BIM Today (May 2018 Edition)

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ISSN 2058-9611

May 2018

Breaking down the barriers

How the WinďŹ eld Rock Report aims to bring contractual clarity to BIM

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Analyse this

Carl Collins and Rob Harmer argue too many buildings are suering from an over-reliance on assumptions

Dashboard drive

David Philp on how to turn mountains of data into useful information and meaningful insights

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Introduction A warm welcome to the May edition of BIM Today. In this issue we take a look back at the progress of the UK’s BIM sector, the work that is going on to continue that development and some of the projects and initiatives that point the way to the future.

May Winfield and Sarah Rock discuss their landmark report into the legal and contractual issues surrounding BIM and how we can improve clarity and understanding for all parties.

Elsewhere, John Eynon of Open Water Consulting looks back at the evolution of the UK BIM Alliance from a handful of believers in the potential of digital transformation to a growing, industrywide community with global recognition for advancing BIM. Speaking of advancing, Niraj Mistry of Stroma says that while a lot of people talk about how they ‘do’ BIM, what we really need to move forward is a focus on joining the dots to ensure everyone in the construction process plays their part.

Mike Shilton, chair of the Landscape Institute Digital Practice Group, tackles the question of how to engage in a BIM project to understand what needs to be delivered and avoid costly mistakes.

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There’s also a look at the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre’s BIM in Practice programme, which helps individuals and organisations on their journey to BIM Level 2.

Carl Collins and Rob Harmer, meanwhile, argue that many buildings

suffer because of an over-reliance on preconceptions and assumptions – but digital tools allow us to fully analyse what’s going wrong.

David Philp of i3 by Aecom takes a look at a different challenge: turning the mountains of data generated by construction projects into information and meaningful insight at each stage of the design, build, finance and operation process.

Looking to the future, Nick Conway gives his take on the skills shortage and the need to reach out to today’s tech-savvy youngsters in a language they understand, emphasising the ever-growing role of technology in the industry in order to create the next generation of construction leaders.

We also take a look at number of ground-breaking projects, from Elecosoft’s support for the Thames Tideway super-sewer in London to Wates Group’s BIM work with the public sector.

In addition, Guglielmo Carra, Europe materials consulting lead at Arup, showcases the EU’s first concrete 3D printed house, which was unveiled at Salone del Mobile in Milan, and there’s a look at Curve Appeal, the world’s first freeform 3D printed house, which is taking shape in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

As ever, a big thank you to all our expert contributors. If you would like to get involved in the debate, please get in touch. ■

Contents May 2018

8 | The Winfield Rock Report on BIM: Help your legal advisers help you

The Winfield Rock Report, published in cooperation with the UK BIM Alliance, examines understanding of the legal and contractual issues surrounding BIM and aims to provide clarity so all parties know where they stand. Authors May Winfield and Sarah Rock discuss its key points

12 | UK BIM Alliance: The end of the beginning!

The UK BIM Alliance was launched in October 2016 to unite the industry around the BIM Level 2 agenda, fuelled by hope, faith, the need for leadership and a voice – and a passion for a digitally transformed industry. Founding board member and engagement lead John Eynon looks back at its progress

16 | BIM: The elephant in the room

A lot of people say they ‘do’ BIM. But what does that really mean? Niraj Mistry, senior BIM assessor at Stroma Certification, says BIM is actually about joining the dots through engagement and collaboration

20 | BIM and building services: You’re doing it wrong

How many buildings are suffering from inefficient performance and unnecessary costs because they rely on design preconceptions rather than actually analysing how key systems and building services work? Carl Collins of CIBSE and MagiCAD’s Rob Harmer examine what’s going wrong

34 | Why BIM is here to stay

April marked the two-year anniversary of BIM Level 2 mandate, yet industry reports suggest that the adoption of BIM remains slow. However, Lucy Abbott, BIM director of Wates Group, believes the benefits of BIM for design teams, clients and end users mean it is here to stay

24 | How to engage in a BIM project

40 | EU’s first 3D printed house points the way to a more sustainable construction industry

28 | Better storytelling with construction data and analytics

48 | How the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre is helping companies adopt BIM

There is much rhetoric surrounding BIM and this only seeks to add curiosity and confusion in equal measures. This prompts many people to ask: “How do I engage in a BIM project?” Mike Shilton, chair of the Landscape Institute Digital Practice Group, addresses this rather loaded question

“Hey data! Is my project on schedule?” Data science is becoming a key characteristic of competitive advantage for construction organisations. However, turning data into information, and then into meaningful insight, can be a real challenge. David Philp of i3 by AECOM takes a look

44 | Reinventing the home: Designing the world’s first freeform 3D printed house

A project in Tennessee is testing a “revolutionary” design to reinvent the modern home using 3D printing technology

The first concrete 3D printed house in the EU has been revealed in Milan as part of the Salone del Mobile 2018.

