B5: Uses of Databases in design firms Derek R Lavigne

Current and Future state of Design Phase Data:

Databases in design firms are currently used for internal business affairs.  Each company has a log of business correspondence, internal notes and memos, accounting receipts, revisions and design details,  and depending on their particular expertise a few other necessary files and folders.  This database is generally separated by project,  then information type, and organized by revision and/or date, in order to keep track of business transactions and work done internally/externally.  This also allows companies to keep their intellectual property organized and records complete for future use.  A small firm will have a database inside their office, while firms with multiple branches tend to store the information via the company's intranet that has data stores in the main branch.

This internal data storage/hoarding is made in place to protect and log companies intellectual property, however with the nature of the building industry and the need to share and access information between different disciplines in the design phase (Arch, AE, CIVE, MEP, CM), i can see the market for a transition to a cloud based system (run by the owner) to share store and monitor all of this data in one location.  The emergence of BIM has began to force more interaction between all phases of design, and the data associated with BIM, requires larger files, with more information, and sending these files through traditional methods (ie Email or Flash Drive) are difficult and time consuming.  If a cloud based system were in place, firms could not only avoid upgrades to their database systems (because of rapid technological growth), but save money and share data more freely.  This would not only save firms money and time, but with more free flowing it may actually spur more innovation throughout the entire sector.

Reference:

http://www.aconex.com/blogs/2014/01/global-state-of-bim-construction-market-data.html

Comments:

To Ilana Ritvalsky:  Thank you for posting the Relational Database theory, those points are very useful to me personally, on how to design a more logical data store.

To Justin Hileman:  I understand how data could be useful for estimating project cost for construction firms, are there anymore useful places data can be used and stored? Are construction companies doing anything to control that data or are things mostly documented on paper and scanned as a pdf in those databases?

To Hope Lewis:  I wasn't aware that database storage was in any other form than 2d Column/Row data sets.  This information was extremely useful to me. Thanks!

B4: Structural Elements Database

Drew Sivertsen and I will be creating a database for the structural steel elements of a building. By creating this database we can track and monitor the properties of each element as they appear on drawings. Although we have not yet figured out a solution on how to track and monitor the elements of specific buildings there are several ways we can approach it.

One way would be construction phase collection, with the use of rfid tags and readers for future projects.

Another way is to extract the data from a BIM model, where we could then figure out how the model is designed.

Lastly would be to manually input the structural members from 2D structural plans

P2 - Project Plan - Sivertsen & Lavigne

This week we were asked to present out term project plan and comment on other students as well. For our term project we've chosen to create a database that will build on the ideas and concepts of A2. For my A2, I plan on developing a simple tool that can identify and track structural elements of a building. More specifically I will focus on steel. I will create a few tables for steel and and they will list the structural properties such as: manufacturers, AISC designation, cross-sectional area, tensile strength, unit weight and nominal/actual height etc. Our term project is as follows:

Project Title: Intelligent Building Database: Building Design Codes

Members: Drew Sivertsen and Derek Lavigne

Overview: We will build off of A2 by creating a database that will run queries to tell the engineer/designer what building codes or design specifications need to be implemented based on:

• materials used in design

• location of the project

• scope/scale of the project (i.e. green infrastructure)

• construction type/methods used

• possibly display rough quantities or estimates for steel and R.C. members based

Plan: In order to make this database feasible, a large amount of tables will need to be created with a range of varying parameters. We plan to implement an Oracle database program and use SQL to run queries to display certain information. For example, a query could be executed to display IBC for a 6-story high rise building in a city that is implementing R.C. as its primary structural feature. A table will then display the codes that must be implemented in the design. We am still in the early phases of planning the database and we may find that there are be too many building codes to account for. If that is the case, we will only include the primary codes or the sections that the engineer should reference. However, we might find that we'll need to scale down parameters to a more specific project. For example, a residential house and run queries to display codes for plumbing, electrical and HVAC.

