The easy-to-adopt and scale functionality centralised building services, active network there was definitely in the four figures.” and industry-specific tools in Revu have supporting MEP BMS AV and security systems, allowed Jaramillo to expand the use of Revu’s satellite distribution, as well as telecom utilities Sustainability consultant Lucy Rees also sees digital solutions to other business critical planning and coordination. the improvements brought on by Revu: “It’s workflows. particularly useful, during the design stage Given the complexity of the project, Hurley where we can just annotate documents dig- “At the end of the day, the de- Palmer Flatt turned to Revu to enhance the itally on a PDF and send it to the architects liverables that you’re dealing accuracy and quality of their design reviews, and engineers, instead of having to print with have to be designed and compliance documentation and collaboration, things out and then scan them back in and to do that, you need design while eliminating time-sensitive processes send them over.” tools, elaborates Flatt. Having involving DWG files and costly CAD programs. tools like Bluebeam, they’re Bluebeam Studio in Revu allows Jaramillo’s key if we’re going to move Improving efficiency in team to mark-up 2D drawings as well as 3D forward.” design review models and share the mark-ups in real-time “What ultimately happened with the intro- to both the field and office via digital PDFs. “Our key thing is spatial coordination. So, to duction and quality of Bluebeam is that we be able to do that off a 2D drawing in were able to get a suite of drawings out and “Bluebeam has reduced the number of steps Bluebeam and complete area calculations; not have to run them by 2D CAD,” explains and been a massive help with regards to see metres squared, distances, clearances to senior mechanical engineer Jairo Jaramillo. productivity,” adds Jaramillo. plant, etc. That is the bread and butter of

34 COMMERCIAL PROFILE

what we do. And I wasn’t able to do that until Taking digital PDFs into a Flatt. Having tools like Bluebeam, they’re key I started using Bluebeam. I no longer need paperless future if we’re going to move forward.” to go to DWGs because with Bluebeam, I can Hurley Palmer Flatt attributes the digital PDF check and calibrate the distances,” he says. capabilities of Revu as the key to going “That saved us using two or paperless. CEO Paul Flatt believes that the three staff members, a couple Compliance reviews have also seen an future is now for firms like his to take advan- of hours each. The savings upgrade since the firm adopted Revu. tage of the digital space: “Buildings have there was definitely in the become a digital asset. So, with the evolution four figures.” “Bluebeam is particularly useful for us when of Building Information Modelling (BIM), we’re taking pictures to document compliance, this digital asset is going to evolve, and I Read the full Hurley Palmer Flatt case study. because we can then embed them against the believe that next destination of that digital plans and schedules for the project, which asset is where you’ll start to see an overlay means we have a direct link between what of information that actually goes onto that we’ve physically seen on-site and what’s in the digital asset; that’s tagging of information.” design plans, to guarantee compliance,” explains Rees. After using Revu to do just that on the Prin- cipal Place project, Jaramillo agrees: “PDF is In addition to that direct link, all document such a recognisable and common format of information is now in Revu, making informa- electronic file. Having the versatility of digital tion easier to find than previous multi-docu- PDFs within Revu has helped Hurley Palmer Bluebeam Revu ment formats. Flatt to achieve their goals in improving the www.bluebeam.co.uk quality and efficiency of project deliverables. “Instead of having to have lots of different documents in different places, we just “At the end of the day, the deliverables that have it in the one that you can see together,” you’re dealing with have to be designed and says Rees. to do that, you need design tools, elaborates

35 Innovating the built environment with digital twins

Matthew Durdin, director at Johnson Controls UK&I, explores applications for digital twins in the built environment, how they can be implemented and how building systems can be dramatically improved by using them

digital twin is a connected, virtual replica of such as modelling airflow or energy use – as well as its something physical – be it an asset, product role in the wider environment, such as the building’s or system. The technology helps create an impact on traffic in the local area. A digital twin can interfaceA that bridges the digital and physical worlds, go through thousands of changes before it is for example, in construction and building manage- finalised and used to construct its physical twin. ment. Digital twins enable architects, constructors and building managers to “predict the future” of their “Once built, a digital twin can make building – and to answer difficult questions that predictions that help to extend the might otherwise hinder construction projects or lifetime of the building. This can reduce the lifetime of a building. include predicting security risks, parts replacement schedules, inefficiencies Where Building Information Modelling (BIM) generates across all the different inter-operating and manages digital reproductions, twins hold BIM systems, and even the impact of process data alongside building automation systems and integration as a building matures.” sensor networks to bring a whole building together in one place. This creates a constantly evolving, If a digital twin is created for an existing building, it collaborative version of the physical twin. can only represent an approximation of the physical twin. However, the two become more alike every day In modelling building systems, the twin uses myriad as it collects more data from the building and its data points to bring all its knowledge together under real-time sensors. Either way, having a digital twin one digital roof: from construction data and floor ensures better decision-making and enables real-time plans to data from real-time sensors in a building visibility of a building and all its moving parts. management system (BMS), to all the data coming out of lighting, HVAC, fire and security systems. The impact of digital twins Brought together, a digital twin can know everything So what exactly can a twin do that a well-planned about the assets of a building and its occupants – construction project couldn’t? Before and during and can predict its every move. construction, a digital twin can improve system interactions and integrations, help select the right Building a twin providers for the job, make data-driven cost and In an ideal world, the digital twin is “born” before its maintenance predictions, and even spot and assess physical counterpart, long before construction begins. installation obstacles and major construction risks. Throughout the planning stages, an architect can While construction professionals have long made remodel and update the building plans, and the twin these assessments themselves, the ability to do so can update and recompute itself. In this process, it while working full-time on the construction itself can evaluate the building’s physical characteristics – leads to a more cost- and time-efficient project. 36 Once built, a digital twin can make predictions that and avoid unexpected costs by identifying system help to extend the lifetime of the building. This can inefficiencies and better estimating when new parts include predicting security risks, parts replacement and upgrades are needed. schedules, inefficiencies across all the different inter- operating systems, and even the impact of process Alongside these applications, twins also streamline integration as a building matures. This helps building and improve the day-to-day operations of a building. owners and managers to know when action needs to A digital twin gives building managers a real-time be taken on their building, again streamlining costs view of a building’s integrated systems: from top-line and creating the best possible environment for dashboards for building health to specific applica- its occupants. tions like asset and people tracking, hot desking, parking and condition-based building operations. Moreover, a twin brings together all the data neces- There is also an impact on security: the real-time sary for predictive algorithms and artificial intelligence view offered by a digital twin takes historic trend data (AI) systems, from equipment fault predictions to into account, which is then able to highlight unusual building optimisation. Running simulations on a twin or abnormal actions that might predict security also reduces risk, helping system engineers make issues and help managers take action more quickly better business cases for system changes. By experi- and accurately. menting on a digital twin, equipment downtime can be reduced, just one way in which digital twins drive The challenge of data collection cost efficiency. Cost reduction is a major application While the data collected for digital twins can come of twins: by helping predict and avoid unexpected from a variety of sources, a true digital twin must be costs, they help buildings operate more efficiently a ‘system of systems’ integration. This includes the 37 tech ‘overkill’ – or a twin for twin’s sake – but creating a partnership with the tech provider who is right for your project will ensure that twins help, not hinder. Finally, BIM often came under scrutiny for systems not being kept up to date – and while a twin will also need to be kept up to date, it’s possible to build the digital twin with the capability to self-update, eradicating this problem.

“Brought together, a digital twin can know everything about the assets of a building and its occupants – and can predict its every move.”

use of embedded sensors, wireless sensor networks, Implementing a digital twin to innovate digitised building lifecycle data and systems, and If implemented correctly, twin technologies can have integration with other cloud services and data a major impact on building management and opera- providers. Wireless sensor networks, for example, tions. Across the entire value chain, a digital twin collect data on temperature, lighting, occupancy, enables the movement of a project from ideation, to humidity and many other factors from sensors visualisation of processes, to service and management installed throughout a building. These systems can at an ever-growing scale. Done right, digital twins easily be expanded or altered as needs change, enable decision support across a whole construction making them a flexible investment for the future. project or living building, as well as real-time visibility of products, assets, facilities and manufacturing. Other opportunities to channel data into a digital twin include data from BIM systems, smart HVAC The many applications from the planning stage to systems, digitised pneumatic thermostats, smart when the building is up and running – from the ability plugs and smart elevator controls – but this is often to predict maintenance and security risks to cost only possible in modern, “smart” buildings, rather efficiency and better operational oversight – mean than older buildings. that digital twin technology is a must. Put simply, a modern smart building cannot be truly smart without The concerns around digital twins a digital twin. ■ As with every new technology, there are some concerns in the industry around the use of digital twins. Data standards have long been seen as something lacking in this area, meaning companies aren’t making smart technology investments. However, the Brick Schema consortium is now working to standardise a ...... unified approach to building representation to tackle Matthew Durdin this problem. Director Johnson Controls UK & Ireland Cybersecurity is another key issue, as cyber Tel: +44 (0)845 108 0001 “intruders” could potentially use a digital twin to gain [email protected] access to confidential information about a building, www.johnsoncontrols.com though cybersecurity measures are generally built into a twin to avoid this. There is also the problem of 38 SOLIBRI. THE FORMULA FOR SUCCESSFUL BIM WORKFLOWS.

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Let’s get digital!

Whether you’re a contractor, consultant or asset owner, global or local, digital information management oﬀers proven beneﬁts to projects and business, although many in the industry are still reluctant to embrace it. Here we look at some of the challenges going digital can resolve including communication, data security and compliance

ou are probably reading this article on stages, it can affect relationships across the Many of our IT systems are designed for your laptop, or tablet, or even mobile design and construction teams. According to yesteryear, not for the amount of information phone, so it might be difficult to the UK Construction KPIs Annual Report for we receive on a daily basis, be it point clouds, comprehendY that it’s still common practice 2018, many contractors expressed a fall in GIS data or large model files. Information is for construction information to be handed overall satisfaction rating of the construction often exchanged informally, using file sharing over to the client on paper, usually in the information provided for the project by their providers such as DropBox, to get the job form of a bundle of documents, or for those client, with satisfaction levels decreasing by done, without thinking of future ramifications, with large portfolios, shipping containers full nearly 20% on larger projects. be they litigation or data security. of files. The client has to find room and safe storage for these valuable documents and “Ours is a competitive industry The Golden Thread be confident they contain all the required with tight margins and compa- In light of recommendations in the Hackitt information to manage their asset. nies going into administration report, which recognised that the complex every week. Change is coming, compliance processes involved in construction If the construction information they require so will you adapt to survive or usually fail due to poor record keeping, there after handover hasn’t been clearly specified stagnate and fail?” is a greater focus on governance to ensure a from the start, it can create complications “Golden Thread” of construction information. later on that are usually time-consuming and The lack of interest from clients for more Systems need to be improved and processes expensive to rectify. Often, the facility man- digital ways of working such as Building enforced across all construction projects to ager will have to waste time tracking down Information Modelling (BIM) are often cited ensure changes and key decisions are recorded vital historical information or, worst case in industry surveys as one of the reasons for across the whole lifecycle of an asset. scenario, carry out a new survey of the asset. the slow take-up, despite the majority of the savings widely recognised as being across the A common data environment (CDE) can pro- This, when technology is available now that operation and maintenance phase of an asset. vide the required “single source of truth” –a would allow for instant handover of a fully platform to collect, control and share the infor- commissioned digital asset. While BIM is often used by designers to mation, data and model. The majority of infor- manage the models and is being pushed as mation generated on a project is internal Provided the right data needs have been business as usual by some of the more digi- production documentation relating to the communicated – and this is where involving tally ambitious T1 contractors and consultants, design and construction phase – work in those in facilities and operations at the ear- the many business benefits of BIM are often progress files, drawing renditions, RFIs, cost liest stage is vital – asset owners could wave overlooked. plans, emails, notes, etc, with only a small per- goodbye to the days when a service engineer centage being formal Information Deliverables would turn up without the right parts or dis- For instance, BIM improves collaboration that the client is interested in or exposed to. cover upon arrival that a ladder is required across teams and can ensure consistency for access. of information standards with document It’s the uncontrolled internal documentation naming conventions and workflow manage- that often slows down a project, causing Improving satisfaction ment helping reduce the confusion and delays while people wait for information, or When clients are not involved at the earliest dissatisfaction later. need to find the latest, approved version.

40 COMMERCIAL PROFILE

The CDE supports BIM level 2 workflows with milestones via clear, visual dashboards and If you’re looking to move to digital information information classified as Work In Progress, ensuring project deliverables meet industry management contact GroupBC to discuss how Shared, Published and Archived, controlling or organisation standards by providing we can help. the information flow and ensuring it is available access to templates for every key step. to the right people at the right time. With increasing regulatory legislation, a CDE “While BIM is often used by de- with such functionality can help you not only signers to manage the models demonstrate compliance but also allow those and is being pushed as busi- managing programmes of work or multiple ness as usual by some of the projects across an enterprise to make deci- more digitally ambitious T1 sions quickly. Information and knowledge can contractors and consultants, be reused, creating best practice resources the many business benefits of and saving time across similar projects. BIM are often overlooked.” BIM provides the springboard to modern In this era when data breaches are common methods of construction and more. From and even whole buildings are pirated, ensuring standardisation of data vital for offsite information is securely stored and managed manufacturing, harnessing data from drones within a private cloud CDE can provide an extra and point clouds to enhanced planning and groupbc.com level of assurance for your clients, as well as decision making through Augmented and the IT Department! Virtual Reality, as well as providing the basis GroupBC for digital twins. Tel: +44 (0)118 9028543 Progressing with the [email protected] programme Ours is a competitive industry with tight www.groupbc.com GroupBC’s BC Enterprise CDE can also incor- margins and companies going into adminis- www.twitter.com/GroupBC_Ltd porate programme management and quality tration every week. Change is coming, so will assurance modules, enabling you to track you adapt to survive or stagnate and fail?

41 Why cities need to unlock their planning data Cities are sitting on a wealth of valuable data locked away in planning documents. It’s time they learn how to better use a resource that’s entirely in their control, explains Stefan Webb

ig data, artificial intelligence and visualisation Not only do local planning authorities have to are transforming the way people process and commission new studies, time after time, to obtain interpret information. But the methods used the same evidence but because it’s stored away in a byB many cities to plan new developments creak with PDF, it can’t easily be used to inform other services. age and smack of desperate inefficiency. It’s time those systems caught up with the modern world. For example, many of the datasets collected as part of a housing market assessment are the same as “What’s needed, then, is for cities to those which inform a community infrastructure levy, hold their spatially relevant data in one a strategic housing land availability assessment or an place, where it can be used over and over infrastructure capacity assessment. But, bewilderingly, again, not just for multiple plans but the information for these four studies is all procured across departments.” separately. And any synergies or interdependencies that do occur between the four are managed by The processes in place within city authorities to human hand – so the process can be slow, contain gather information about sites, compare proposals errors and result in loss of fidelity. from developers and engage with citizens are certainly rigorous, and produce huge quantities of data The problem is exacerbated when different city at no small expense. If you’re sufficiently determined, departments decide to commission their own data- you can find it in the appendices of local plans – and driven exercises to understand, say, the demand for those brave enough to bother will discover reams of school places, pressure on GP services or where new data, pages of tables and an atlas-worth of maps. job opportunities will be arising in the near future. But as well as finding it difficult to understand, they’ll Data from planning documents could easily be also see that it’s locked up inside PDFs that are reused to help provide such insights, but instead it’s difficult for machines to search and analyse. gathered once more at high cost.