Guglielmo Carra, Europe materials consulting lead at Arup, takes a look at this groundbreaking project

The Construction Scotland Innovation Centre provides a wide range of support to help businesses through their BIM journey. Skills and training manager Lisa Deane discusses what’s on offer

52 | Why technology is the key to inspiring the industry's next generation

More than anything else, we have come to associate the younger generations with technology – be it smartphones, social media or video games. When we look ahead to the next generation of construction industry leaders, we therefore need more than anything to capitalise on young people’s interest in tech, says Nick Conway of ITC Concepts

56 | Case study: TILOS helps Thames Tideway teams to visualise and integrate plans for 25km London super-sewer

TILOS is playing a key role in the delivery of the Thames Tideway super-sewer, the largest-ever infrastructure project undertaken by the UK water industry

62 | Using BIM to define criticality, vulnerability and risk Iain Miskimmin of Bentley Systems explains the value of an asset tagging strategy in assessing criticality, vulnerability and risk to ultimately inform better decision making

112 | The rise of software cities

The technology we use is changing the way we sculpt our cities. Peter Debney of Oasys considers how software has been used in the planning process of city spaces

68 | Digitalisation holds key to £575m savings for housebuilders

90 | Virtual site tours: Making virtual reality a reality

72 | Getting into the DNA of product data

94 | Blockchain and smart contracts: Binary solutions in a non-binary industry?

Stewart Dalgarno, director of product development at Stewart Milne Group, discusses how utilising digital technologies in the design and build process can bring added value and yield savings for UK housebuilders

With the availability of concise and easily applied data consistently being identified as a stumbling block in the widespread adoption of BIM, Alex Small, BIM and digital platforms manager at Tata Steel, discusses a more streamlined approach to sharing product information

76 | Building smart cities

Smart cities that harness data to improve the lives of citizens are no longer a far-off vision – they are a reality. Susie Tomson, Sustainability Director at PCSG, discusses their emergence – and a new initiative to create a blueprint for smart cities around the globe

80 | RIBA and BIM: How design is fundamental to the process Ryan Simmonds, sales director of framing at voestalpine Metsec plc, explains why it’s vital to invest more time in the design stage than at any other point in the process and how working with the right partners early on can change how a project develops

86 | Assessing the risks of nanomaterials in construction

New guidance has been published on how to manage the possible health risks associated with nanomaterials in construction. It follows research sponsored by the Institution of Occupational Safety & Health (IOSH) into how widespread their use is and the risks they might create.

Professor Alistair Gibb and Dr Wendy Jones from Loughborough University, who led the research, look at the issues

Kier’s Adam Nixon looks at the added benefits of virtual reality as part of his BIM rotation on the Kier graduate scheme

Legal expert and BIM specialist May Winfield examines the benefits, risks and future development of blockchain and smart contracts in the construction industry

98 | HoloMeeting: A new tool for collaborative design

Virtual, augmented and mixed reality are gaining a foothold in construction as digital transformation progresses.

Matthew Bumford of Kazendi looks at the emergence of this technology and how the HoloMeeting remote meeting tool can support the collaborative design so important to BIM

102 | Building for the future: Increasing productivity must be top priority for construction

Simon Cross, director of SiteSmart at BRE and a member of the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), says increasing productivity – now more than ever as we lead up to Brexit – should be the sector’s number one priority in 2018

108 | Quantifying the benefits of offsite construction

CIRIA, working with its members, industry partners and Buildoffsite, is poised to start work on producing good practice guidance for quantifying the benefits of offsite construction. This guidance is needed now, it would seem, more than ever to encourage and accelerate its uptake into mainstream construction practices, says Kieran Tully

116 | Exploring the potential of digital technology

Transformation is happening all around us and while other industries have been quick to make the digital leap, the construction industry has been slower out of the starting blocks. Steve Thompson of EOS Facades shares his views on the positive impact technology will have on today’s construction industry

118 | Case study: Willmott Dixon site managers empowered to react faster

Elecosoft’s Powerproject software, which aims to improve the efficiency of highly repetitive elements of housebuilding, has been put to use on Willmott Dixon’s multi-phase Aberfeldy Village regeneration project in east London

120 | Case study: The changing face of offsite construction

Raymond Millar, Construction Director at the McAvoy Group and Buildoffsite member, looks at the design and offsite construction of a new state-of-the-art academy in Slough and how it was delivered weeks ahead of programme

126 | Delivering fast, reliable connectivity to temporary sites using 4G WAN solutions

Hubert Da Costa, VP EMEA at Cradlepoint, explains how leading industrial services provider Bilfinger uses 4G WAN technology to bring short-term sites online quickly and reliably

132 | INDEX

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The Winfield Rock Report on BIM: Help your legal advisers help you The Winfield Rock Report, published in cooperation with the UK BIM Alliance, examines understanding of the legal and contractual issues surrounding BIM and aims to provide clarity so all parties know where they stand. Authors May Winfield and Sarah Rock discuss its key points

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IM is something that continues to permeate our industry, yet experience appears to suggest that the awareness and understanding of the legal and contractual issues of BIM is lagging behind. We set out to discover the truth about this perception, and how to help change the situation if true, in September 2017.