Reference: This idea was briefly raised from B2, Interoperability, on page 83 of the BIM Handbook. This chapter discusses the “implications of IFC use” and how data models are becoming implemented to automatically check for building codes and for the review of designs. More stringent submittal requirements will need to be put into place to ensure checks of this magnitude can be carried out. Space method calculations have slowly been implemented by ANSI-BOMA (ANSI 1996). Being able to have programs instantly provide you with building codes as you are designing something can eliminate a lot of error and wasted time.

Comments:

Timothy Perdue: I think you are off to a very good start and have a solid understanding of what you want your paper on health monitoring to encompass. There is a lot of great information and ideas in your initial outline. However, I think it would benefit you and the reader to narrow down your topic to a few sensors and discuss how they function and their real world application to intelligent/digital buildings and how they can be improved. I look forward to learning more about this.

Hamad Al-Sulaiti: I have never heard of your topic before but it is interesting that there is an overlap between the medical and engineering world using this technology. From what you have explained, it seems like a very viable option in regards to civil projects. It could prove to be a great non-intrusive method for assessing conditions. I look forward to hearing more about its real world applications.

Hang Wang: Your idea of implementing your building's loading analysis and construction schedule to BIM will be a very valuable tool to learn for senior design and for future endeavors. I don't know too much about scheduling using BIM (including Revit) so I am very interested in seeing what your group uncovers.

B3 - Advantages of Revit

While not perfect, BIM is bringing the building industry into the 21st century by doing what makes sense, giving meaning to drawings though metadata.  By changing the idea of drafting from a 2D drawing with multiple layers, to a 3D drawing with components, we have officially brought drafting into the "iron age" (if you consider Blueprints as the stone age and 2D software as the bronze age).  What Revit does really well is the integration of the different disciplines of the design phase.  Every discipline can work in one file, rather than every body working from scratch in the same file and because of this, it will help the industry in embracing IPD (Integrated Project Development) as the standard form of design.  What Revit is also good at is presenting a rendering of the design, making the engineers job of explaining work to an owner or zoning board easier.  Lastly, the major benefit of BIM is clash detection.  Because of all the different disciplines working in the same file, each company can see where there design falls in space, and the software can determine if the (for example) HVAC system goes through a concrete column... I think BIM shows great promise for the future, but there is so much more room to grow.

Week 2 - In Class Discussion - Robotics Effecting Construction - Group D

Area of the industry that's is most effected by AI and Automation Technology?

Although all aspects of the industry will be effected by the development of AI, we have decided that the physical construction aspect of building would be most effected.  Once the cost of robots and their associated maintenance and risk is lower than the cost of manual labor, robots will rapidly replace your everyday construction worker. With the absence of workers, their benefits, and salaries, there will be more money to a) make for the owner, either lowering over all building costs or raising profit margins b) spend on design, pushing the limits of extravagant designs and without workers you no longer have to pay insurances and safety risks associated with humans.

Physical Aspects to be replaced first:

Anything that can be replaced by a computer program.

Concrete pouring (Foundation, piles)

Site prep (Excavation, grading)

Steel Erection? less likely Welding?

Areas Effected:

Soil Exploration & Research - 

Design Data

Design Limitations decreased

Reduction in construction workers, laborers, work safety

Problems with AI:

Energy Usage

B1 - AI in the future

When someone thinks of AI (artificial intelligence), the first things that come to mind are doomsday si-fi movies or quotes from Stephen Hawking or Elon Musk telling humanity to be wary of this technology (which makes me wonder if they should stop watching si-fi movies).  AI has been all the rage lately in Hollywood with movies such as Transcendence, where a man uploads his brain to a computer and becomes sort of a god, or multiple cop shows on basic television.

I guess what my point is, is that AI is a real thing that is being worked on by really smart people in companies and universities all over the world, and that it has real world benifits, but this stigma or fear of AI should not (and is not) get in the way of the implementation of these technologies.