In the offices of the architects and developers who What’s needed, then, is for cities to hold their bring those developments to life, though, things look a spatially relevant data in one place, where it can be little different. There, before bricks or steel are even used over and over again, not just for multiple plans considered, data, models and digital maps are used to but across departments. Such a system would not explore sites, proposals and plans in exquisite detail. just provide efficiency savings by reducing the cost of Crucially, these organisations have come to realise the updating the evidence base for local plans, but also value of maintaining easily accessible data, which they ensure everyone is working with the same figures can draw on quickly, easily and repeatedly. and assumptions, and make it easier to build tools to access, interpret and analyse the data. Comparatively, the cost of generating data to support local plans is sunk when it’s dumped into a Greater Manchester has already shown that it is series of analogue reports and planning applications. possible to generate and reuse planning data in this 42 way. Its Open Data Infrastructure Map shows key A city data environment that functions in this way infrastructure across the entire region in one open, will allow local authorities to maximise the value of accessible location. But it goes further than this. Using the data that is generated as part of the planning the same mapping platform, it seeks suggestions for process. In turn, it will reduce the time it takes to new development sites and includes new automated produce local plans and make them more transparent processes to carry out parts of the shortlisting and understandable to citizens and developers. The process without human intervention. data is there to be used – cities just need to realise its potential in order to make use of it. ■ The Geospatial Commission is beginning to work on making key public spatial data more accessible; the National Infrastructure Commission is promoting a national digital twin; and the Centre for Digital Built Britain is promoting more data relating to development from building information models. The risk here is that there seems to be little coordination and collaboration...... Stefan Webb Who pays for all this? Well, much of the evidence Director of Digitising Planning & Standards required for local plans is driven by national legisla- Connected Places Catapult tion, and the costs of building planning data plat- Tel: +44 (0)20 7952 5111 forms is too large to be borne by any single planning [email protected] authority. So, ideally, central government should be https://cp.catapult.org.uk/ investing in UK local authorities and companies to prototype the planning system of the future. 43 7UDLQLQJ&RXUVHV

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&217$&7$0(0%(52)2857($0RQRUHPDLOVDOHV#FDGDVVLVWFRXN Designing a better future using modular techniques Mark Farmer, founding director of Cast Consultancy and author of the landmark Modernise or Die review, looks at the rise of modular construction and examines whether the sector is really ready for take-oﬀ

he recent announcement that Goldman Sachs some cases, development management and site has refinanced the Top Hat modular homebuild- construction services to developers, investors or ing platform has sent a few ripples through the landowners. TUK homebuilding industry, and rightly so. What it suggests is that private, institutional-grade capital is start- The need for transactional interfaces that link ing to see the emerging opportunity to significantly manufactured housing products with land is the disrupt existing delivery models. This is no longer critical distinction between manufacturing a house some seemingly distant story from the other side of and manufacturing a car. The inability to bring these the pond about technology companies like Amazon or two critical elements together is often the fatal flaw Google investing in modular or billion-dollar invest- that has held back the concept of modular housing. ments into the likes of Katerra. This is now a UK-based revolution that builds on the pioneering steps of Legal In the last two to three years, the increasing & General and Berkeley Group to invest significantly in interest in modular housing has not been reflected establishing a new model of delivery and overcoming in increasing real activity. The point of breakdown is the resistance to change of most traditional house- land-led developers or investors not getting comfort- builders. able with the concept of early engagement with a manufacturing partner, often without the usual While the concept of modular housing (and I will default comfort blanket of a competitive bidding focus here on ‘modular’ or Category 1 MMC to use process. This behavioural inertia prevents design-for- the UK government’s definition) is nothing new, but manufacturing thinking being deployed at the high- growing discontent with the outcome of traditional est value opportunity – prior to fixing a planning means of producing new homes has sparked a wave application. of interest in this approach. Added to the engagement and procurement prob- That interest is split between those still grappling with lems, there are financing issues – part perception, inherent suspicion and scepticism about something part reality – both in terms of mortgage availability that has never managed to take off in this country and insurance (both issues that are being forthrightly and has, in some instances, been done poorly and, addressed by a MHCG working group that I chair) on the other hand, those with genuine excitement and also, crucially, development finance being wary that we are at the dawn of a new wave of advanced of advanced payments or the risk of a thinly capitalised home manufacturing, all enabled by unprecedented manufacturer going bust part-way through a devel- technology. Neither of these bookends really reflect opment and then being unable to complete the proj- the current real state of the offsite market. ect due to the uniqueness of the building system.

Many of the problems this sector has faced are due Finally, there are ongoing concerns about the ability to the offsite manufacturing supply chain not being of full volumetric modular solutions to be able to vertically integrated. As such, it is effectively a series satisfy planners and the public in terms of design of manufacturers wanting to sell modules and, in aesthetic and visual quality. The expectation, often 46 quite rightly, is that there is limited design flexibility traditional homebuilding to think in these ways cre- in how a modular home can look. ates an opportunity for modular to lead this broader debate. If it looks to just conform to the usual con- These last two points above stand out for me as to ventions and go head-to-head with housebuilders, I why the Goldman Sachs deal with Top Hat is poten- suspect the offsite market will struggle to take off. It tially of such importance. The level of capitalisation is not enough, albeit it is true, to say we are running that Goldman Sachs brings to Top Hat completely out of skilled traditional resources so we will be changes the game when it comes to any concerns forced to build in factories. The critical thing is what about covenant strength and perception of we are building as an outcome, everything else is solvency risk. purely a means to an end.

“It is not enough, albeit it is true, to say I think such more holistic thinking is going to drive we are running out of skilled traditional real value in the future, not just the current focus on resources so we will be forced to build in land value and speculation. It’s difficult to see where factories. The critical thing is what we are that change might come from but it has to start building as an outcome, everything else is somewhere. purely a means to an end.” I am also nervous that people think modular might be However, that alone is not enough for success. Any ‘cheap’ at scale. If that benefit simply accrues though well-funded modular provider fundamentally needs to a developer or a landowner through a higher land an attractive proposition from a design and product value then the real benefit of manufacturing quality quality perspective, as well as a strong commercial homes will have been utterly lost – back to the benefits case. The fact that Goldman Sachs has decoupled product and land debate! backed this platform is no doubt a reflection of the importance attributed to the level of technology This reformation of thinking is certainly part of the enablement and design-led thinking that sits behind Construction Innovation Hub’s mission to drive this proposition and its ability to drive scale efficien- digital, manufacturing and performance thinking cies. The fact that Top Hat and Goldman Sachs are against a much wider perspective of value and I am also putting their money where their mouth is and looking forward to being part of the that debate as a building a complex, heritage-led development using member of their newly formed Industry Board. their modular products at Kitchener Barracks, Chatham, is also an important proof-of-concept to I am also enthused that my work as trustee of build confidence for third-party prospective clients. MOBIE provides an opportunity to help educate young people in a whole set of new values and Against this backdrop, the importance of design paradigms about housing and to train not just thinking comes to the fore. In a period when the gov- people who will design, manufacture and assemble ernment has rightly recognised the growing impor- modular homes, but crucially the developers and tance of quality not just quantity, the advancement of investors who will be the new modular clients of the the modular market has to be able to prove not just future and the planners and policymakers who will technical build quality and longevity but the inherent be the custodians of a new approach to what good manufacturing process versatility to address a range looks like. ■ of modern contemporary and traditional vernaculars and avoid so-called ‘cookie cutter’ outcomes. It is why ...... I believe Berkeley Group’s approach to its modular Mark Farmer solution is so impressive. Founding Director & CEO Cast Consultancy Modular designs have to not just be optimised for Tel: +44 (0)203 931 0200 manufacture but for whole life/circular economy per- [email protected] formance, consumer satisfaction, better community www.cast-consultancy.com and societal outcomes, carbon and environmental sustainability amongst other things. An inability for 47 COMMERCIAL PROFILE

The hardware itself uses a horizontally rotating FARO’s ScanPlan: Fast 2D laser with a 230-degree viewing angle enabling a large amount of space to be measured at a time. While primarily designed for measuring building mapping internal spaces, it can in some situations be used externally, remembering though that its FARO’s handheld ScanPlan device can help quickly accuracy has a 20m range. determine the accuracy and completeness of project information – and make it immediately shareable Upon completion of the mapping, the results can be directly exported into various formats (PDF, PNG and DXF) to produce plan documentation that can be used to check against n the world of BIM (as described in the ScanPlan can help quickly determine how the legacy documents. Starting with accurate International Standard, ISO19650), man- accurate the information is and make the information is vital in any project (BIM or aging the information created on a project measured visual documentation immediately otherwise) – this workflow ensures that we isI the key driver – from defining what is shareable. are able to highlight any gaps in the informa- required, through creation of the information tion provided and also provides an electronic to finally sharing it between various parties Aimed at the gap between traditional survey version of the plan that we can use in later for contractual purposes. It’s the process that methods and ‘full’ 3D laser scanning – the design, construction or operational tasks. counts and ensuring everyone involved ScanPlan is a useful handheld device that The ability to simply and quickly capture understands the benefits and works to enables users to accurately (to 30mm at 20m complex building spaces with shareable deliver them. In an ideal world, the existing range) survey a space by simply walking results is a huge benefit to any task involving information we use to make decisions on around while pointing the device at the existing buildings. built assets would be correct… but we all space boundaries. The ScanPlan then gen- know that is rarely the case! erates 2D floor plans as you walk – enabling Controlled by your Android or iOS smartphone you to see what has been captured already using the free FARO ScanPlan app, standard ‘Legacy’ information is used on almost all and where you may need to move to photographs and 360-degree panoramic projects in the AEC industry but the varying complete the layout. The speed with which images can also be captured. The ScanPlan accuracy of these sometimes incredibly old the FARO solution captures and records locates the photographs on the plan with documents means we’re not always acting the layout is simply incredible – with the markers that enable others to view the build- upon the best information. Where speed is added benefit of being able to use your own ing online when the information is shared via important, one particular use case of FARO’s smartphone. FARO’s SCENE WebShare Cloud service.

48 COMMERCIAL PROFILE

Beyond checking legacy documents, this fast the positions of the scanner hardware and be Linked to Facility Management (FM) production and sharing of site inspection ‘pre-register’ their locations, then it’s a case databases for ongoing lifecycle asset surveys with wider teams, accurately and of recording the scan data and performing management as a direct or supplementary with mixed media enables a deeper under- a final registration within the FARO SCENE information source. standing of the site without requiring a full software. team visit. The benefits begin here! With the defined use cases above already Moving along the project timeline, the Scan- proven by the ScanPlan device, the trend is “The speed with which the Plan can be used to check what has been clear – many more use cases will develop as FARO solution captures and constructed or installed. While only measur- users recognise the ease and affordability with records the layout is simply ing a ‘2D slice’ rather that the full volumetric which the FARO technology is allowing us to incredible – with the added 3D space, the ScanPlan workflow can provide collect, consume and act upon accurately benefit of being able to use fast feedback on site to check construction recorded building plans. your own smartphone.” progress or verify overall space dimensions where full 3D checks are not required. Where gaps have been found in legacy documents through this workflow, the ScanPlan Even further along the timeline and some- has another great feature that helps plan and times in instances where no design work has optimise future laser scan work for surveyors. been required or undertaken, the ScanPlan The Scan Assist feature automatically calculates has been used by many Facility Management the optimal laser scanner positions based (FM) or Operational teams to record the cur- upon the recorded 2D plans. rent condition of their existing assets. While the capturing process outlined earlier in this Once the required quality and resolution has article explains how the plan information is Anke Abendroth been set, it provides the surveyor with useful generated, the ability to use the measured Content Marketing Manager data such as the number of scans required, survey data alongside panoramic photographs EMEA – FARO Europe the total time required and the total number within FARO SCENE WebShare Cloud also Tel: +49 (0)7150 9797 - 311 of points that will be collected. All of this is enables teams to add notes, comments or [email protected] then used by the surveyor to provide a more asset tags to specific items for operational www.faro.com accurate quote for the work required. purposes or to measure/calculate rental www.twitter.com/faroeurope areas. The combined information enables Upon beginning the 3D laser survey, the users to record the overall condition of the original data can then be used to set up building or assets. The accurate records can

49 Bright future for construction innovation The Construction Scotland Innovation Centre recently secured a multi-million funding package for the next ﬁve years, became a delivery partner for the Construction Innovation Hub and launched a pilot project that could see homes built oﬀsite by robots. Chief executive Stephen Good takes a look at what lies ahead for the CSIC

t has been an exciting start to the year here at and address issues like new innovative procurement CSIC, not least due to the fantastic news we models, diversity and inclusion, internationalisation, received in February of almost £11m of core fund- collaboration, productivity and investment in R&D Iing, which will allow us to support the construction and innovation. We will champion industrialisation sector to innovate and grow for another five years. and manufacturing opportunities, including offsite, robotics and design for manufacturing and assembly This significant investment from the Scottish Funding – these are the things that will drive productivity, Council, Scottish Enterprise and HIE will support quality and efficiency measures across the industry. our Phase 2 mission to mainstream innovation in construction. We expect the funding to support the Despite our name, these ambitions extend outside sector to deliver £998m of additional gross turnover, Scotland. That’s why the Industrial Strategy Challenge create 1,847 new jobs and retain 4,721 existing jobs. Fund’s Transforming Construction programme will be a key focus for us in Phase 2. Part of the UK govern- We have big ambitions for the future. In Phase 2, we ment’s Sector Deal, the programme will see £170m of will focus on the cultural barriers across the industry investment over three years to help the industry 50 transform. The programme consists of four key design, the real testing of CLT joints, and formation components – a £72m Construction Innovation Hub, of insulated composite panels. This project has the the £36m Active Building Centre; the £2.5m Network potential to address pressing market needs within Plus initiative and a £59m collaborative research and the UK. development call programme. Exploiting these opportunities is crucial. During the project, Glulam Solutions has been using the robotics facilities available at our Innovation In April, we were delighted to become a delivery part- Factory, a 35,000 sq ft facility that offers a range of ner of the Construction Innovation Hub, to help them product development, manufacturing, robotics and deliver the Transforming Construction programme visualisation equipment on an open-access basis. It right across the UK. Scottish businesses and universi- is designed to encourage construction-related busi- ties have embraced CSIC’s innovation programme nesses to collaborate, innovate, learn and prototype. over the past five years, and the opportunity to widen We also have technical and supervisory support our impact further through close collaboration with available to provide guidance and advice regarding the Construction Innovation Hub is clear. projects and equipment use. This project is exactly what the Innovation Factory was built for. The hub brings together world-class expertise from the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), Building I believe the construction industry is on the verge of a Research Establishment (BRE) and the Centre for digital and manufacturing revolution. With the next Digital Built Britain (CDBB). It aims to be a catalyst phase of vital funding support in place, we can help for change, driving collaboration to develop, com- scale-up and mainstream innovation within the sector, mercialise and promote digital and manufacturing which in turn will unlock growth. technologies for the construction sector. However, we’re relying on industry and its clients, We’ll be working in close partnership with the hub to both public and private, to really step up and drive deliver transformation in the UK construction sector, that revolution forward. New innovative technologies including embracing modern methods of construction, and processes offer huge opportunities to develop sustainability and new digitally enabled manufacturing better, faster, cheaper solutions. However, these and assembly technologies. are just tools, and will not change the face of the construction sector in isolation. We need the right Meanwhile, closer to home, we’ve been collaborating people to use them. with Robert Gordon University and timber engineering firm Glulam Solutions on an exciting project that could The key is adopting the right mindset and ensuring potentially result in a new method for the construction the visionary leadership is in place to implement the of homes using robots. change in culture that’s needed across the industry’s people – both on the client and delivery side. People The project will focus on the design of a cross-lami- are at the heart of innovation and we need bright, nated timber (CLT) joint that can be fabricated offsite talented and committed people to come forward by robots. Currently, manual assembly takes place and support us. ■ on-site, which can lead to delays, inaccuracies, defects and material waste. This research project has the potential to significantly improve construction methods, helping to increase the quality and output ...... while reducing costs and time. Stephen Good Chief Executive The project will look at the process of designing a Construction Scotland Innovation Centre simple timber prototype house that can be made by Tel: +44 (0)141 212 5250 robots from complex CLT panels which are manufac- www.cs-ic.org/innovationcentre/ tured offsite. It is hoped that a range of ideas and solutions could then be developed, from logistics to 51 COMMERCIAL PROFILE