Our research consisted of an online survey, which received 158 responses on the use of BIM and BIM documentation. We also interviewed 44 key industry players, consisting of a mix of clients, contractors, consultants, academics and both in-house and private practice lawyers, to take a more detailed look at the current position. This all culminated in the publication of The Winfield Rock Report, in association with the UK BIM Alliance, launched at BIM Show Live 2018 in February.

As regards the legal community’s understanding of BIM, which catalysed our research in the first place, we discovered that the legal community (and their clients) are keen to know more and are increasingly aware of the need to refine their BIM knowledge to fully advise their clients. Equally, however, the feedback we received was that there are very few readily available resources on BIM that were both accessible for non-BIM-specialists (suggestions were that there was too much jargon!) as well as focused on the legal and contractual issues to overcome.

The Winfield Rock Report made two recommendations to progress the legal community’s BIM knowledge and understanding, to enable them to better support the industry in BIM-enabled documentation and processes.

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The first is the establishment of BIM4Legal; a forum where the legal community can exchange ideas, gain knowledge and network with BIM specialists from the industry in a supportive and collaborative environment.

The second recommendation, which we consider further in this article, is the introduction of a Legal Questions Checklist as appended to the report.

“If parties know where they stand from the outset and/or the documentation makes the position clear, this could avoid some expensive disputes that arise from differing expectations or misunderstandings.”

This checklist is intended to be used as a reference or starting point for legal advisers suggesting questions to initially ask when first instructed on a BIM-enabled project or contract. This checklist is necessarily nonexhaustive as BIM issues may be very project-specific but seeks to cover the main areas that should be considered (or at least to set the parties on the path to bottom out the BIM risks and aims of the client).

In drafting the checklist, we bore in mind that the legal adviser’s client may themselves be on a BIM journey and therefore may need some prompting to realise what their intentions and accepted risk allocation from BIM may be for a particular BIM-enabled project.

Split into three sections, the checklist therefore seeks to take the users or readers on a natural step-by-step journey along the main issues and risks that will likely prove relevant.

The first section deals with the BIM process. After all, as the saying goes, BIM is a process and not a software. The queries highlight the need to ascertain whether there are standard BIM processes that parties must be required to comply with, the deliverables and/or outputs expected from the BIM processes, and the allocation of responsibility for ensuring the processes are carried out as envisaged.

A further series of questions tackles the CDE issues resulting in the (reportedly first) ‘BIM’ case, Trant v Mott MacDonald.

The second section turns to BIM documentation. As discovered during the course of our interviews and research, it is apparently not uncommon for BIM documentation to be incomplete, contradictory or missing, leading to potential confusion and avoidable misunderstandings.

The queries posed seek to remind the parties of the documentation that could and/or should be included and completed for a typical BIM-enabled project, including an EIR, BEP and BIM Protocol, and highlights

ways of avoiding some of the potential confusions, such as using agreed terminology.

“Our research consisted of an online survey, which received 158 responses on the use of BIM and BIM documentation.

We also interviewed 44 key industry players, consisting of a mix of clients, contractors, consultants, academics and both in-house and private practice lawyers, to take a more detailed look at the current position.”

This section also seeks to highlight the need to ensure that the parties completing a BIM-capability assessment are in fact the ones that will be involved if the project goes ahead. The assessment forms may not contain such a requirement. We received accounts from some of our interviewees that the same BIM managers would be completing all the BIM capability assessments, yet those individuals actually delivering the project may not have matching BIM expertise.

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May Winfield, Senior Legal Counsel

The third and final section goes through some of the common project- or client-specific considerations that will impact the legal risks and contract drafting for BIM. Some of these issues may not occur at the initial negotiation or early project stages to those legal advisers and clients who are new to BIM but may cause complications later if not clarified. This includes consideration of whether there are particular security or confidentiality issues that require the BIM models and outputs to be handled and stored in a particular way and ensuring that all necessary disclosures have been made by both parties to their insurers to avoid inadvertent exclusion of insurance cover.