AI has potential impact in the future of the building industry in many ways, however the one I would like to talk about is the idea of Machine Learning (ML).  ML is a form of AI that does exactly what the name implies, it learns by itself. Essentially these ML programs are used to mine certain data, by learning what data is applicable and what data is useless from a particular source.

This type of AI has potential in the building and engineering industry because a mass amount of information on all aspects of the industry are in a lot of different places. Textbooks, academic journals, Internet websites, industrial magazines, etc. all have vital information in engineering technologies, however with all the information in so many different places, these studies and practices often don't translate into real world innovation. With the perfection of AI and ML, we will see a future where engineers, designers, and constructors will be able to share and discover information and change trends in the industry because a program has deciphered a trend or a more perfect design through data, rather than having the risk of the trial and error process of the building industry.

Group D - Class Discussion

Industry is moving towardsautomation
This has both benefits and risks associated with it
Benefits: cheaper labor down the line, everything is built exactly as specified with no need for as-builts or verifications
Risks: might put a lot of people out of jobs, "don't trust the machines [SKYNET]", machines only take orders, they don't improvise
Not just "intelligent buildings", but "intelligent building"

Group definition of intelligent building:
.Data from the design through the operation is collected and examined. This data allows for full integration of all systems to provide the most efficient and sustainable building configuration possible. Additionally, data from existing buildings can be collected and analyzed for future buildings and innovation.

Post 1 - Lavigne 20150106 - About Me

I am a senior AE/Civil Major with a concentration in Digital Building.  I have always been interested in data and how it applies to the Design and Construction Industries.  I recently wrote a paper on the future of data collection and sharing in the building industry in my Senior Seminar class.

In the course AE 510, I expect to get a broad overview of what "Intelligent Buildings" are, or at least enough to inspire me to research more things I have yet to discover about the field.

My initial definition of "Intelligent Buildings" is: An Intelligent Building is a building that collects relevant data from the design, construction and usage phase, to not only monitor and make the project more efficient, but to influence future projects and innovation throughout the industry.

Student Names

Here are your names.  I’ve also used this post to create labels that are your last names.  Please use those labels when posting so it’s easy for people to see what you’ve written.

• Abdulghani Albaloushi - Architectural Engineering
• Hamad Al-Sulaiti - Civil Engineering
• Ami Amegan - Architectural Engineering
• Mark Bancroft - Civil Engineering
• Taylor Castonguay - Architectural Engineering
• Angelina Castro - Architectural Engineering
• Zijun Deng - Architectural Engineering
• Alex dePinhoNunes - Study Abroad Visiting
• Hetao Huang - Civil Engineering
• Husain Sayed Ibrahaim - Architectural Engineering
• Leonard Knittel - Architectural Engineering
• Derek Lavigne - Architectural Engineering
• Young Kwang Lee - Mechanical Engineering
• Hope Lewis - Architectural Engineering
• Jinhao Liang - Civil Engineering
• Yu-Sen Liu - Architectural Engineering
• Rikki Moore - Architectural Engineering
• Yanzhao Nong - Civil Engineering
• Grigorios Papadourakis - Civil Engineerin
• gGiovana Pelisser - Study Abroad Visiting
• Jonathan Plotkin - Civil Engineering
• Mikaela Price - Architectural Engineering
• Chang Qin - Architectural Engineering
• Ilana Ritvalsky - Architectural Engineering
• Kevin Saldivar - Architectural Engineering
• Jesse Schwakoff - Civil Engineering
• Andrew Sivertsen - Architectural Engineering
• Catherine Stephens - Architectural Engineering
• Santiago Uribe - Civil Engineering
• Dmitriy Voznyak - Architectural Engineering
• Hang Wang - Architectural Engineering
• Zilong Xiao - Architectural Engineering
• Anthony Yau - Architectural Engineering
• Kaili Yue - Civil Engineering
• Pangyan Zhang - Architectural Engineering