Overcome the challenges of complying to Exchange Information Requirements (EIR)

Graitec examines the key issues when complying with the Exchange Information Requirements and how they can be overcome

he Exchange Information Requirements standards and how all of this can potentially the well-known fact, you can take old files (EIR) are designed to be included in the have an impact on top line business objectives into new software versions but it’s very tender documents for the procurement such as turnover, quality and profitability. difficult taking new to old. ofT both a design team and the constructor. It is an important element to a BIM project as With an emphasis today on open BIM, the EIR When a file is opened in a more recent they are used to set out clearly to the bidder states software platform requirements but it’s version of software (which does not comply what information requirements there are and not designed to dictate a software to the to the EIR) then a lot of time and effort is the management of that information. supply chain. The EIR focuses on collaboration required amending that back to its original and that is where the chosen Common Data state. Time that is not billable! These requirements are then written into the Environment (CDE) is established. BIM protocol and form the basis from which Another part to the EIR is the requirement bidders can then respond with their initial “Don’t just take our word for for data exchange formats such as: Information Delivery Plan (IDP). it. Many of the leading names in UK industry are using this • Native 3D models. A compliant IDP will demonstrate how the software from architecture requirements outlined in the EIR’s will be and engineering to heavy reg- • .DWG, often in a specified version. met. Prevalent information will include: ulated industries such as rail.” IFC.• • The project implementation plan. For many organisations collaborating with the common data environment is not an issue, it PDF.• • Project goals for collaboration and can often be a very manual process for task information modelling. team managers to issue approved informa- COBie.• tion. Preparing models and documentation for • Major project milestones. issuing, uploading to CDE and populating all The stipulated formats help to communicate the meta data can be laborious and if it gets content via data drops that are aligned to the • Product Information Model deliverable rejected, the process has to start again. various work stages. This is a job for the last strategy. day of the week, month or when all that data If your business runs several projects in par- has been gathered, but with a requirement An EIR is typically split into three sections: allel, you will know how much of a challenge in industry to get access to data earlier, this Technical, Management and Commercial. In it is to control software versions. With soft- historic process needs to change. this article, we are going to focus on certain ware authors allowing end users to have areas within these categories from software multiple versions on their device, it presents There are many standards in industry but if platforms, data exchange formats and col- an opportunity for someone to open a file in we pay consideration to BS EN ISO 19650, it laboration. We are also going to look at data the wrong version. As most will be aware of can present a challenge to understand it all.

52 COMMERCIAL PROFILE COMPLIANCE

DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDS REQUIREMENTS POLICIES REGULATIONS

Graitec Group

In many cases, we see a dedicated document does this save time but also it reduces the your data, have better control on the work in controller that’s responsible for ensuring risk of data being rejected in the CDE. progress, automate standards and share standard processes and BIM compliancy is data to the CDE’s in real time then Cabinet is met. This all adds to non-billable hours and Cabinet can help to control the version of a must. To find out more we are running a has a potential effect on margins. Revit or AutoCAD used on a project so there live webinar on the 4th June 2019 click here is no need to worry about any file being to find out more about Cabinet. There are many factors that affect profit mar- opened in a newer version. gins but typically we see two main factors. Click here to find out more about Cabinet. Firstly, do we have a strong brand where we “When a file is opened in a can charge a premium for our product or ser- more recent version of soft- vice? And secondly, where this is not the case, ware (which does not comply we then have to look at how we do things to the EIR) then a lot of time and seek efficiency or productivity gains. and effort is required amending that back to its original Graitec’ s Cabinet electronic data manage- state. Time that is not billable!” ment software helps with exactly that and can drastically reduce the non-valued, non-bill- With this controlled approach, we can focus able activity. With its built-in BS EN ISO 19650 on quality and one of the biggest efficiencies workflows, we help users to comply to BIM gains we can bring is the automation of file Level 2 but without the time-consuming task, naming in accordance to BS EN ISO 19650. Graitec energy and resource making sure its correct. Tel: (023) 8086 8947 Don’t just take our word for it. Many of the enquiries@graitec.co.uk Where .IFC, .DWG and .PDF is a requirement leading names in UK industry are using this in the IDP. Cabinet software can automate software from architecture and engineering this file save as process upon workflow states to heavy regulated industries such as rail. If from review, approve and share. Not only you are looking to improve the structure of

53 Construction connectivity: Getting back to basics Technology such as drones, robotics and 3D printing oﬀer huge potential for construction but the sites of the future cannot become a reality until the industry conquers the basics of construction connectivity, argues Nick Sacke, head of IoT and products at Comms365

he European construction industry is continuing to demonstrate encouraging growth, with Deloitte forecasting that the market is on track Tto grow at a steady rate of 2.5% a year to 2022. With this continued growth, ﬁrms face increasing pressure to deliver against rising demand, but it’s widely recognised that the construction industry has a reputation for often delivering projects later than expected and signiﬁcantly over-budget.

Large-scale projects in particular can typically take 20% Nick Sacke longer to complete than planned and can be up to 80% over-budget – so how can the industry adapt to cloud-based solutions, the way we work and interact fulfil these ever-expanding expectations when current has drastically changed. Technology innovation has efficiency levels often leave a lot to be desired? led industries to continually strive to be more efficient, productive and cost-effective. Yet, when it comes to “The construction industry cannot the world of construction, investment in IT has continue to utilise outdated processes and remained low in comparison to other industries. management methods but instead must embrace digital advances and adopt The market has been hampered by technical smarter processes and technology to stay challenges relating to projects that can be large, competitive.” complex and geographically dispersed. Combined with varying proficiency and maturity levels of smaller The adoption of new technology and smarter subcontractors, advancing at scale has been difficult processes can deliver tangible benefits for construc- and has subsequently led to the slow progress of tion firms, but there remains a fundamental stumbling the digitisation of the construction industry. block for those organisations looking to capitalise on new innovation – a frequent lack of high speed, Despite these challenges, the available technology in portable and reliable internet connectivity. It is there- construction has advanced rapidly and we are now fore imperative that the industry addresses these key starting to see examples of how advents in digital issues as a matter of urgency so that firms can gain technology can deliver efficiency and productivity access to the connectivity they need at new sites from opportunities at the start of all projects – truly day one. revolutionising the construction sites of the past. Drones, robotics, 3D printing and augmented reality The construction site of the future are no longer works of fiction but can be adopted by With rapid advances in technology and the advent of forward-thinking firms looking to capitalise on the 54 benefits that embracing innovation can bring to the future will ever become a reality unless the industry construction site. can conquer the basics of connectivity.

Construction connectivity is essential So, how can construction firms ensure that a strong Connectivity is a necessity for businesses in virtually and stable connection is established quickly at a new every industry and construction is no exception. site to ensure lack of connectivity does not negatively Crucially, this is still one fundamental hurdle that impact on projects? By working with an ecosystem of the industry must overcome if it is to create a solid experienced and trusted providers who can supply foundation for all new innovation. the connectivity and IoT services that sites require. The industry will then be able to continually benefit Technology that is crucial for the industry to innovate from the opportunities that the latest advances in and keep up with demand cannot function without innovation present. The potential rewards to firms high speed, portable and reliable internet connection, that capitalise on digitisation will be instantaneous. ■ but gaining access to connectivity can be a challenge for new sites, particularly those that are located in a green or brownfield location where there is typically no existing connection. Often, a fixed line is simply not an option and the reliability of 4G is still patchy, even as talk around the possibilities of 5G continue to dominate the headlines...... Nick Sacke Conclusion Head of IoT & Products The construction industry cannot continue to utilise Comms365 outdated processes and management methods but Tel: +44 (0)1234 865880 instead must embrace digital advances and adopt www.comms365.com smarter processes and technology to stay competitive. But there is no way that the construction sites of the 55 COMMERCIAL PROFILE

IES case study: NTU EcoCampus, Singapore

IES delivered a 3D masterplanning and visualisation model, along with virtual testing and building performance optimisation, for Nanyang Technological University (NTU)’s 250-hectare ﬂagship EcoCampus

elivered in two phases, the project IES and NTU worked together on this project (iCIM) for communication and engagement used IES’ innovative ICL (Intelligent in a highly symbiotic and collaborative relation- with campus staff and students was also cre- Communities Lifecycle) technology to ship. Through on-site and offsite support, IES ated and connected to the masterplanning Dprovide high-level visualisation and analysis of provided access to its latest ICL technology, model for automatic updates. testbed energy reduction technologies on site, alongside associated high-level training and before delving into detailed simulation and consulting. Meanwhile, NTU has given valuable “The possibility to quickly calibrated modelling of 21 campus buildings. technology feedback and provided a large- assess energy saving options scale, real-life implementation opportunity. through innovative technolo- NTU firstly wanted to understand, at the gies across the campus was a campus level, which testbed solutions were Phase 1 of the project concentrated on creat- great value addition from this performing the best, and to identify the opti- ing a masterplanning (iCD) model of the collaboration with IES.” mum scale and location for their deployment. EcoCampus, complete with energy signatures for each building on the campus. The masterplanning model was then used as The EcoCampus initiative covers the whole of a baseline to simulate and analyse testbed NTU’s 200-hectare campus and the adjoining The model was accurate to 91% for total technologies, ranging from improved thermal 50-hectare JTC Corporation CleanTech Business energy consumption and 97% for chiller performance of the building envelope to light- Park. There are over 200 buildings on site with energy consumption. A corresponding online ing sensors, chiller optimisation and smart a 1.1m m² floor area. cloud-based Campus Information Model plugs that turn equipment off out of hours.

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Overall, these combined measures reduced temperatures, faulty energy consumption Nilesh Y. Jadhav, programme director, energy consumption across the campus by meters, and staff offices and meeting rooms EcoCampus @NTU 10%, saving $3.9M and 8.2kt of carbon. temperature setting issues. To find out more about IES and their new ICL IES’ expertise in the analysis of building Virtual models were then created in the IES technology, visit www.iesve.com/icl performance became even more essential as Virtual Environment (VE) for each of the 21 the project moved into Phase 2 – the imple- buildings and calibrated using the operational https://www.iesve.com/ntu-singapore mentation phase of the project – where the data. These closely calibrated models estab- best solutions from the Phase 1 testbed were lished an accurate baseline for the existing chosen and applied. buildings in operation, enabling IES to Com- pare and determine potential savings for a Using real operational data from utilities and range of technologies in the Invest stage. NTU’s Building Management Systems (BMS), IES were able to assess and identify oppor- A selection of new technologies relating to tunities to achieve optimal performance in building envelope, lighting and occupancy existing buildings across the campus, using its sensors, plug load management and innovative Ci2 (Collect, Investigate, Compare, high-performing optimised chillers were Invest) process. simulated using the calibrated models to determine potential savings. The results During the Collect and Investigate stage, demonstrated that, if installed in the build- building information was gathered and oper- ings, these technologies could achieve 31% ational data imported into IES’ operational average energy savings and a total cost saving Integrated Environmental Solutions LTD data management and analysis tool, iSCAN, of approximately $4.7m. Tel: +44 (0)141 945 8500 to investigate issues/faults across a selection [email protected] of 21 buildings on the NTU campus. This “The possibility to quickly assess energy www.iesve.com brought to attention issues including: low saving options through innovative technolo- and high CO2 levels, unstable off-coil temper- gies across the campus was a great value atures, lower than expected return air addition from this collaboration with IES.” -

57 The challenges of building defect-free homes Oﬀsite construction can contribute to improvements in delivering better quality buildings, according to a report that calls for urgent changes in the culture and processes of housing construction. Ron Alalouﬀ of TRADA reviews its conclusions

he Housing Forum brought together experts from across the supply chain to consider the main risks of current methods of developing andT refurbishing residential property. Its conclusions cover the whole process from project set up to handover on completion.

The report, Stopping Building Failures, identiﬁed several key problems:

• Regulations and guidance that are complex and unclear.

• A lack of clarity around roles and responsibilities.

• A race to the bottom in procurement.

The Housing Forum study is centred on three key areas:

• Procuring for quality.

• Harnessing innovation to prevent defects.

• Building defect-free homes.

Procuring for quality: Recommendation 2 says clients should procure The recommendations projects using contracts that support integrated Under procuring for quality, Recommendation 1 is teams, promote value and develop tight performance that projects should be set up to reflect clear value specifications. This includes adopting fair, simple and judgements linked to initial cost plans. This vision transparent procurement processes and enabling should include aspirations for development, profit early contractor involvement in design, using tender and contingency that must be agreed at the outset processes that help meet project objectives. The by the entire project team and should be a “golden focus is on quality and how it will be delivered, thread” that ties-in initial (and costed) quality incorporating more prescriptive specifications to aspirations right through to delivery. avoid a drive down to minimum standards. 58 Recommendation 3 urges industry and clients to tions throughout the project to enable improved work together to develop new materials, techniques coordination and provide the opportunity for better and training to help clients gain a better understand- facilities management and collaboration. ing of the appointment and briefing process. Key to the timber construction sector is Recommen- “Pervasive reports of building failures in dation 6, which calls for early consideration of how both new build and refurbishment and Design for Manufacture & Assembly (DfMA) and maintenance of existing stock are Modern Methods of Construction can be used to undermining consumer confidence. In an reduce workload and improve productivity and era when large housing associations and safety on site. councils will be embarking on major housing construction projects ... it is Defect-free homes essential the housing construction sector Critical changes that would improve quality assurance addresses and resolves the issue of quality.” processes on site include:

Recommendation 4 calls on the insurance sector, Greater emphasis and training for on-site inspection construction industry and government to work methods, particularly for those managing construction together to further develop integrated project insur- projects (Recommendation 7). ance procurement as a means of driving integrated teams and project efficiencies, and to provide More use of clerks of works to provide impartiality sustainable financial margins for firms. and a quality safety net; more funding to train people for this profession (Recommendation 8). Recommendation 5 urges the wider adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM) to provide a Greater use of technology to document construction continuous record of decisions, actions and transac- quality, such as the use of tablets and software on 59 site; BIM and imaging and sensors to provide evidence bring about a much- needed culture change so that that work has been completed to standard all homes get built the way they are designed, to the (Recommendation 9). highest quality standards?

Clients making the development of skills, such as the “Pervasive reports of building failures in both new training of apprentices, part of the selection criteria build and refurbishment and maintenance of existing to help plug the skills gap (Recommendation 10). stock are undermining consumer conﬁdence. In an era when large housing associations and councils will Greater clarity about project team roles including be embarking on major housing construction projects the role of clerk of the works to maintain the golden ... it is essential the housing construction sector thread of project quality (Recommendation 11). addresses and resolves the issue of quality.”