While this checklist is neither legal advice nor the panacea to BIM legal issues, we hope that it will prove to be an invaluable tool and reference guide for both the legal community and their clients from all facets of the industry to facilitate increased clarity of scope and risk allocation. If parties know where they stand from the outset and/or the documentation makes the position clear, this could avoid some expensive disputes that arise from differing expectations or misunderstandings – for example, simply because the person one reached an understanding/agreement with has since left the other contracting party and the contract documents do not reflect the terms agreed. ■

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Sarah Rock, Senior Associate

The Winfield Rock Report can be requested from: http://www.ukbimalliance.org/resources/request-acopy-of-the-winfield-rock-report/ Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice and the contents of this article is for information purposes only.

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May Winfield Senior Legal Counsel ENGIE bim4legal@gmail.com www.twitter.com/Buildlaw_Arttea www.linkedin.com/in/maywinfield Sarah Rock Senior Associate Gowling WLG Tel: +44 (0)121 393 0311 Sarah.Rock@gowlingwlg.com www.gowlingwlg.com/en/global-reach/united-kingdom www.twitter.com/sarahrocklaw

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UK BIM Alliance: The end of the beginning!

The UK BIM Alliance was launched in October 2016 to unite the industry around the BIM Level 2 agenda, fuelled by hope, faith, the need for leadership and a voice – and a passion for a digitally transformed industry. Founding board member and engagement lead John Eynon looks back at its progress

T

o come up to date, the UK BIM Alliance held our latest quarterly Alliance Forum a few weeks ago.

We had to get a bigger room at the IET in Savoy Place, London (big shout out to Rick Hartwig and the IET team for their constant support – thank you guys!).

Around 75 of us were together to listen to the latest update on the progress of the alliance this year.

It was a very upbeat and positive event. UKBIMA now has projects on the go, accolades for great work, patrons coming on board, just a little cash in the bank at last, and recognition on the global stage, particularly through our recent merger with buildingSMART UK+I.

“We are demonstrating in very tangible and real ways that we can get industry to collaborate across boundaries and silos. We can have impact. We can make a difference.

We are producing some great work.”

John Eynon, Engagement lead

gather the UK BIM community to push through the transformation to digital.

In addition, we are developing a close working relationship with the Centre for Digital Built Britain in Cambridge on the Level 2 and 3 agendas.

I’m sure there was the thought that this might not work, but equally and perhaps stronger still was the thought that we had to try.

Inside, I was leaping up and down. We have momentum. This is beginning to work. You can see it! We are demonstrating in very tangible and real ways that we can get industry to collaborate across boundaries and silos. We can have impact. We can make a difference. We are producing some great work.

Because no one else was standing up to do this, to provide the leadership on these issues that industry desperately needs. While BIM isn’t the answer for all issues that our industry faces, nevertheless it is a powerful catalyst for change and I have no doubt that it can impact on traditional time, cost and quality metrics, as well as safety, the environment, diversity and inclusion, the skills gap, flexible working and things we haven’t even dreamed of yet.

It was a far cry from a few years ago when just a handful of us met to float the idea of the alliance, to

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So here we are.

We now have a great team of people and network led by our chair, Dr Anne Kemp, who has an international reputation for her work on standards and collaboration. We are growing, and I feel two years on we are coming into our own. It is indeed the end of the beginning, but more, so much more, is yet to come.

You can get involved! >> You can see our stuff here at the UK BIM Alliance. >> On the website you can download resources and sign up for our newsletter. >> You can suggest a project and get involved. >> You could become a patron/sponsor. >> You can help.

If you want to know more or join in with us, just contact us through the website or contact me direct.

“I’m sure there was the thought that this might not work, but equally and perhaps stronger still was the thought that we had to try.”

All are very welcome to join in with us to change our industry forever, and provide a lasting legacy for today and make a real difference for future generations.

What are you waiting for? ■ John Eynon is a journeyman architect, design manager and BIM Champ. He writes, blogs, lectures and speaks.

You can catch up with him at www.zenanddm.com .

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John Eynon Engagement lead UK BIM Alliance Tel: +44 (0)7702 956 965 johneynon@me.com www.ukbimalliance.org www.twitter.com/56JONTS www.twitter.com/UKBIMAlliance

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BIM: The elephant in the room A lot of people say they ‘do’ BIM. But what does that really mean? Niraj Mistry, senior BIM assessor at Stroma Certification, says BIM is actually about joining the dots through engagement and collaboration

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speak to people every day who claim that “we do BIM”. Considering Building Information Modelling as a concept, you come to realise that those three words alone do not mean a great deal. The phrase can only really be quantified in context and through examination of your organisation.

Don’t ‘do’ BIM; engage with it How we engage with BIM is of more importance, thus I am going to ask a question: Q: How many disciplines, services or products exist in the construction industry?

A: Don’t bother trying to count. You’ll be here for a while so I encourage you to read on.

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The point is that on a project where BIM is being implemented, everyone plays their part. The specific nature of the role is unique to every one of us and will vary from project to project.

