B7 Course Reflection

I really enjoyed being in this course.  I originally signed up to take this course because it sounded interesting and I thought it would be about things like houses something like iron man's, except instead of a butler the computers would control the HVAC, lights and sound system.  While there was certainly applications like that in this class, like in my final project, I think that the value of this class was actually in learning about the types of things that make up intelligent buildings that most people don't think about.  For example, I would never have thought about BIMas being an integral part of an intelligent building, but after this class I can certainly see the value of having a BIM model, both in the design and construction, as well as during the life of the building and for maintenance.

Similarly, I think that learning about the technology behind the systems I will be using in my career is a great idea.  I enjoyed learning about the different types of sensors building management systems use to make their decisions, as well as the databases which make the modeling and BIM software I am used to work.  I think that it will help later if I have at least a basic understanding of how the systems work, as it may help when troubleshooting any problems I might have.  

The last thing I would like to say about this class is that I was surprised by the number of technologies and project ideas for the final project.  I know when we talked about the projects with our groups a few weeks ago I was surprised to hear about things like 3D printing concrete and the building management system to control the HVAC of a building.  I also really enjoyed learning more about the Bullitt Center for my project as well, and I definitely would like to learn more about the other Living Building projects that are happening right now.

Responses:
Pelisser - I definitely agree that I learned much more about Access than I ever expected to from this course.
Price - I agree that the guest speakers were interesting and definitely opened my eyes to many different professions which I had not thought about before, especially BIM coordinator.
Lui - I definitely thought that learning about the drones building things was really interesting as well.  I was especially interested since I had hear about the GPS driven bulldozers before, but I had never heard of UAV's being used in construction before, even though my dad had worked at a company which built them for the military before.