Greater use of pilots or benchmark samples/mock- Commenting on the report, Nigel Ostime, project ups to assess quality of workmanship when choosing delivery director at Hawkins/Brown, said improve- suppliers (Recommendation 12). ments in quality and productivity can be significantly enhanced with offsite manufacture, including the use Longer-term recommendations of timber frame and CLT. The report calls for tighter controls on the competencies of the workforce to raise quality. This “The report sets out 14 recommendations running includes mandatory licensing of people working in through the whole project process. A key message is life-critical trades, such as passive fire protection and the need for procurement reform, without which it structural systems, and over time, the widening of will be difficult to effect change, and in particular the this requirement to other construction trades. need to design for manufacture and assembly rather than traditional construction,” he said. Key to a better inspection regime would be the introduction of ‘hold points’ in the construction process, “It also highlights the benefits of modern methods of whereby critical stages would be checked and verified construction and greater use of off-site to improve by independent quality inspectors before further both quality and productivity. This includes timber work can proceed. This could be tied to the payment frame and cross-laminated timber, which also have process for the main contractor and sub-contractor. benefits in reducing carbon.” ■

“The tragic events that unfolded at Grenfell Tower have brought failings across construction into even sharper focus,” says the introduction to the Housing Forum report...... “What has become clear is an urgent need to change TRADA culture and processes.” Tel: +44 (0)1494 569603 [email protected] Grenfell will be the catalyst for changes that many in www.trada.co.uk the sector would say are long overdue. But alongside the regulatory reforms that must ensue, how can we 60 COMMERCIAL PROFILE

Paper diaries vs digital diaries in construction

Even though both paper diaries and digital diaries in construction both have their pros and cons, the pros outweigh the cons on digital. In the industry today, site workers see ﬁlling paper diaries as a real pain

t is the end of the day and you have written down all the occurrences on site for the day. You have also recorded some visitor informationI and other things related to the project you are working on for quick referencing. Other members of the team are not aware of these events that you have written down so now, you have to bring this information to the office for it to be reviewed and approved by the site manager. This process takes a lot of time hence most people don’t do it. Site work- • Can easily get lost or damaged. Whenever you need an old diary entry, just ers who use paper diaries have to go through use the search bar or filters to find it. No this process on a daily basis. • Cannot be used for collaboration. more wasting time search file cabinets for old diaries. The Site Diary app will solve this problem, • Nothing can be automated, eg weather. which field workers face every day. Site Diary We make event reporting on your field replaces existing paper diaries, daily records One of the biggest barriers to digital diaries projects quicker, simpler and smarter. or journals, where leaders record events that in construction is the upfront cost and the occurred on their projects. Events that are offline availability as most sites are in remote To find out more about Site Diary: recorded are synchronised in real-time with areas with little to no connectivity. https://sitediary.com/ all members of the team, therefore, events can be approved quickly and issues can be That is why we made the Site Diary app resolved much faster. available for offline use. Therefore, the app will display existing events and store any What are the pros and cons new events added. All the data will be of using paper? synchronised automatically once the worker Pros is connected to the internet. Plus, Site Diary • Easy to use and fill out. app comes at a low entry fee.

• No training is required to get started. With Site Diary app, the weather report is Khaldon Evans automatically recorded based on your Product Owner • Paper cost cents to print. location or the site location. Plus, you can Site Diary attach as many photos as you would like to Tel: +33 2 30 96 20 69 Cons a diary entry. [email protected] • Very long process to remember what www.sitediary.com happened, fill and store. Data is automatically backed-up and stored www.twitter.com/mobilesitediary securely in the cloud, enabling collaboration • Photos are not linked to an event. between users on-site and in the office.

61 COMMERCIAL PROFILE

Adding value to cold roll-formed steel for construction and manufacturing voestalpine Metsec plc is the UK’s largest specialist in cold roll-formed steel, providing products for the construction and manufacturing industries

he company, based in Sandwell, focuses Headquartered in Oldbury, Metsec has to achieve the standard for design and on adding value through expert design, supplied products and design services to construction in the UK. precision manufacturing and on-time, landmark projects, including the Queensferry in-fullT product delivery. Crossing, Abu Dhabi airport, Resorts World, In addition, last year Metsec was announced Wimbledon, BBC Wales studios and Glasgow as one of the first six companies globally to Established more than 85 years ago as a cold Velodrome, along with a host of retail achieve the new PAS 1192-2 kitemark from roll-forming company, Metsec provides sites, sports stadia, hotels and student the British Standards Institution (BSI) relating purlins, steel framing, cable management, accommodation. to BIM, and the only tier two company to be dry lining and custom roll-forming to its broad awarded the accreditation. range of customers. Originally founded in BIM 1931, it is now part of the metal forming A champion of Building Information Modelling The kitemark is a way for construction division of voestalpine group, a global (BIM), Metsec holds BIM Level 2 accreditation, businesses around the world to prove their technology group. the first tier two designer and manufacturer capabilities in delivering projects at the

62 COMMERCIAL PROFILE

voestalpine Metsec plc headquarters in Oldbury Smithfield Square, a BIM designed project from Metsec design and construction phase and acts as a accompanying accessories, giving customers Accreditations seal of approval for companies qualified to flexibility when specifying. Metsec is accredited to ISO 9001, BS OHSAS deliver projects at both the design and 18001 and was the first cold roll-forming construction phase. “A champion of Building specialist to operate an Integrated Manage- Information Modelling (BIM), ment System certified by BSI that complies Purlins Metsec holds BIM Level 2 with the requirements of PAS 99. Metsec Metsec’s purlins division is the UK’s largest accreditation, the first tier acknowledges that sustainability is a respon- designer and manufacturer of light gauge two designer and manufac- sibility not a choice and in recognition of galvanised steel purlins, side rails and mez- turer to achieve the standard ongoing efforts has received certifications for zanine flooring systems and has provided for design and construction in BES 6001 ensuring all products are made purlins solutions to a number of sports the UK.” with material that has been responsibly stadia, retailers and major airports and rail sourced. The company is also accredited stations in the UK and the Middle East. Custom roll forming to ISO 14001 and part of the BCSA Steel Metsec specialises in the bespoke manufacture Construction Sustainability Charter. Steel framing of custom roll-formed steel sections, and a vari- Metsec is the market leader in light gauge, ety of additional engineering services including galvanised steel structural framing systems. profile manipulation, drilling laser processes Metsec’s offsite framing solution, Metframe, and welding, enabling complete solutions to delivers considerable time and cost savings be undertaken for a wide range of construc- and has been used on several construction tion, industrial and automotive applications. projects, such as Gosford Gate student accommodation, Palmerston School and Dry lining CATS College Canterbury. Metsec’s dry lining division designs, manufactures and supplies light gauge, non-load Cable management bearing cold-rolled formed metal products Metsec cable management manufactures for use in partitioning, dry lining and ceiling voestalpine Metsec plc cable containment and support systems for systems. As a result of extensive research and Tel: +44 (0)121 601 6000 the mechanical and electrical services industry. development, combined with high volume [email protected] Products include both pre- and post-gal- advanced manufacturing techniques, all www.metsec.com vanised cable ladders, cable trays, cable trunk- Metsec dry lining systems conform to the ing and metal framing systems. As a bespoke latest British and European standards. solutions provider, Metsec provides the

63 Image: © Collaborative spaces as showcased in AECOM’s spaces as showcased Image: © Collaborative Hufton + Crow London headquarters. Photography:

The office is dead. Long live the office. Nicola Gillen of AECOM explores how emerging technology and changing needs will shape the next generation of workplace design

espite frequent predictions of its demise, With four generations in the workplace for the first the office is a space that continues to evolve time, we also need offices that support and adapt to and endure, and remains a central part of the needs and talents of all those who work there, ourD working lives. fostering constructive interaction and collaboration. As the world around us shifts, so too must the But, the office and people’s ways of working are approach of those who design, build and maintain changing significantly. Digital technologies are rapidly our physical and virtual offices. reshaping what we do and how our workplaces need to be conceived, built and operated. Driven by For generations, the construction industry has automation and artificial intelligence (AI), the Fourth followed a ‘linear economy’ model with materials Industrial Revolution means that some jobs will and resources mined, manufactured, used and then cease to exist in the coming years while others will thrown away. With the global demand for resources be created. surging, raw materials becoming harder to extract 64 Innovation purely for innovation’s sake quickly dates. What matters most is ensuring that the latest technologies deployed in workplaces support users, enabling them to work more efficiently together. To that end, with more of us equipped to work on the move, there’s a growing need for flexible workplaces designed to bridge the gap between home and more traditional workspaces. This, in turn, is having a profound effect on the wider market for office space, both financially and physically.

“A workplace purposely designed around wellbeing must reach beyond the physical and environmental aspects of wellbeing, such as noise, light and indoor climate, to include social and psychological dimensions.”

Unsurprisingly, the shift to more agile working is influencing the future of office design, where a range of formal and informal areas for meetings and collaborative work are interspersed with quieter areas, delivering a wide variety of task-specific workspaces and, crucially, providing valued staff with choice and autonomy. Nicola Gillen Building on this, the increasing prevalence of sensors in workplace fixtures, fittings and equipment is and the threats of climate change increasing, this already helping offices to adapt to their users’ needs, status quo cannot hold. for example, through learning and responding to people’s individual preferences for light levels and The circular economy model offers an alternative, temperature. And, in the future, new technologies more sustainable, ‘regenerative’ approach, prioritising could help to make collaboration and individual work the retention and refurbishment of buildings over even more efficient. Wearables will enable more per- demolition, and designing for the separation and sonalisation of space, and voice and mood sensors reuse of materials at the end of a building’s life. in office buildings could recognise the energy of impromptu conversations between colleagues and By designing buildings with more modular elements ‘bring the meeting space to the people’ through a that can be deconstructed, adapted and reconstructed, temporary acoustic bubble. we can extend their life and enable resources to be salvaged and reused. Organisations increasingly recognise that their people are their most expensive and valuable asset. Similarly, ensuring greater energy efficiency must be But understanding and measuring the impact of a priority for next-generation workplaces, not just to workplace environmental factors on issues such as reduce costs but also to meet global emissions employee motivation, satisfaction, productivity targets. As a result, the future of office power will be and mental health is a complex task. A workplace electric, with more buildings generating their own purposely designed around wellbeing must reach power via built-in solar panels and using low carbon beyond the physical and environmental aspects of and energy efficient solutions, such as heat pumps wellbeing, such as noise, light and indoor climate, to and heat recovery. include social and psychological dimensions. 65 and productivity. Moveable furniture and partitions make spaces adaptable for different uses and a robust, resilient IT infrastructure supports agile working.

Engaging HMRC employees and giving them a clear understanding of the beneﬁts of the locations programme was critical to success. The Croydon Hub was the result of HMRC’s long-term interest in, and evolution of, new ways of working.

“Innovation purely for innovation’s sake quickly dates. What matters most is ensuring that the latest technologies deployed in workplaces support users, enabling them to work more eﬃciently together.”

This is a pivotal moment for the office – this most familiar of spaces is undergoing significant and extensive change as we enter the next chapter in its history. Workplace designers, developers, occupiers and users need to understand how these changes For example, designs should address the diverse fac- will impact future workplaces and their own tors that comprise a person’s wellbeing: encouraging working lives. them not just to move around the office, including using the stairs; but also providing large and small The themes of buildings, technology, people and spaces for socialising, relaxing or quiet chats – to delivery are explored in our new book Future Office: boost creativity and community. In addition, the Next Generation Workplace Design, published by spaces need to be ergonomic and at a human RIBA Publishing. The collaborative work of 12 experts scale, engender a sense of pride and belonging, and in their fields, the book includes real-life workplace provide welcoming, comfortable team areas that and office design projects from across the world to express team identity. identify lessons for the future. ■

HMRC’s transformation programme is committed to the biggest modernisation of the UK tax system in a generation, and involves making fundamental changes to way HMRC works – becoming a more highly skilled, flexible and tech-enabled organisation. As part of this, HMRC is delivering phase one of the Government Hub programme – which, led by the Government Property Agency, is consolidating Civil ...... Service offices across the UK into fewer, larger, Nicola Gillen multi-occupied buildings easily reached by public Workplace Market Sector Lead – Europe, transport. Middle East & Africa AECOM HMRC’s Croydon Regional Centre is the first such Tel: +44 (0)20 7061 7000 facility. Equipped to support over 2,700 HMRC staff, [email protected] it is helping replace HMRC’s ageing network of offices www.aecom.com with high-quality modern, accessible and inclusive workspaces designed to boost collaboration, wellbeing 66 Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield Model Checking & Clash Detection Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has three main ways in which they use the rules-based checking inside Solibri Model Checker; space and dimension checks, model revisions comparison, and data validation.

– Space & Dimension Checks Running space and dimension checks in Solibri Model Checker is a quick and easy way for the team to ensure that it is adhering to project standards and regulations, while coordinating various disciplines’ models. For Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, who are continuously developing multi-purpose facilities, this is an important aspect of model checking undertake on projects.

– Model Revisions Comparison At each design gateway, the team at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield issue a revision comparison report to Design Managers, as well as internally checking and verifying these results and displaying during the design review meetings.

– Data Validation A key topic when discussing model checking and configuration of rulesets for checking data is ‘consistency’ – and this is something Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield are grasping and nailing when it comes to the checks it runs internally. During our interview with Lucas and Lewis, it became apparent that there was a clear message being passed through Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s projects, a message that ensures consistency and discipline at every stage to allow for a data-rich and accurate federated model.

The team has developed rulesets for checking naming and tagging within its models, with live feeds and referencing to a database of codes/tags in the pipeline, which allows for further checking and verification of the data.

‘‘Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s investment in BIM and technology goes far beyond keeping abreast with our competitors. We’ve seen real value and returns in its application which plays a vital role in facing the challenges involved in the design and construction of complex projects. The resulting information models allow us to harness the power of data ‘‘ giving greater control over our built assets as well as enabling collaboration within our diverse range of business units.

Keith Whitmore, Head of Design & Construction UK/Italy and Co-Director of Construction Management Europe

WWW.SOLIBRI.COM SOLIBRI CASE STUDY | UNIBAIL-RODAMCO-WESTFIELD COMMERCIAL PROFILE

Fasteners and ﬁxings to ﬁx the construction crisis

The UK’s construction industry is seemingly on the cusp of crisis point, with many different factors causing projects to slow and impact efficiency. Vincent Matthews, marketing manager at SFS, discusses how fasteners and fixings can raise productivity once again and help keep construction work on track

he challenges faced by the construction BIM (sharing graphical and non-graphical industry are widely acknowledged. information digitally), through to 4D BIM Even though construction contributed (which adds time-related scheduling data), £113bnT to the UK economy in 2017, according 8D BIM is now emerging. to research from Parliament UK, it is impacted by many different issues, and there While the intention is for the greater good, could be even more difficult times ahead. implementation is far from perfect, with architects and specifiers relying on BIM-enabled One of the biggest issues for construction is manufacturers. Suppliers are also racing to poor productivity. Common factors that lead provide BIM information to their entire back into this are delays in equipment being catalogue of products – a task that is much TDBL fastener delivered to site, poor weather, not ordering easier said than done. enough materials, and not specifying the right product from suppliers. While the future may sometimes seem Cleverly engineered fixings can yield efficien- unpromising, and the answers to these ‘big cies that are somewhat hidden to the naked Further hampering productivity is the ongoing picture’ challenges are not immediately clear, eye and often aren’t considered. skills shortage. According to the Chartered Insti- there are different methods of speeding up tute of Building (CIOB), the UK needs to find construction. One key aspect is through the Take, for instance, the SXC5 fastener, one of 157,000 new recruits by 2021 in order to keep specification and use of fixings, fasteners and the latest generations of self-drilling compos- up with demand. Brexit is set to compound this the products used on site. ite fasteners from SFS. The tip of the fixing issue even more. With a lack of available labour itself has been re-engineered to have an to fulfil the work, projects are falling behind, Faster fixings, engineered optimised tip geometry that helps with easy and costs are going up. for efficiency setting, enabling installers to drive the fixing Fasteners and fixings are arguably seen by into the material they are fixing onto quicker. Then there’s the digital transformation being many as one of the most unremarkable com- imposed on all layers of construction, ponents of a construction project. Most will Fixings are also commonly subjected to ‘over- through the likes of government schemes like view them as simply a means to an end of driving’. This is when the fixings are overtight- Digital Britain and the need to work smarter fixing down other larger materials, the fash- ened, causing damage to the substrate, as with new technology. The initiative aims to ionable products like floors, walls, ceilings well as the fixing itself. Once this happens, it transform how construction comes together, and panels. The ‘showpieces’ of construction can compromise whole sections of the build- placing more emphasis on BIM (building materials, so to speak. ing fabric, and ultimately may need removal information modelling). and replacement, adding on capital costs, Yet, with hundreds upon thousands used labour time and money. This isn’t a slow-moving beast either, and the every day on construction sites around the use of BIM has progressed rapidly. From 3D nation, they really are the ‘everyday hero’. However, there are easy ways to prevent this