“You need to make sure that each resource is in the right place so that solutions can be found and innovations take place. Who are the innovators in your organisation?”

There is still a lot of misconception in the industry that BIM is about software alone. We must really start recognising that this is absolutely not the case. Though software is undoubtedly a key element, BIM is better described as digital information management.

to be upskilled? What information transfer needs to occur to allow their role to be fulfilled correctly?

So perhaps the real question is ‘Do we all do digital information management?’ The simple answer is that we each play our role in it. It is about collaboration.

Collaboration means working with someone to produce something. Effectively, this refers to a team effort with the aim of reaching a common goal.

It is best not to consider this task as an elephant, a complicated and large entity. Rather, think of the process that connects the dots and any incremental changes required to make each connection work.

Innovation is an important part of BIM. You need to make sure that each resource is in the right place so that solutions can be found and innovations take place. Who are the innovators in your organisation?

Joining the dots Consider the image above. By joining the dots, the puzzle reveals an elephant. This represents our BIM project. By completing the puzzle, we deliver what the client wants. The dots represent each stage of the construction process and the different roles that work to bring a project to its completion. Only by connecting the dots can we solve the puzzle; only by working together can we deliver a construction project using BIM.

Helping you complete the puzzle Becoming BIM Certified means that your organisation is operating in alignment with BIM Level 2 and its associated principles. I would welcome a discussion with your organisation by emailing me at n.mistry@stroma.com or calling 01977 665 420. Let’s ‘do BIM’ together. ■

If the dots are not in the right place or sequence, we will not achieve what we want. This is no different from the principles of a BIM Execution Plan (BEP).

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Niraj Mistry Senior BIM Assessor Stroma Certification Tel: +44 (0)845 621 11 11 info@stroma.com www.stroma.com www.twitter.com/StromaGroup

The puzzle can represent the BIM project. However, the principle can also be applied to your own organisation. Which individuals in your organisation need to work together to deliver BIM? How do they need

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2D to 3D Models: Entering the Third Dimension As you’ve likely heard or read, the construction industry is in a state of transformation: from flat to fat; from two to three dimensions

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ecause of the benefits a third dimension brings, many industries that formerly relied on two-dimensional drawings, drafts, and designs have been moving into 3D visualisations. And construction is no different. After all, we live in a three-dimensional world and software and digital representations that mirror our world allow humans to better visualise buildings and designs before they are built.

“The world has moved on from hand-drawn blueprints.

The construction industry can move into the third dimension as well.”

Today, construction firms that solely use 2D representations are relying on outdated methods.

The use of 3D models affects many aspects of a firm’s work and its relationship with clients, including project cost, communication and bid creation. All of that has a significant impact on a project’s time and cost.

What Doesn’t Happen in 2D, Happens in 3D

At the most basic level, 2D representations don’t depict a project in a way humans intuitively make sense of the world around them.

2D drawings work to explain a concept; however, they don’t function like 3D models. When information is presented in only two dimensions, every person involved in the project forms his or her own idea of how the building or site will look when complete. They see it in their mind’s eye, not on the screen.

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So, when the 3D capabilities introduced with BIM (Building Information Modelling) software came along, innovative AEC firms threw 2D models out the window. The 3D models from BIM look like the world around us.

They’re relatable. With data embedded in the model, they add a dimension present in the world that can’t be achieved in 2D. This gives every stakeholder on the project a better, more natural, more intuitive way to understand its design.

BIM is now widely used by architects, civil engineers, structural engineers and large contractors.

The use of 3D technology is now migrating down to small and mid-sized builders who continue to rely on 2D drawings due to the familiarity of this format. But the fact is, 2D drawings don’t play well – or at all, really – with the other systems used by a construction firm’s partners. The 2D CAD tools currently used in the construction industry create pictorial data with no data about the representation tied to it. The information can be used for little other than plotting a drawing.

By working with the 3D models, all project stakeholders have a common understanding of the project. Communication doesn’t get lost as models are continually translated back and forth from two dimensions to three. The construction firms that work with 2D models actually face more risk losing vital measurements and details as they translate the 3D plans they receive back into 2D.

Builders take the project from paper to reallife – they’re the ones who turn the flat designs into actual 3D (built) structures. If the end result doesn’t match what stakeholders have envisioned in their mind’s eye, builders take the blame.

So why haven’t all construction firms using the outdated 2D site models embraced the third dimension? It comes down to fear of change. Yes, the fear of change over the cost to change.

The costs of not moving to 3D are far greater for these firms than the remaining with 2D. Of course, change is scary. Embracing a new way of doing things takes a bit of time and can involve a learning curve. But not changing is not an option for builders that want to remain competitive.

The world has moved on from hand-drawn blueprints. The construction industry can move into the third dimension as well.

Trimble MEP

https://constructible.trimble.com

BIM and building services: You’re doing it wrong

How many buildings are suffering from inefficient performance and unnecessary costs because they rely on design preconceptions rather than actually analysing how key systems and building services work? Carl Collins of CIBSE and MagiCAD’s Rob Harmer examine what’s going wrong

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esign preconceptions that are commonly used in place of actually analysing systems properly cause a lot of wasted effort and site re-working, adding cost to projects.

Carl Collins – Digital Engineering Consultant, CIBSE For as long as I can remember, I have been designing buildings and systems based on the received wisdom of those that came before us. As design time has been eroded away over the years, to keep a cap on costs and keep profitability up, I have had less and less time to really look at what I have been designing and the basic concepts and assumptions upon which those designs hang.

But what if our predecessors were wrong? What if the assumptions I have always taken as read were, in fact, based on an incomplete understanding of how buildings work? The physics of building designs has progressed a long way in the last few decades, have our assumptions caught up? Has the experience of people on-site been fed back to close the assumption loop? Nope.

To demonstrate this rather outrageous statement, let’s take a look at one particular design flow that mechanical building services engineers will be all-toofamiliar with: designing ductwork systems. This is not to cast the mechanical engineers as the bad guys; this can be extrapolated to any discipline or any workflow.

We are just writing about what we know.

Take a typical ductwork system. You push air in at one end and it comes out of a ceiling-mounted diffuser at the other. Obviously, at one end the pressure will be

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greater than at the other, so we need to control the air flow using dampers of some description to even it all out or all the air will come whistling out of the first diffuser and nothing will come out of the last.

“But now we have digital methods of fully interrogating and simulating what would really be going on and it came as quite a surprise to me, although now I think about it, it shouldn’t have (I’m supposed to understand physics!), that it was more complicated than that.”

What we generally do is to make an assumption about where most of that control will need to be done and put our control devices in that air stream to throttle it back, so the other diffusers can get some air too. The path of most resistance is then referred to as the “Index Run”, which, if the fan that is pushing the air is correctly specified, will not need any control, as this is the maximum effort of the system. In reality, some control is usually put in here, but in an ideal world it would be fully open. What we designers do not really do is assess the ease or even possibility of commissioning the system before it reaches site, so we just place VCDs on branches where we feel it seems right and leave it to the site commissioning engineers to sort out. In fact, this means that huge pressure fluctuations and noise could result, which is in fact an ‘unbalanced’ system.

The Index Run has usually been assumed to be the ductwork that goes to the diffuser farthest away from the fan. That was what I was taught and, to my shame, I never questioned it as it seemed obvious.

But now we have digital methods of fully interrogating

and simulating what would really be going on and it came as quite a surprise to me, although now I think about it, it shouldn’t have (I’m supposed to understand physics!), that it was more complicated than that. I’ll hand you over to Rob to explain how we analyse and solve this issue with digital tools.

Rob Harmer – Technical Area Manager, MagiCAD As Carl described, ductwork (and pipework) system design has many traditional and unquestioned assumptions – but we can use digital engineering methods to represent real-life situations and run simulations on these to assess whether they are suitable or not.

“The physics of building designs has progressed a long way in the last few decades, have our assumptions caught up? Has the experience of people on-site been fed back to close the assumption loop? Nope.”

One such means to accomplish this is to use the flow and pressure analysis of our MagiCAD software within the Revit software platform. Other solutions are available; we are using our software as it is what we know best and illustrates the issue. In short, it allows the user to model and connect system com-

ponents to represent the geometric ductwork distribution and terminals etc, but then run simulations to see what would actually happen in this system in real life. It is not enough just to run a traditional calculation to find the highest pressure drop due to ducts and fittings, add on a bit more for components, and then size a fan (or pump if talking about piping systems).

What we can do, with clever use of variable VCDs, air terminals with dampers and applying variable sizing methods, is to create a ‘balanced’ system where all pressure fluctuations are dealt with properly. For example, pushing 500Pa off a fan and then immediately branching directly off this main duct on to a grille may look fine on a drawing and the index run calculation would be absolutely fine, but this system would be way off being balanced in reality.

The above image shows an example of this. There’s a grille mounted to the end of the duct, which turns out not to be the index run. This should be balanced, but you can see that actually, the pressure drop would need to be 46Pa to handle this increased pressure, which exists to serve the index run conditions.

In reality, what would happen is that a flow rate far higher than the design rate would pour through here, thus starving other grilles. MagiCAD calculations

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report this anomaly with a warning in the report for the user to check. On site it is too late to realise this at the commissioning stage.