68 COMMERCIAL PROFILE

SXC5 fastener scenario through the right fasteners. The SDK Less is more will be different, and to realise efficiencies fastener, for example, is another self-drilling It’s not just innovation in the way fixings are during the installation processes and to fastener that has a unique design. It features designed that can produce efficiencies. minimise failures, there needs to be careful a square drive that is held in a special drive Building support frames, like cladding and selection of the materials used. bar. When the fastener reaches a pre-deter- rainscreen brackets, have also evolved to mined torque the peg snaps-off, ensuring make installation more economical in time For more about SFS, please visit the fastener is installed correctly. and labour, and are further supported by www.sfsintec.co.uk . online tools such as NVELOPE’s Project Another innovative fastener from SFS is the Builder, which can help with project and TDBL. This self-threading fastener can be material calculations for building envelopes. inserted into punched holes to fix thin to thick metal structures together, and is highly Another great example is the flat roofing suitable for awkward areas such as box fixing solution for fall protection systems like sections and ‘blind’ fixings. Until the TDBL, the Soter II Horizontal Lifeline system. When putting pre-drilled supports together was a fixing these systems to roofs, gravity toggles time-consuming task, requiring standard have been the industry standard, but instal- bolts, washers and nuts, with accessibility lation can sometimes be tricky. The toggles required from both sides, which is not can sometimes become entangled in insula- always possible. In extreme cases, this can tion or temperamental when deploying the lead to the project needing to be taken back anchor to secure the system to the flat roof. to the structural engineering stage, incurring Now though, manufacturers are offering a huge costs. sleeve fastener option. Indeed, the Soter II system can be secured using just eight sleeve Vincent Matthews There are many more unique ways in which fasteners, which is a much simpler and Marketing Manager fasteners can speed up the process for quicker method. SFS Group Fastening Technology Ltd installers when they are on site. Crucially, to Tel: +44 (0)113 2085 500 get optimised fastener performance, it is Fasteners for every [email protected] imperative that the industry at all levels are application www.sfsintec.co.uk involved in new product development to With fasteners, there should never be a help solve common challenges. one-size-fits-all approach. Each application

69 Benefits of light steel framing Andrew Way, an associate director at the Steel Construction Institute, discusses how light steel framing can deliver fast, adaptable and cost-eﬀective buildings

ne of the main advantages of light steel A typical light steel project during construction is framing is its versatility and the range of shown in Figure 5. building types for which it can be used. OApplications of light steel framing range from The option to use composite floor slabs supported low-rise housing to multi-storey, multi-occupancy by the light steel walls (as shown in Figure 6) is developments, including panelised structural frames, popular in some sectors. In this case, the floor slab is external infill walling systems and fully finished offsite typically 150mm to 180mm deep using profiled steel modular construction. The range of building types is decking with in-situ concrete and spans up to 5.5m indicated by the projects shown in Figures 1 to 4. when propped temporarily during construction. Not only is the self-weight half of that of a concrete flat The wide range of applications is in addition to the slab but it is shallower and provides for routing of benefits one would expect with a modern construction ducts suspended from the decking. method: rapid speed of construction, high quality and performance, excellent safety and cost-effectiveness. “The benefits of offsite manufacture and of light steel framing in particular come to A major sector for light steel framing is four to eight- the fore in urban residential projects that storey residential buildings and mixed-use buildings often involve a mixture of town houses often comprising commercial space and car parking and larger apartment buildings.” at the lower levels. In these cases, the lightweight characteristic of the construction system is crucial to Both joisted and composite floors often use slim minimising the loads on the supporting structure. floor beams that are integrated within the floor zone to create more open plan space, which is particularly Forms of construction useful in care homes and in lobby areas. Concrete Light steel framing comprises galvanised cold-formed C and steel stairs are generally delivered as part of sections of 70mm to 100mm depth in the wall panels, the light steel package and are integrated into the and 150mm to 300mm deep C sections or lattice joists Building Information Model (BIM) provided by the in the floors. Spans of up to 6m can be achieved, which light steel supplier. can eliminate internal load-bearing walls and therefore leads to flexibility in internal space planning. The structural performance of cold-formed sections enable their use in a wide variety of applications. A The prefabricated wall panels are typically storey- light steel C section of only 1.5mm thickness can sup- height (ie 2.7m to 3.2m) and up to 8m long, depend- port up to 50kN in compression. Structural bracing is ing on transportation and lifting. A house can be integrated into the walls for stability so that medium- constructed from as little as 12 wall panels and up to rise buildings do not require additional cores. Efficient four houses or large apartments can be delivered design solutions are achieved by selecting the steel per lorry. The floors can be installed in the form of thickness and configuration of sections to suit the prefabricated floor cassettes, or as individual joists. specific loading conditions. 70 Urban developments Mixed-use developments The benefits of offsite manufacture and of light Mixed-use developments generally comprise com- steel framing in particular come to the fore in urban mercial or retail space at the lower levels and residen- residential projects that often involve a mixture of tial units above. A good example is where three- or town houses and larger apartment buildings. Figure 8 four-storey housing is constructed over retail space, shows a city centre hotel using light steel frame such as supermarkets in urban areas. The mixed construction. The advantages that are sought by the nature of the project may be required for planning client and contractor are: reasons or to maximise the return from the land use.

• A packaged construction system in which all the structural components are designed, delivered and installed by one supplier.

• An integrated BIM model is prepared by the supplier, which links to the architect’s model and can be used and added to by the main contractor and client.

“The wide range of applications is in addition to the beneﬁts one would expect with a modern construction method: Figure 1 rapid speed of construction, high quality and performance, excellent safety and cost-eﬀectiveness.”

• Minimising deliveries and storage space in congested inner-city sites. This is achieved by ‘just in time delivery’ to site. Panels are colour-coded or labelled so they can be easily identiﬁed.

• Minimising loads on the foundations and any supporting structure, and also when constructing over tunnels or on brownﬁeld sites or roof-top extensions. Figure 2

• A versatile construction system that is eﬃcient for housing and for residential buildings up to 10-storey buildings.

• High quality in terms of geometrical accuracy and freedom from any long-term movements due to creep and shrinkage, so eliminating call backs.

• Good sustainability rating based on a range of environmental criteria. Light steel framing can be designed for low U-values and scores A+ or A under the BRE Green Guide. All steel components can be recycled and building extensions can be Figure 3 made easily in the future. 71 The key requirement is a lightweight super-structure with the ability to span between the transfer beams and to be sufficiently robust to tolerate differential deflections of the supports. Light steel framing has proved to be the perfect solution as it weighs less than 100kg/m2 per floor while achieving spans of up to 6m between beams.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) The light steel framing industry is leading the way in BIM, which is essential to the manufacturing process and eliminates problems on site, especially with Figure 4 interfaces to other components. In light steel framing, a 3D model of the structure of the building is created in IFC format and is shared with the project architect during the formative stages of design.

“A major sector for light steel framing is four to eight-storey residential buildings and mixed-use buildings often comprising commercial space and car parking at the Figure 5 lower levels.”

It is important that the light steel supplier is appointed early in order to be able to maximise the beneﬁts of an integrated BIM model (see Figure 9). From this, the light steel supplier produces panel drawings for their manufacture and also for the other components, such as steel beams and stair units, which are integrated into the model. This enables a consistent geometry and interfaces with other key parts of the building, such as façades and services. Clashes are identiﬁed and solved at this stage. The main contractor or project architect would Figure 6 often take on the BIM model and manage subsequent updates so that it is available to the client and facilities manager.

Technical expertise The Steel Construction Institute (SCI) has over 25 years of R&D experience in the light steel sector and works with leading light steel frame suppliers to prepare design guidance on structural design, acoustics, fire resistance, thermal performance and sustainability. The SCI has published a series of Technical Information Sheets to provide technical guidance to Figure 7 the sector. 72 It is clear from the marketplace that the future for light steel framing is based on the value benefits offered by single point procurement and integrated design and on responding to client drivers for rapid-build, lightweight and adaptable buildings.

“The light steel framing industry is leading the way in BIM, which is essential to the manufacturing process and eliminates problems on site, especially with interfaces to other components.”

Independent SCI product certification is beneficial for new systems to gain market acceptance and is tailored to suit typical light steel construction systems including: Cladding and roofing, External wall systems, Light steel framing and Modular.

Acknowledgements The Steel Construction Institute would like to thank the members of the Light Steel Forum (listed below) Figure 8 for their collaboration and for providing images and information. ■

• Ayrshire Metals • BW Industries • Etex Building Performance • Fusion Building Systems • Hadley Steel Framing • Kingspan Steel Building Solutions • Metek • Saint-Gobain • Sigmat • Vision-Built Manufacturing • voestalpine Metsec plc

Figure 9

...... Andrew Way Associate Director Steel Construction Institute Tel: +44 (0)1344 636525 www.steel-sci.com

Figure 10

73 COMMERCIAL PROFILE

5 challenges MEP estimators in the UK face today

Estimators need to be able to produce a high volume of consistently estimates without sacriﬁcing accuracy – but they face a number of challenges, from a lack of information to multiple, varied requests

onstruction estimating has always Steve Watt, an expert on construction workflow contractors will often have different expecta- been both an art and a science. There efficiency at Trimble, had this to say about con- tions for take-off and what they expect out of are plenty of hard facts to work with, ceptual estimates: “The prospect of winning a a bid or estimate. butC experience and intuition also play a sig- bid is appealing, but the reality of developing nificant role in taking the customer’s, archi- a budgetary estimate is far less attractive. While If stakeholders within the same project have tect’s and engineer’s inputs and combining conceptual estimates are extremely valuable conflicting expectations, you may even find them into a valid, accurate project estimate from an owner’s perspective, they can fail to yourself essentially creating two different and bid. Then, moving that forward into deliver a return on investment for contractors. estimates for the same project. This isn’t just material take-off adds another layer. Understandably, you may be inclined to time- and labour-intensive, it’s stressful and decline the offer to participate. inefficient. Additionally, the technology available to help with estimating projects continues to evolve, “Estimators need to be able to 3. Volume of bids adding a new learning curve to master. With produce a high volume of es- As noted earlier, the average MEP contracting an average of eight to ten bids being created timates consistently without company wins around 12.5% percent of the for every one your company wins, the sheer sacrificing accuracy. They need bids they submit. Meaning, of course, that volume of work keeps increasing as well. to be able to efficiently move you’re producing eight to ten bids for every from one bid to the next one that turns into revenue. To maintain Despite these challenges, customers expect without reinventing the wheel profitability under those conditions, most speed, accuracy, transparency and a profes- every time…” MEP estimators are producing approximately sionally presented bid. And you expect those 100 estimates per year. In some places or things from yourself. It’s safe to say MEP “But doing so doesn’t come without a cost. disciplines where competition is particularly estimators face a host of challenges today, Should you opt out at this early stage, you fierce, that number is much higher. whether they’re highly experienced or likely won’t be invited back later. And you not. We’ll discuss just five of these specific may hurt your reputation long term, too. It Considering the work involved in creating an challenges. can feel like a no-win situation. accurate and professionally presented bid or estimate, completing one every two or three 1. Starting with too little “The same principles apply anytime you’re days is a tall order. If you’re not approaching information asked to submit a valid estimate based on the estimating process efficiently, keeping up Whether you’ve been building estimates for too little information.” is going to be that much harder. decades or days, it’s always going to be daunting to try and pull together an estimate 2. Juggling different 4. Constant variation orders or bid based on too little information. For requirements Of course, if you could easily move from example, a conceptual estimate may be While the desired end result – an accurate estimate to estimate the volume described requested based on very loose project scope estimate of time, materials, and labour – is above might become easier as you gained and perhaps an architect’s initial drawings. the same each time, different customers and experience. But, that’s not the case.

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The back and forth of repeated variation approached similarly. While every project is and without being derailed by variation orders and RFIs from multiple projects different, it’s not necessary to start each orders and RFIs. Fortunately, these challenges means you’re likely spending at least a third estimate with a blank slate. But, if you’re still can be met and overcome by integrating of your working hours fielding these handling estimates and bids on paper, it can technology into the estimating process. requests. They may take seconds or hours, feel like that’s exactly what you’re doing. depending on the specifics, but they’re Ready to overcome these challenges? Browse always going to derail your train of thought “Despite these challenges, our extensive library of resources with useful and slow down the completion of whatever customers expect speed, guides and tips on estimating. you were working on when they suddenly accuracy, transparency and a became the priority. professionally presented bid.”

5. Reinventing the wheel We just covered five specific challenges MEP As you are undoubtedly aware, many of estimators in the UK face today, and there these challenges we’ve been discussing tend are plenty of issues we didn’t discuss in this to stack up. The volume of work alone would article. But you’ve probably identified some be challenging enough, but when you add in key patterns already, and they hold true for the variation orders coming left and right, the just about all the major issues you’re added difficulty of multiple requirements currently facing. Trimble MEP and the lack of vital information to work with, Tel: +44 (0)1908 608833 it can feel like a perfect storm. Estimators need to be able to produce a high constructible.trimble.co.uk volume of estimates consistently without Fortunately, every project estimate can and sacrificing accuracy. They need to be able to should contain the same general categories efficiently move from one bid to the next of information, and can usually be without reinventing the wheel every time,

75 Impact of big data on construction equipment Big data is already being used by the construction industry through the design, build and operate lifecycle. Focusing on the build phase of a project, weather, traﬃc and construction equipment can be analysed to determine optimal phasing of construction activities. Andrew Johnson of Operam takes a look

onstruction equipment is vital to all manufacturer and the customer as reputation construction projects. From power tools to moves fast in the construction industry and wasted large earthmoving plant equipment, they time costs money. greatlyC increase the productivity of individual workers. Manufacturers collect significant amounts of data There is fierce competition in the construction from individual sales, location, social media posts, industry and many construction equipment web searches and much more. They also gather data manufacturers are investigating or investing in new from the equipment, this could be engine output, technologies to enhance their line of equipment to hours run, performance, location and maintenance. provide a competitive edge. The main aim of collecting this data is to ensure the supply chain and the customers are happy. All this Earthmoving equipment is highly productive but can amount of data can amount to big data. be very expensive to manage and maintain, and work must be programmed to allow the equipment “The technology experts are now the to operate at maximum output throughout their critical assets and therefore big data will working day. not be the driving force. Rather, the construction industry itself will lead the There are manufacturers and suppliers still using innovation by applying contemporary legacy systems that work and who will be reluctant tools to solve topical issues.” to change, with others seeking new technologies to save time and reduce costs, while still providing Big data and construction equipment quality products for the customer. Construction Due to the growth in the market environment and equipment is a critical resource in any construction that of the continuous challenge of meeting the project, ranging from small power tools to large demands of the customer, with the constant shift of earthmoving equipment and is normally required in strategic decision-making requirements, which as all large quantities. led to the rise of the big data in businesses. Big data will play a fundamental role in the evolution, trans- There are many earthmoving manufacturers at the formation and performance evaluation measures forefront of developing sustainable earthmoving within any supply chain of organisations. equipment, which is safe, reliable, durable and efficient: Caterpillar, JCB and Volvo are trying to increase Already Volvo has unveiled an autonomous battery their growth in both business and their customers’ electric load carrier. The concept machine is part of a businesses. This is influenced by numerous factors, research project to transform the quarry and aggre- including reducing breakdown occurrence and gate industry by safely removing the human operator, unscheduled maintenance. This can hurt both the reducing carbon emissions by up to 95% and total 76 Highways England announced that a self-driving 25-tonne dumper is being trialled in a bid to speed up the UK roadworks

cost of ownership by up to 25%. It relies on huge problem where there is no network infrastructure or amounts of real-time big data to operate safely and where there are low bandwidth and blackspots in efficiently within the quarry. rural, undeveloped areas where reliance is on mobile data networks. If the data transfer is offline, it the big The concept of big data is flourishing in the construc- data will not be effective or accurate. tion industry, for the large tier one and two commercial construction contractors. All the research studies The technology experts are now the critical assets presented that big data is driving the company and therefore big data will not be the driving force. forward, but it could be a lot better. This is because Rather, the construction industry itself will lead the of data security, privacy and protection. innovation by applying contemporary tools to solve topical issues. “Evaluating the feedback of big data technology adoption from contractors, Protecting and sharing big data is the issue across suppliers and customers in real-time will the construction industry, as explained in the create a more sustainable supply chain research paper Big Data in the Construction Indus- and have higher cost benefits and value to try: A Review of Present Status, Opportunities and the organisation.” Future Trends. The industry would manage assets better if they communicated. Real-time big data Construction companies, the data owners, have applications rely on internet connectivity to transfer management issues. They are very protective of their data; this is a problem in rural undeveloped areas. big data and focus more on access control/intruder prevention. Sharing the data with other construction Even if there are perfect communications, it is not companies could aid their SC as they can manage big data that is the driving force; it is problem-solving their assets better and share resources, thus saving and innovation within the construction industry that costs. will make it succeed. Through the paper, it has been highlighted that application and adoption of big data Using big data applications rely on real-time, instant is more adopted within the development of data transfer between project sites. This can be a autonomous, hybrid construction equipment, which 77 equipment from suppliers, this is having a knock-on effect on smaller contractors”.