The same logic can also be applied to heating, cooling and, to an extent, domestic water systems. I wonder how many other design and engineering processes we just take as read, but can now analyse fully? ■

When using MagiCAD’s flow analysis for this situation, it now reports the reality, whereby the flow would be 52.2 l/s rather than 35 l/s. As a result, this system is uncommissionable.

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Carl Collins Digital Engineering Consultant CIBSE Tel: +44 (0)20 8675 5211 www.cibse.org www.twitter.com/CIBSE

“What we can do, with clever use of variable VCDs, air terminals with dampers and applying variable sizing methods, is to create a ‘balanced’ system where all pressure fluctuations are dealt with properly.”

When we add a VCD into this one branch, the whole system is now balanced. Not only have we proved pre-commissioning balancing, but also challenged the assumption that VCDs are required everywhere there are branches and thus we have saved many surplus and unnecessary VCDs and their associated costs and maintenance. We have simply used the balancing tweaking of the grille itself to achieve this. The image shows the VCD in the system now regulating that flow and the technical diagram shows its performance range and even its adjustment value.

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Rob Harmer Technical Area Manager MagiCAD www.magicad.com www.twitter.com/magicad www.facebook.com/MagiCADsoftware/ www.youtube.com/channel/UC_g3LQS5K8kUjrLEe4_3UQ

SketchUp 2018 is here!

Deliver work you're proud of

Smarter Sections

Make Better Drawings

Section planes now have names and symbols, making them easy to find and organise. Filled section cuts are now baked into SketchUp Pro! There is also improved performance for models that use section planes to hide a large amount of geometry. The more geometry you section off, the more you'll benefit!

Need to add linework that's not in your model? Create a scaled drawing in LayOut and sketch over a 3D model to flesh out your project, or draw from details to scale directly in LayOut. With inferencing, chamfering and filleting, arcs, offset arrays and selections; LayOut is even better at everything you need to draw details or create beautiful illustrations at scale.

Got BIM? There’s more!

We’ve introduced Advanced Attribute fields for a component's Price, Size, URL, Type Status and Owner. Generate Report now aggregates component data so you can do things like configure reports to sum parts and quantities and cutlists, or create detailed estimates by adding up prices by layer.

You can rely on IFC in SketchUp to transfer the attributes you assign and manipulate in projects, allowing for information to move freely between SketchUp and other applications.

• Import DWG files into LayOut

• Native support for importing and exporting STL files

• Multi Viewport Dimensioning

• Improvement to Outliner's overall load performance

Contact Elmtec, SketchUp’s distribution partner in the UK

E: sales@elmtec.co.uk

T: 01844 263750

W: www.elmtec.co.uk

How to engage in a BIM project There is much rhetoric surrounding BIM and this only seeks to add curiosity and confusion in equal measures. This prompts many people to ask: “How do I engage in a BIM project?” Mike Shilton, chair of the Landscape Institute Digital Practice Group, addresses this rather loaded question

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hen we engage in a project, we typically ask many questions to gain an understanding of what is required of us. As a landscape architect, if a client asks, “Can you landscape my project?” I don’t simply say, “yes”, design “some landscape” and go back with my thoughts! I would immediately ask questions. Is it a domestic, public or private project? Is it an urban or rural setting? Is it mainly a soft or hard landscape scheme? What are your requirements for the site?…et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

However, when we are asked by a client if we can deliver BIM, we typically ask no questions, go away in panic, start attempting to define BIM in isolation and, inevitably, make poor decisions and costly mistakes.

Hence, many companies that have tried to engage with BIM often report that it has taken them a long time, cost a lot of money and they have yet to realise any significant benefits of adopting BIM. As with any other project you deliver, “the BIM” requirement will vary, so ask the client and project team to define what BIM means on this project by asking more questions.

Understand what you need to deliver BIM is a process that defines a framework for project delivery and seeks to provide what the client requires, within budget and on time. Without knowing what you have to deliver on a BIM project, how can you begin to define what is required of you? The starting point is to understand your role and responsibility on the project.

This will establish your level of involvement and what you need to consider.

The BIM Execution Plan (BEP) will define the standards,

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protocols, processes and data exchange points that will be required within the project. This should highlight the key questions that need to be resolved to deliver a successful project and the information required for the ongoing maintenance of the asset.

Once you know what you have to deliver, when this is required and the file formats, you can begin to evaluate how you will achieve this. In some cases, you may be able to provide this using your current processes or by introducing minor changes to your current workflows; otherwise, you need to consider how you are going to fill the gap. This may require changes to your current processes, upskilling staff, recruiting or employing the services of a specialist consultant. It may also require you to purchase new software, hardware and training. This process is not unfamiliar to most practices who work on a range of projects at the moment. As such, why should a BIM project be any different?