Faster delivery will save the construction supply chain a 50% reduction in the overall time, from inception to completion, for new build and refurbished assets if there is the equipment available. Not only is this applicable to the construction build but it also aﬀects equipment.

The best equipment hire company will have low costs and good plant equipment for the customer, not the company. It will also delivery to any location, have the latest technology, be reliable and have longevity with product capability output.

Evaluating the feedback of big data technology adoption from contractors, suppliers and customers in real-time will create a more sustainable supply chain and have higher cost beneﬁts and value to the organisation.

Andrew Johnson Organisations need to manage their construction equipment assets more productively within their will have historic effects on the construction industry. supply chain. This data can also be fed back into It will have a huge impact on the equipment operators, Building Information Modelling (BIM) systems to as specialists will be required to manage and operate schedule maintenance activities when required. the autonomous equipment. It will, however, improve safety, reduce emissions and reduce maintenance In summary, if the construction industry embraces and fuel costs, resulting in sustainable construction automated construction equipment it means con- equipment. tractors will be able to build much faster, cheaper, sustainably and, most importantly, more safely. The In April, Highways England announced that a self-dri- public can benefit from less disruption while their ving 25-tonne dumper is being trialled in a bid to infrastructure is being improved, with less social and speed up the UK roadworks. It is being tested off the economic impact. ■ A14 in Cambridgeshire, where work is underway to upgrade a 21-mile (34km) stretch of road between Cambridge and Huntington.

Supply chain management strategies There is insuﬃcient earthmoving equipment for ...... construction work in the UK, and this is not because Andrew Johnson of the hire charges as stated by Morgan Sindall Adviser Group. In 2017, there are 550 earthmoving dump Operam trucks on hire in the UK, but there is a requirement Tel: +44 (0)1462 488366 for 800, and this is due to increase next year with the [email protected] start of HS2 construction. www.operam.co.uk www.operamacademy.com Costain stated that: “First- and second-tier contractors are signing up for onerous contracts and pooling 78 Train at an Autodesk Authorised Training Centre (ATC)

Scheduled Training Courses Private Training Courses e-learning We provide an extensive If you have a team of 3 or more If classroom training isn’t for range of off-the-shelf courses people requiring standard or you, or there is simply no time delivered at our ATCs in London, bespoke training, then a private to leave the office, then an Enfield and Cambridge, and course could be suitable for e-learning platform might give you. Our experienced trainers the support you need. Our our training centre in Leeds. We will work with you to develop the solution offers a wide range of provide training on Autodesk training course that meets your Autodesk and CIBSE training products, as well as SketchUp, specific needs. courses, personalised learning ARCHIBUS and BIM processes. paths and live chat support.

View our full list of training courses at www.excitech.co.uk/training-courses

Excitech_Autodesk_training_Advert.indd 1 14/12/2018 17:38:15 COMMERCIAL PROFILE

The tranquil face of framing

nderlining its commitment to making As its name suggests, Metframe Architectural From the section’s main screen, users are the design and construction process Details features 3D computer-generated, able to filter the details according to their as efficient and collaborative as colour illustrations of a variety of common particular area of interest by making selec- possible,U voestalpine Metsec has created a construction details, including window and tions from a number of predefined criteria, new facility on its website which will allow brickwork, door in internal panel, stairwells including fire protection, rainscreen, insula- the design, construction and installation with concrete half and quarter landings, balcony tion, composite decking and disproportionate team to more easily understand and incor- and internal party wall with concrete floor. collapse bar. porate popular, standard construction details for the company’s pre-panelised building Each of the 24 details in this section is Thumbnail versions of the details provide a system, Metframe. designed to provide support for architects and quick and easy visual key which, when other members of the design and construc- clicked, take the user to the detail itself. Here, Sixty interactive 3D models have been created tion team. The details demonstrate the ease the user can interact with the 3D illustration, and organised into two distinct areas, each with which Metframe accommodates differ- zooming in and out using the scroll wheel of aimed at specific disciplines within the ent areas of a building’s design and provide a mouse and rotating the model in all three construction team, although all professionals a clearer understanding of how the various dimensions by click-holding and moving the may find the information useful. building elements interact with the system. mouse in the desired direction.

80 COMMERCIAL PROFILE

The illustration incorporates num- bered hot links, which enable the user to zoom into specific areas and explore the detail further. This is accompanied by a brief explanatory text on the detail itself.

“Initial feedback on the utility As with the Archi- tures and provides clear, has been very positive and we tectural Details section, easy to understand details. are confident that it will prove this area of the website invaluable to the design and enables details to be “In designing the system, we were also construction team, adding filtered according to a keenly aware of the need for projects to be further to the support that predefined list, but with BIM-compliant and enabling users to request Metsec provides.” different criteria. Here, users Revit files from the details facilitates this. can select from 23 filters, including The screen also features a Revit download floor penetrations, concrete floors, brick tie “Initial feedback on the utility has been very button through which users can request Revit channel, joists and balcony. positive and we are confident that it will prove files, which can be incorporated directly into invaluable to the design and construction their own design files, providing useful Selection and presentation of the detail of team, adding further to the support that additional information and enhancing BIM interest is in a consistent style to that used Metsec provides.” compliance. for the Architectural Details, with users able to interact with each model in a similar fash- Each screen also suggests a number of other ion and request Revit files for incorporation details related to the one being viewed and into the building’s design and construction which may be of interest to the user. information systems.

The second section of Metframe 3D Details Ben Gallimore, technical manager for shows 36 Base Level Details. Aimed mainly at Metframe and lead on the project, states: the contractor and installer, this area is “The new Metframe 3D Details facility designed to assist with the most common expands our support to the entire project voestalpine Metsec Plc steel to steel connections encountered during team, from architects and design through to Tel: +44 (0)121 601 6000 the installation of Metframe. Illustrations final installation of the Metframe system. [email protected] include a typical panel, window detail, brick www.metsec.com tie rules for movement joints and connections “The illustrative models provide a clear to different building elements such as steel understanding of how Metframe is incorpo- beams and concrete foundations. rated into the most common building struc-

81 BIM in the UK: Digital is coming John Eynon on how Game of Thrones is like digital transformation in the built environment, change is inevitable – and why some in the UK construction industry need shaking by the lapels

f you’re a Game of Thrones fan then you’ll know developing tech, the urge to innovate, the innovators about the recent Battle of Winterfell. If not, this and early adopters, the need for efficiency, and the metaphor is going to be totally lost on you. profits that go with that, as well as all the benefits of IApologies but please bear with me! digital that catalyse other improvements. The White Walkers (living dead) surround the citadel It’s all on the table. Your only choice is to go with the of Winterfell, the last bastion of the humans led by flow now if you haven’t already done so, or to be the Starks against the Night King and the Undead. forced to later when you may not have the time (or money) to catch up and then face an uncomfortable It is a close-run thing. alternative reality.

And but for the last-minute knife thrust by little “The pace of change continues to baby-faced assassin Arya that takes out the Night accelerate and is affecting all aspects of King, all would have been lost. But it wasn’t. I imagine society on many fronts – this isn’t just everyone will live happily ever after, although we have about our industry. This is about life and yet to see. Tune in to Game of Thrones…Perhaps the how it’s going to be.” dragons will have more babies…I’d like one! Time to change up We lost I don’t think anyone can argue that our industry Imagine Winterfell to be our industry for the built doesn’t need to improve on many fronts, not just environment. Imagine the hordes of the undead digital. Skills, sustainability, diversity, inclusion, safety, surrounding the citadel to be the waves of digital payments, contracts, professionalism, work-life transformation beating upon our industry from all balance, mental health, sexuality, leadership and directions, it seems. Some in the citadel resist, some many more. don’t know or even care. But in this scenario, which won’t be close at all, the hordes will sweep through Is it just me or is change even on the smallest scale the walls and take the citadel, taking all before them, so very painful and slow? without mercy or exception. Nevertheless, this will be at some cost of life and limb to all – we are all Isn’t this really obvious? Why aren’t more people angry involved. Resistance will indeed be futile, to mix my and vocal about the state of the nation, about how our metaphors with the Borg and Star Trek. industry needs to change and actually be prepared to get off their arses and do something about it? Let’s get real and get down to it here. Are we so desensitised and ignorant that we just Digital transformation of our industry is absolutely think, “Oh well, BIM is just 3D, I’ll get the software later. inevitable. For all kinds of reasons: other industries It won’t make any difference to me”. Or perhaps deep want our data, the growing smart movement, rapidly down we just don’t give a ****. 82 Digital is coming…

Or is it that we don’t feel responsible, or perhaps Survival or not. Businesses will fold. Careers will end. that on our own we can’t make a difference in any Some will succeed, but not all will or can. It doesn’t small way? Perhaps we just want to shuffle through work like that! Everyone doesn’t get a badge here. the years making as few waves as possible. Perhaps the “what’s in it for me?” syndrome is also at play, And that was just the introduction! with people not seeing a benefit in putting their head above the parapet, because there is no short-term Brymec – kudos! gain, more likely pain. So it was with some joy and a little anticipation that I attended Brymec’s recent innovation day at Gatwick. What’s wrong with us?! I’d like to give our industry and some of our leadership They are an SME, suppliers to the building services a really good shaking! Why do the silent majority industry. really not get the reality-changing, gobsmacking enormity of all this, of what we’re facing and the About half of their staff and team, 100 people-ish, digital tsunami that will inevitably engulf us all? No were there on the day to hear myself and others talk one will be unscathed. There is no hiding place from about innovation, ideas, future trends and trying to this digital revolution and evolution. Just look at the work out what’s next for them, and their customers. way smartphones have changed the way we live in Various tech was available for hands-on tryout – less than 10 years. Or EPOS for just that bit longer. VR/AR, drones, robots, 3D printing – a veritable Our digital footprints, fingerprints and data are smorgesbord of tech! everywhere. Society is becoming more and more data-driven – why not our industry? The idea of the day was to drive the next wave of innovations for Brymec to continue to succeed, And, of course, remember that evolution has engage their team and drive innovation. This consequences. Life and death. Success and failure. approach is already working for them. 83 Stunning. Amazing. Fabulous. Breathtaking. are getting carried away with the hubcaps and flashing lights. Meanwhile most of the industry can’t For a company of this size to have this kind of vision do Level 1, as it was known pre-ISO 19650. Maybe and be willing to do something like this to drive their somebody could think about that? innovation and development is outstanding – and puts many of their larger peers to shame. And puts And finally… them in the leading pack of industry moving forward Nice to see that at long last the Department for and into the digital future. Good for them! Brymec Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has become a are understanding, responding, adapting and driving sponsor of the UK BIM Alliance, who are still leading forward. Darwin in action! the charge on Level 2, as us old timers call it. Great that after eight years finally some government All credit to managing director Luke Reiner and their money has found its way to the UK BIM movement. team. First class! And thanks for having me. It is a strange idea that our industry can be changed “Isn’t this really obvious? Why aren’t by volunteer efforts. Hundreds, if not thousands, more people angry and vocal about the have given their time, effort and money over the state of the nation, about how our years to keep the BIM movement in the UK moving industry needs to change and actually be forward, the BIM Regions, the BIM4 specialist groups prepared to get off their arses and do and the UK BIM Alliance continue to work on this, something about it?” and need your support in anyway. You know what to do. There’s only all our futures at stake! ■ It’s change, change, change, stupid! As I’ve said before, this comes to all of us. The pace JOHNEYNON. Is an architect, design manager and of change continues to accelerate and is affecting all BIM Champ with over 40 years’ experience in the built aspects of society on many fronts – this isn’t just environment industry, across a variety of roles and about our industry. This is about life and how it’s projects. He has been involved in UK BIM since around going to be. The waves of tech will continue to 2012, predominantly through the BIM Regions/Regional pound our beaches, demanding our attention and Hubs and more recently the UK BIM Alliance. He writes, eventually sweeping us away with them. New tech, blogs, lectures, speaks, dances and paints. You can open data, big data, deep data, 3D, 4D, 5D, 6D, 7D, catch up with him at www.zenanddm.com . nD – it’s all coming. Wearables, over suits, implanted, chips, displays, plugins.

As I often I say, #wearealltechnologistsnow and #lifelonglearners, because if you want your business to survive or your career to progress, we all have to keep up now. Only in this case, it will not slow down ...... for us. No quarter will be given. John Eynon Director These are challenging times, so we need to wake up, Open Water Consulting we need to see visionary leadership, nimble SMEs [email protected] adapting to change and outgunning their larger www.openwaterconsulting.co.uk rivals, and big organisations showing the way. I don’t see enough of it yet. The people at the cutting edge 84 COMMERCIAL PROFILE

ISO 19650 internationalises BIM

The launch of ISO 19650 provides real opportunities for UK-based companies with BIM-compliant processes to export their expertise on a global scale

SO 19650 was largely developed from particularly when that accreditation is transition to the new core standard for com- BIM practice as established in the UK, and awarded by an organisation that has a global panies accredited by LR. For those looking to is based on BS and PAS 1192-2. reputation for technical integrity and standard achieve independent certification to ISO I setting, such as Lloyd’s Register (LR). 1950-2, LR’s accreditation will facilitate ease The development of ISO 19650 has drawn of access for UK companies to international upon the lessons learned from five years of LR was the first organisation to develop a projects and markets. application of the BIM-related standards and BIM Level 2 accreditation scheme, which at has addressed many of the perceived weak- its core was PAS 1192-2. It also included the “The development of ISO 19650 nesses of the superseded standards. principles of BS8536, BS8541, PAS 91 and has drawn upon the lessons ISO 44001. learned from five years of ap- Some of the key changes introduced by ISO plication of the BIM-related 19650 are: The scheme is based on the LR BIM Level 2 standards and has addressed Guidance Document, which also crucially many of the perceived weak- • Greater guidance for the Appointing Party included the requirement to adopt the prin- nesses of the superseded (client). ciples of business good practice. This recog- standards.” nised the weaknesses of the BIM-related • Greater responsibility delegated to the standards, which did not test resilience to For more information on LR’s BIM Level 2 Lead Appointed Party (Tier 1 Provider). consistently deliver BIM-compliant services. Accreditation, visit info.lr.org/bim-2 This was no fault of the standards – they • Requirement for an Information delivery were not necessarily designed to be accred- risk assessment. ited/certified against.

• Requirement for a Mobilisation Plan. Including good business practice principles within the LR BIM Level 2 Guidance docu- • Completion of an Information function ment from the original launch of the scheme responsibility matrix with defined template. resulted in the early incorporation of many of the changes now introduced by ISO 19650. • More emphasis on collaborative working For instance, the establishment of a risk (principles of ISO 44001). management process was a fundamental requirement of the scheme, as was the Tracy Stewart • Terminology changes to facilitate interna- establishment of competency and capacity Business Development Executive tional interpretation. management processes – fundamental Lloyd’s Register elements of a mobilisation plan. Tel: 07773 583 282 With this now-global standard, the opportu- [email protected] nities are even greater for companies who can The close alignment between the LR BIM info.lr.org/bim-2 demonstrate their BIM level 2 compliant Level 2 assessment process and that capability through independent accreditation, required by ISO 19650-2 will simplify the

85 Building Innovation Awards: Putting the spotlight on construction pioneers The Building Innovation Awards will celebrate the pioneering individuals, organisations and projects that are embracing emerging technologies and digital transformation to take UK construction to the next level

onstruction is the engine room of the economy, contributing £110bn to GDP every year. Yet there is a longstanding perception that as Can industry it is relatively slow, even sometimes reluctant, to innovate and adopt emerging technologies, techniques and materials.

But there is a signiﬁcant – and growing – number of individuals, companies and projects that are breaking out of that mould, embracing the cutting-edge and pushing forward the digital transformation of how we design, build and operate our buildings. “The UK has an enviable reputation as a global The Building Innovation Awards, launched at Future- leader when it comes to innovation and, as we enter build in March, aim to celebrate the pioneers who are an almost unprecedented international political not only challenging convention but also proving that climate, the importance of shouting about our most doing so can deliver better quality, greater eﬃciency innovative people, companies and technologies has and a healthier bottom line. never been greater.”

The awards, which will take place on 23 October at While construction may seem to many to rely on The Midland Hotel in Manchester, are the brainchild age-old ways of doing things, Broun believes that of Joe Broun of UK Business Events, the company some of the most exciting and groundbreaking behind the already successful Inspire Summit innovations in the world in fields such as building celebrating diversity and inclusion in construction. design, health and safety, supply chain management and training are happening right here, right now in He sees innovation as increasingly important to the UK. both the future health of the industry and the wider economy. From new products and materials reshaping what is possible to the contractors and manufacturers adopt- “I don’t think many would question the fact that we ing new ways of working through to the outstanding are experiencing the dawn of a fourth Industrial projects already changing the landscape, the Building Revolution and living in a digital age where emerging Innovation Awards will highlight the technologies and technologies are transforming the way we live and techniques boosting productivity and profits but also work,” Broun tells BIM Today. delivering greener, smarter and safer buildings. 86 “The construction sector is seen as one of the final • Most Innovative Housing Project frontiers,” Broun says. • Most Innovative Infrastructure Project • Most Innovative Commercial Project “It’s an industry steeped in tradition but one that • Most Innovative Public Sector Project has seen some of the biggest benefits from digital • Most Innovative Energy Project transformation, not just in improving efficiency and • Most Innovative Restoration/ Refurbishment Project safety, as well as bringing cost savings, but in terms • Best Materials Innovation of a significant impact on the way we all live. • Best Health & Safety Innovation • Best Training & Skills Innovation “The Building Innovation Awards recognises the • Best Asset Management Innovation products, services, projects and people that are • Best Offsite/Modular Innovation transforming the UK construction industry, driving • Best Planning Innovation the industry forward and setting a new precedent in • Best Recruitment Innovation the technological age.” • Most Innovative Supply Chain Management • Most Innovative Site Management “The UK has an enviable reputation • Most Innovative Tender Management as a global leader when it comes to • Best Use of Emerging Technology innovation and, as we enter an almost • Best Use of BIM unprecedented international political • Most innovative New Product climate, the importance of shouting about • Best Digital Transformation our most innovative people, companies • Young Innovator 2019 and technologies has never been greater.” • Innovation Champion 2019

The launch at Futurebuild, which is also a sponsor of The deadline for entries is 19 July. the event, saw the Building Innovation Awards open calls for nominations across 20-plus categories To enter or to ﬁnd out more, visit covering all aspects of construction. www.buildinginnovationawards.co.uk .

In addition to categories recognising innovative companies, projects, technologies and materials, the Building Innovation Awards will recognise a Young Innovator and Innovation Champion.

A panel of expert judges will review the nominations before the winners are announced at a black-tie dinner at The Midland Hotel, Manchester, on 23 October.

The categories open for entries are: ...... Joe Broun • Most Innovative Developer Event Director • Most Innovative Contractor UK Business Events Ltd • Most Innovative Consultancy [email protected] • Most Innovative Supplier www.buildinginnovationawards.co.uk • Most Innovative Training Provider • Best Technology Partner 87 Powerproject Vision from Elecosoft can improve collaboration and consistency across plans Bring control, integrity and transparency to your Powerproject programmes with: - Cloud hosted portal access to all project plans - Effective version control and change management - Customised workflows for automated routines - Business intelligence data extraction across all files

More information For more information please visit www.elecosoft.com/vision or contact us on +44 (0)1844 261 700 or [email protected]

www.elecosoft.com CASE STUDIES CASE STUDIES

West Cambridge: Developing a digital twin demonstrator The Institute for Manufacturing’s West Cambridge project is highlighting how digital twins can harness data from multiple sources to inform better building management, while improving productivity and wellbeing

The CDBB is currently in the process of establishing Location: Institute for Manufacturing, a Digital Twin Hub, which will create a collaborative, University of Cambridge West Cambridge campus. learning community for those who own or are Project team: IfM, Centre for Digital Built Britain, developing digital twins. It will provide a network for Bentley Systems, Redbite, Topcon, GeoSLAM. those seeking partners, a register of active digital twin Completion: Ongoing projects and will identify the gaps that need to be addressed in moving towards a National Digital Twin.

n 2017, the National Infrastructure Commission The National Digital Twin itself is not intended published a report, Data for the Public Good, as a single, monolithic twin of the entire country’s which recognised the importance of data to the infrastructure. Rather, it will be a federation of many IUK economy, stating: “High quality, standardised data twins, representing assets and systems at diﬀerent on all our infrastructure assets, along with the ability to levels of granularity, brought together to generate share this securely, will enable the UK’s infrastructure greater value. to be viewed as an independent, dynamic system”. To support this national ambition, the Centre for The NIC estimates that greater data sharing could Digital Built Britain provided support for a digital twin release an additional £7bn per year of beneﬁts across pilot demonstrator project. the infrastructure sector. West Cambridge digital twin One of the report’s key recommendations for The aim of the project, which is being led by Dr Ajith the government was the development of a National Parlikad, is to develop a dynamic digital twin of the Digital Twin. Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) at the University of Cambridge, along with the wider West Cambridge A digital twin is a digital representation of a campus, to demonstrate its impact on facilities physical asset that can harness data to provide management, productivity and wellbeing. information about its current design, state, condition and history, as well as the ability to share this data to Its goals are to: better inform decision-making about how to both manage current infrastructure and what to build in • Demonstrate the impact of digital modelling and the future. analysis of infrastructure performance and use on organisational productivity. In January this year, the Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB), via its Digital Framework Task Group, pub- • Provide the foundation for integrating city-scale lished the Gemini Principles to guide the National data to optimise services such as power, waste Digital Twin and shape the information management management and transport, and understand the framework that will enable it. impact on wider social and economic outcomes. 90 CASE STUDIES Image: © Bentley Systems Image: © Bentley

• Establish a “research capability platform” for text capture scan, and Topcon, which is generating a researchers to understand and address the major low-level detailed 3D geometry and photogrammetry challenges in implementing digital technologies of the site using drone and vehicle-based scanning at scale. and cameras.

• Foster a research community interested in In addition, a good quality asset register has been developing novel applications to improve the developed, along with asset identification tags for management and use of infrastructure systems. around 200 pieces of critical equipment in the IfM in collaboration with Redbite. “The NIC estimates that greater data sharing could release an additional £7bn per year of Redbite has also developed APIs that can be used to benefits across the infrastructure sector.” integrate asset data with the 3D BIM model using Bentley’s AssetWise. Work on the digital twin is being carried out in three interconnected work packages: Finally, over 60 IoT sensors and devices have been deployed and tested to help monitor and control the 1. Data development condition and operation of the IfM’s critical assets This work package has developed a geometry model and environment. of the West Cambridge site, the BIM model of the IfM building with a medium level of detail and a context Data is received from 50 environmental sensors within capture model of specific areas of the IfM with highly the IfM, with granularity of one minute, in addition to the detailed information. data captured by the Building Management Systems.

Work is being carried out in a joint eﬀort between 2. Data integration researchers at the IfM, Bentley Systems, which is pro- This work package aims to integrate data from viding expertise and technology for 3D BIM modelling various sources to enable eﬀective analytics and of the building, GeoSLAM, which is providing the con- drive better decisions. 91 CASE STUDIES Image: © Bentley Systems Image: © Bentley

Data collected through the Building Management • Improving asset maintenance in the IfM System and the sensors have been integrated with (eg HVAC systems and lab equipment) through Bentley's AssetWise platform. predictive data analytics.

“The aim of the project, which is being • Improve asset tracking across the West led by Dr Ajith Parlikad, is to develop a Cambridge site. dynamic digital twin of the Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) at the University of • Generating insights for reducing energy Cambridge, along with the wider West consumption across the West Cambridge site. Cambridge campus, to demonstrate its impact on facilities management, • Augmented Reality support for maintenance and productivity and wellbeing.” inspection. ■

The most important goal is to ensure that the digital ...... twin adheres to common data standards and is Centre for Digital Built Britain interoperable. This will involve exploring how the Tel: +44 (0)1223 763175 data from diﬀerent sources can be integrated using [email protected] open standards such as IFC. www.cdbb.cam.ac.uk

3. Applications Institute for Manufacturing The third work package aims to develop novel Tel: +44 (0)1223 766141 applications that exploit the data captured through [email protected] the digital twin. www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk

Applications developed so far include: 92 Do you have confidence in your project schedule?

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Wates tackles extraordinary change as it breathes new life into V&A

Wates Group’s construction of a £28m underground gallery and main entrance to London’s V&A Museum presented enormous challenges – but also brought huge rewards

his exciting project to build a vast new the outset, thanks to the large physical scale and underground gallery and Exhibition Road main difficulties of building what would become the entrance to the landmark Victoria & Albert largest column-free gallery in Europe. To do this MuseumT was much anticipated by the institution beneath the site of the Grade I listed V&A Museum itself and by the public. In January 2014, Wates won meant they would be building less than a metre the opportunity to take on the £28m gallery and beneath and within inches of five historic monument courtyard construction challenge, which was to structures filled with irreplaceable artefacts. The prove enormous in scale and complexity – but new elements would bring a more modern look and delivered huge reward and satisfaction. feel yet would need to dovetail seamlessly with the historic structures internally and externally. The project spanned the next three years, completing in May 2017 and opening in June of that year. The Lock developed a robust construction programme overall project saw the Exhibition Road side of the linked across the board from design to procurement, V&A come into view, instead of being hidden behind through manufacture and to build, approaching 1,100 a forbidding grey stone wall, with new gates to a lines of activity in all. He used Powerproject to manage porcelain-tiled courtyard and a bright glassed-in café this complex project start to finish, from clearing the area – all located above a huge new subterranean old 1970s building in what was known as Boilerhouse gallery. Just one year after opening, it was credited Yard, through excavating down 16m, punching pilings with helping the V&A to buck the trend of declining up to 25m deep, creating the 1,100 sq m gallery, and museum visitor numbers, driving up its own figures finishing a breathtaking tiled and gated courtyard by a phenomenal 26% and improving the visitor entrance featuring 9,500 hand-laid porcelain tiles plus experience. a café roofed with 50 sq m of structural glass.

Neil Lock MCIOB led the initial Wates bid and Powerproject is a very familiar programme planning was project manager for the V&A initiative, using platform, as Lock explained: “We use Powerproject in Elecosoft's Powerproject for planning, progress many ways. Wates has used Powerproject since I can management and to support reporting throughout. remember, and I’ve used it for more than 20 years. Although we have planners, mostly planning on this He not only delivered a stunning reference project was by myself, the supply chain, and supported achievement for Wates Construction, but was later by a partner from our central document control team personally rewarded by winning the overall title of who had worked with me at bid stage to draw up the Construction Manager of the Year from a strong ﬁeld original programme. During the build, I spent around that included his own Gold Award in the Public & a full day a week in the programme.” Infrastructure category. Every milestone mattered Enormity of vision Neil acted as the essential key link not only with the The architect’s vision was compelling. The enormity client but between all disciplines, overseeing 165 site of the technical challenge it created was clear from staﬀ and up to 35 subcontractors at its activity peak. 94 CASE STUDIES

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the client was keen to stay programmes fully and believe it is a point of good in constant contact and understand progress to a supplier management not to restrict access to the fine degree. They saw each milestone met, however overall programme.” small, as a reason to celebrate. It made progress communication very important indeed. The logistics of sharing information were not difficult: “We could share our Powerproject project information “Our progress reporting was generated straight from with subcontractors and suppliers easily – some were Powerproject, with spend data from our forecast using the same software so could take programme mapped against progress, so we could track actual information directly, and we could export PDFs easily versus forecast spending,” Lock said. for others who were using spreadsheets or other project platforms. Without Powerproject programme “For client progress meeting reporting we would do a how could we have explained what we were doing?” standard dropline, then a dropline against the critical path. Using Powerproject, we generated an S-curve The team made use of 3D modelling to help visualise, that maps spend against progress – it gives people a coordinate and detect clashes: “We use Synchro to simplified view that is much easier to understand run alongside the programme so when we play it we than looking at the main programme.” can see the timeline of where we will be. This wasn’t a challenge, since Powerproject integrates well with Sharing information and plans between the large that system.” numbers of different players was important, as Lock explained: “Because of size of the site, everyone had City centre challenges to have sight of what everyone else was doing. We The site had just a single entrance on to Exhibition exchanged sub-programmes from suppliers con- Road, one of the capital’s busiest thoroughfares, and stantly, and were also sharing our own programmes, one which was constantly crammed with traffic and so everyone could see the full scale of the interface pedestrian tourists in all seasons and all weathers. It with other works. I am an advocate of sharing meant that managing almost 6,000 lorry movements 95 CASE STUDIES

in and out to deliver materials and remove debris from the excavation was challenging – plus, until excavation was completed, there was very limited space for storage.

“Everything had to come in one way,” Lock said.

“That meant everything was restricted – and the more material there was, the less space. It meant that sharing information was vital. In a big open greenfield site that you can access from all sides everyone can have their own storage area. When there’s only one way in, one crane, one storage location, by not sharing a programme, you are making it difficult – everything has to be carefully coordinated.” There were also the usual surprises that come with excavations, which included numerous obstructions Room for manoeuvre was tight, since an asymmetrical and asbestos, although luckily the archaeological excavation site meant working with buildings on five watching brief turned up no delaying finds. sides, including a 30m dogleg in between tightly located buildings. This restricted space meant This constantly evolving need placed tight programme hoisting plant in and out of extremely narrow spaces. planning and management at the heart of the process, as Lock stated: “You simply couldn’t do a job like this Planning the unplannable it without a tool like Powerproject because it was so Perhaps inevitably when working with historic struc- multi-disciplined, on so many different levels, with so tures, the team discovered that there were simply many interfaces. You can’t keep track of it by writing no straight lines or clear angles at all on this site. it on a board. It must be stacked and linked logically. 96 CASE STUDIES

This must happen so this can happen. You need a it, drop it into the programme and reschedule the form of ‘perfect plan’. No builder in the land should programme. Then we can see what it does to the crit- build without Powerproject or other professional-grade ical path and the end date. Depending on where the software.” links are, we’d see the effect it would have. It might be zero additional time if it is not on the critical path, but Precision planning was essential and constant still require manpower and additional work.” physical monitoring was equally vital, since there were near-zero tolerances for movement and a Changes to the originally planned timeline were constant concern about noise and vibration. carefully negotiated, and the original 141-week target became 176 weeks in all. This shifted the target Constant critical changes completion from end of 2016 to May 2017, and the As a programme planning challenge, this project was project was delivered bang on the agreed schedule. particularly marked for its continual flow and sheer number of changes. Approaching 1,000 change Once in a lifetime requests were absorbed, coming both from the This kind of opportunity and challenge is rare – after client as the design aspirations evolved and as all, as Lock observed, “it is an iconic structure that will realities and roadblocks emerged during the build. never be built again”. Everyone involved in the build realised it was an opportunity that could only have “What stood out was the sheer vastness of the come along once in a career despite, or perhaps amount of change. I’ve been on many projects, but because of, its difficulties. I’ve never seen change such as this,” Lock said. In summing up the challenges of this landmark The origin of the large number of changes often project, Lock said: “This was anything but mundane came the realities of the site as its complexities were and straightforward. It gave us different things to revealed, he added. think about, different problems to work on. Sometimes there’s just one way to do something. Here, you “The design when we took the project on was still needed to think outside the box. Complex building somewhat conceptual in terms of architectural like this is solution-driven: it tests your skills, stretches finishing and detailing. It was structurally very good, your brain, and you have to focus on how to so there were very few changes there, but because overcome challenges. there were no straight lines on the building, and it curved and interfaced on every junction, and levels “A job like this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and and working to such tight restrictions, once we there will never be another one like it. It will leave a started to get into the detail about what were the legacy behind that we can tell our grandkids about. systems and what actually had to be achieved to get When and how will I ever get a chance to build better warranties, it was clear that changes were needed.” than that?”

Lock outlined the impact that those many changes As a Wates project, it paid off not just in pride in an created for the timeline: “Whenever there are extraordinary job executed perfectly, but also in the changes, we have to understand the real-time delays acclaim of industry peers, leaving a legacy for the they will create. So as new drawings arrived or nation and delivering demonstrable results and real changes became necessary, we did a time delay value for the client. ■ analysis. We had to consider whether any change would require more design work, whether we needed to procure, if so, how long that would take ...... and what else it would affect – then built all those Elecosoft time factors into the Powerproject programme. With Tel: +44 (0)1844 261 700 978 changes, those were significant. [email protected] www.elecosoft.com “Using Powerproject, we would pull the timeline out of the programme, insert the extra work needed into 97 CASE STUDIES

BIM takes off at Copenhagen Airport Copenhagen Airport created BIM process standards for existing building projects, beating its savings target and opening the door for other organisations to beneﬁt. Bentley’s Chintana Herrin takes a look

not well established. To overcome this challenge, the Client: Copenhagen Airport organisation collaborated with different companies Location: Copenhagen, Kastrup, Denmark to hear other views on the best way to implement Completion: 2019 BIM methodologies. By speaking with these different organisations, the project team produced a standard for future BIM process creation that would help openhagen Airport wanted to implement them and other Danish organisations prepare for Building Information Modelling (BIM) and benefit from BIM adoption. processes on its upcoming projects to prove thatC utilising BIM methodologies would be a beneficial Setting standards investment. Most of the airport’s projects are the To create an effective model, Copenhagen Airport operation, maintenance and refurbishment of existing looked at existing LOD definitions to create their buildings, but the airport still wanted to see the models, making sure to include the right amount of benefits of BIM workflows. information to benefit both operators and consultants. Many of the existing definitions lacked the idea that The DKK 10m (£1.1m) initiative included producing much information can be obtained with data on less information-rich 3D models of the facilities based on detailed objects. The project team decided to include a combination of 2D drawings, surveys and field graphical and non-graphical information in the inspections. The project also called for creating BIM definitions, with more non-graphical information process standards, including specification of a level than seen in other standards. of detail (LOD) for new building projects. The team created a 3D model that included the Implementing a BIM process important information from the 2D drawings, which The project team wanted to prove that using BIM they used as a baseline. Engineers also visited the processes throughout the project would benefit the sites and added any 2D information that was missed building owner by saving costs. According to a 2012 or incorrect. The team adopted their new BIM report from the Danish Technical University, building processes on this model, including the parameters owners who implemented a BIM process achieved a on all surveyed objects. Additionally, all project cost savings of approximately 12%. To prove that participants were taught how to accurately use the they could also achieve savings, team members set a model to gather information. goal to save at least 4% of the entire project’s budget, as their BIM processes would not be as Saving time and improving collaboration mature as others in the study. By using Bentley applications to help create a 3D model and an innovative BIM process, Copenhagen The main challenge for the Copenhagen Airport proj- Airport’s project team saw significant time savings. ect team was that BIM processes in Denmark were The team quickly extracted heights with MicroStation’s 98 CASE STUDIES

Chintana Herrin ability to handle large point clouds, even when the surveyor was not present on the construction site. Users also joined IFC and DGN files, which helped execute the project faster because all the original 2D a benefit of 4.46% cost savings – beating its target of drawings were in DGN format. Furthermore, there 4%. This proved the effectiveness of a BIM process was greater quality control over the information and provided a mandate to continue using the because the 2D data was included in the 3D models. process for all projects.

The team used ProjectWise to house all relevant The surrounding community will also see the benefits information, including the 2D data, which helped of Copenhagen Airport’s project, providing insight users easily find information. Previously, team into how Denmark might use BIM processes for future members would have spent unnecessary time endeavours – especially since Copenhagen Airport is searching through thousands of documents. one of the largest building sites in Denmark. Therefore, if the airport could realise major benefits, then other Bentley applications also helped improve collabora- organisations would realise the benefits as well. tion with stakeholders, creating a web platform to exchange information and invite external people to The airport set a goal in actively contributing to participate in collision and consistency control. With helping other large building owners mature their weekly updates, everyone involved in the project BIM processes and increase their level of knew what was happening and could easily access implementation. ■ the necessary information. Bentley’s applications made it easy to manage contributions from all involved parties while still working to coordinate systems issues.

Realising benefits, preparing for future projects By incorporating BIM processes for all projects at Copenhagen Airport, the project team used the ...... model to extract quantities for the contractors, Chintana Herrin which reduced the risk, and thereby the bidding. Reality Modelling Product Marketing Manager Bentley Systems Together with detecting and correcting unhandled Tel: +44 207 861 0900 collisions before completion, the team could calculate www.bentley.com the benefits. The organisation calculated the difference between using the BIM process and not, and realised 99 CASE STUDIES

Handheld scanning takes survey of heritage building to the next level

Handheld scanners have allowed a site team to deliver as-built representations of an art deco skyscraper in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, four times faster than traditional methods

ment with BIM processes. Ahead of a retrofit of the Location: Belo Horizonte, Brazil. building’s electrical installations and fire prevention Project team: Paragram Architecture & plan, the firm was commissioned to produce as-built Consulting, Criar Projetos E Consultoria. architectural 3D drawings of the 32-floor structure. Completion: 2019 Working alongside contractor Criar Projetos E Consultoria, Paragram opted to use GeoSLAM’s lmost every complex building or renovation ZEB-REVO, a lightweight mobile mapping device that project is subject to strict time constraints. can be operated simply by walking around. A major upgrade to a 130-metre art deco skyscraperA in Brazil was no exception. First steps Paragram initially planned to measure the 8,357 sq Located in Belo Horizonte, the country’s sixth-largest m building using manual survey methods – a task city and the capital of the south-eastern Minas that would have taken a team of three employees Gerais state, the Acaiaca Building dates back to 1943 more than 40 hours to complete. – and was built with an air raid shelter. Despite the scale of the project, the survey team “We were able to gather much more was ready to use laser tape and paper to document information than first anticipated, such as the as-built structure but switched the handheld the registration of beams, roof trusses and scanning method. Powered by SLAM (Simultaneous other structures, as well as a detailed Localisation and Mapping) technology, it can rapidly survey of exposed electrical installations generate images to within a few centimetres of and engine rooms in areas that would accuracy, even indoors where there is no GPS. have been very difficult – not to mention time-consuming – to access.” This approach could significantly reduce the projected 40 hours to less than 20 minutes to survey The art deco-inspired design by architect Luiz Pinto each floor, or around 10 hours in total. Coelho features two huge carvings in honour of the tribe from which the building takes its name, based Off the ground on legends of the tribe’s great strength and power. When the project got underway, the scanner was programmed to achieve the maximum consecutive Over the years, the Acaiaca Building has been used levels in under 20 minutes, with minimal overlap as a nightclub, cinema and shops but today houses between each shot. offices and a church. The team used the hallway of the stairs and elevator Belo Horizonte-based Paragram Architecture & Con- for the starting point of each scan, which provided a sulting combines architecture, IT and project manage- clear reference to align the point clouds. 100 CASE STUDIES

It took two operatives just 10 hours to complete a scan of the building’s interior, with one handheld scanning and the other taking a photographic record.

Outcome As well as delivering on speed, the project team was impressed by the accuracy and ease-of-use of the ZEB-REVO.

“Paragram initially planned to measure the 8,357 sq m building using manual survey methods – a task that would have taken a team of three employees more than 40 hours to complete.”

Jose Vargas, BIM technology consultant at Paragram Architecture & Consulting, said: “We were able to gather much more information than ﬁrst anticipated, such as the registration of beams, roof trusses and other structures, as well as a detailed survey of exposed electrical installations and engine rooms in areas that would have been very diﬃcult – not to mention time-consuming – to access.

“What really stood out was the quality of information captured, which was easily incorporated into a BIM representation using Revit software.

“The device was really easy to handle and it was an example of how an asset can evolve to meet the remarkable how much detail we were able to demands of current and future users when owners capture in the point clouds. It enabled us to achieve are prepared to make the necessary investments. ■ a level of accuracy that would have been impossible using manual surveying techniques.”

Futureprooﬁng the Acaiaca Building The distinctive style of the Acaiaca Building, famous for its carved ﬁgures on the side, has made it a ...... much-loved part of Belo Horizonte’s skyline. GeoSLAM Tel: +44 (0)1949 831 814 All heritage buildings need to undergo modernisation www.geoslam.com work during their lifecycle to preserve them for generations to come and for the Acaiaca Building, this is 101 CASE STUDIES

Using 3D VR to verify tunnel systems safety More and more transport infrastructure is being built below ground. 3D VR can help to ensure tunnel systems and stations are properly ventilated and can be safely evacuated in an emergency

unnels and underground rely on technology to Germany and Australia, is recognised as a leading provide appropriate environmental conditions international consultant in tunnel ventilation design. for the people using them. Ventilation systems supplyT fresh air and remove exhaust gases. In emer- To calculate airflows induced by traffic or ventilation gencies, people need to be able to get out of danger and smoke dispersion in tunnel systems and train zones. This requires not only emergency guidance stations, the firm’s simulation engineers use Simcenter systems but also a design that facilitates air flow to STAR-CCM+ software from Siemens PLM Software. leave a clear zone under the smoke in which to breathe and find escape routes. This package is centred on CFD to solve and analyse problems that involve fluid flows by successive “The ventilation design of tunnel systems or a station approximation using numerical analysis and data building is extremely complex,” says Erwin Schnell, structures. It is based on the finite volume method project manager at Swiss-based international for representing and evaluating Navier–Stokes consulting engineering firm HBI Haerter. equations that describe the motion of viscous fluid substances. This is also termed computational “In emergency situation modelling for continuum mechanics, or CCM. underground train station design, we integrate a heat source, ventilation “The entire flow field is represented by an adequate systems, the aerodynamics of moving number of simply connected volume volumetric trains and the effects of people on the elements, which are generated within a process platform wit the funnelling geometry of called spatial discretisation or simply meshing,” the architecture.” says Schnell.

“It cannot be verified and improved using a prototype “Velocities and scalar quantities such as temperature but needs to be right the first time, so it requires or smoke concentration are calculated within each simulation using computational fluid dynamics (CFD).” individual element.”

Schnell is an experienced engineer specialising in fire The software was designed to simultaneously solve and smoke simulations who first commenced numer- fluid flow and heat transfer problems. ical simulation as early as 1989 in the fields of aero- space and automotive engineering, taking advantage To cope with variations in the quality and format of of virtual immersive engineering in 1998 and pushing clients’ geometry data created in different computer- the adoption of augmented reality in 2013. aided design tools, it is also designed to support various formats for importing 3D solids from all relevant With 40 experts and more than 800 successfully CAD software systems. A built-in, 3D feature-based completed reference projects, HBI Haerter, which in CAD modeller allows for creating and modifying addition to its offices in Switzerland has locations in geometries directly within the software. 102 CASE STUDIES

“This provides us with opportunities to successively “Users can release massless particles to visualise optimise geometries by setting different parameters. the flow field, as well as the relevant smoke and As the software is capable of iterating through param- temperature layers at platform level,” says Schnell. eter lists, it makes investigating the effects of design variations an extremely efficient task,” says Schnell. “In complete safety, they can walk to the exits nearby and determine whether escape routes are smoke-free.” “Users can release massless particles to visualise the flow field, as well as the One of the benefits is that in a VR simulation, fire relevant smoke and temperature layers at experts are able to analyse vulnerabilities in places platform level... In complete safety, they that would not be accessible in real life or in can walk to the exits nearby and determine traditional documentation. whether escape routes are smoke-free.” Early last year, Schnell began negotiating with “In emergency situation modelling for underground insurance companies and government authorities train station design, we integrate a heat source, with a view to them eventually approving construction ventilation systems, the aerodynamics of moving based on numerical verification supplied in the trains and the effects of people on the platform with form of tours through smoke-contaminated buildings the funnelling geometry of the architecture. in VR. ■

“With an overset mesh that allows for creating hierarchic simulation scenarios, Simcenter STAR-CCM+ enables us to combine independent aspects into truly comprehensive multi-physics simulations.”

These multi-physics simulations can bring incredible ...... realism and detail to bear and using virtual reality BIM Today headsets, this can be harnessed to allow users to Tel: 0843 504 4560 “dive in” to, for example, verify an escape route in the [email protected] event of a ﬁre. www.pbctoday.co.uk 103 Index

ALLPLAN Infrastructure GmbH...... 6, IBC Lloyds Register...... 85 Bentley Systems (UK) Limited...... IFC, 21, 24 Nottingham Trent University ...... 33 Bluebeam Software Inc ...... 34 Script & Go ...... 61 Bricsys NV...... 16 SFS Group Fastening Technology Ltd...... 68 Cad Assist ...... 44 Solibri...... 39, 67, OBC Elecosoft UK Ltd ...... 88, 93 The Joint Contracts Tribunal Ltd...... 28 Excitech Ltd ...... 79 Trimble MEP...... 74 Faro UK ...... 48 voestalpine Metsec plc...... 62, 80 Graitec ...... 52 GroupBC ...... 40 Integrated Environmental Solutions LTD ...... 56

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