BIM is not always 3D One of the key benefits BIM offers is data exchange for collaboration, which includes the ability to represent a feature graphically and though attribute information that describes the object. This adds value to a project as all team members can quickly interpret the design proposals without the need for a highly detailed 3D model that will quickly become unworkable, especially for landscapes with their myriad of complexities. A good edict I offer is, if 3D helps answer a key question, it is BIM. If not, it is visualisation! You should seriously question the value of producing highly detailed 3D representations of the features you need to create as it will significantly impact on the performance and use of the model with little or no tangible benefit. An

Fig 1: Only when you know what you have to deliver on a BIM project can you begin to make key business decisions.

Fig 2: Within this project only the rooftop courtyards were developed in BIM. This helped resolve key questions about the landscape in relation to the building. The remainder of the model was represented as data-rich, 2D geometry.

understanding of the key questions that need to be answered will help you define the level of graphical detail and attribute information you need to provide for each object and assist with the decision-making process. (See Fig 2) The software question One of the most common questions I am asked relates to the software that should be used to deliver BIM, especially for landscape projects. Just as purchasing landscape design software will not make you a landscape architect, or using Microsoft Word will make you an author, no single software will deliver BIM.

As discussed earlier, to engage in a BIM project, you need to know the outputs required first. Only then can you review what software is most appropriate to generate this. Inevitably, no single software will be able to output all the information required for the project and you will need to consider a range of solutions to deliver this. This is no different to any other project you deliver now and most applications can be considered to be BIM authoring software because they contribute to the project.

If you are required to use specific software and you have identified that you can deliver the outputs required using your current software, people and

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Fig 3: Your BIM Implementation Plan should not be developed in isolation but though collaboration and staged sequencing.

processes, you should question why you need to purchase it, especially if it is expensive and inappropriate for your need. If there is no alternative than to purchase particular software for project collaboration or contractual reasons, this becomes a business decision, not a BIM issue, and you should decide whether the project or client is important enough to your company to warrant the change and investment required.

Next steps At its heart, BIM provides a framework to share information and collaborate with others. Your company business plan and ethics should define the clients and projects you engage with now and wish to work with in the future. Your BIM Implementation Plan needs to align with these aspirations. Consequently, you need to engage with your design partners and clients – and research perspective clients – to understand how they are defining and implementing BIM. Also, speak to your employees as they may have insights or talents that could influence where your company is heading. When you have established what you wish to achieve, you can start to define what BIM means to you and your company.

It is foolhardy to believe you can implement BIM overnight. Your company has evolved to where it is today following many years of change, improvements

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and refinement. You need to tackle BIM in the same way. Start with an action plan that defines small steps and sets realistic goals. Identify appropriate projects that will allow you to test elements of your plan and use these to feedback and improve your current processes. Ensure that each project moves you along your BIM timeline and gets you closer to where you wish to be.

In summary, there is no silver bullet to achieve and engage in a BIM project and it will vary between projects and clients. It will require an understanding of where you are now and where you wish to be in the future with a plan to get there. Each new journey starts with a first step so the sooner you start, the sooner you will get there! ■ Mike Shilton is product director at Keysoft Solutions and chair of the Landscape Institute Digital Practice Group.

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Mike Shilton Chair Landscape Institute Digital Practice Group Tel: +44 (0)207 685 2640 www.landscapeinstitute.org www.twitter.com/talklandscape

Powerproject BIM – affordable 4D planning By combining 3D models with scheduling tools in one application, Powerproject BIM enables you to: ◊ Easily create your project plan from your model ◊ Drag and drop objects between the 3D view and Gantt chart ◊ Link with our estimating tool, Bidcon, for 5D BIM

Find out more by visiting: elecosoft.com/bim

elecosoft.com

Better storytelling with construction data and analytics “Hey data! Is my project on schedule?” Data science is becoming a key characteristic of competitive advantage for construction organisations.

However, turning data into information, and then into meaningful insight, can be a real challenge. David Philp of i3 by AECOM takes a look

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t AECOM, we recognised this challenge and created i3 by AECOM – our lifecycle data science solution for the built environment.

We help clients manage, comprehend and interpret mountains of data to create intelligence at each stage of the design, build, finance and operate process.

We harness the power of data across a digitised and virtualised asset lifecycle.

As a diverse built environment, construction is generating and curating vast quantities of electronic data from the earliest grains of a new project investment decision through the whole lifecycle of an asset or portfolio. Continuous streams of data are feeding forward across our built environment, from capital to operational stages to service provision and increasingly backwards through systematic feedback loops, to inform lessons learned, supporting future investment decision making. Every day we exchange petabytes of construction data across systems, teams and countries. These data exchanges are moving from staged transactions to a frictionless data environment, accessible 24/7 in real time.

This velocity of this data acquisition, as in other sectors, is increasing at a prolific rate and from an ever-increasing variety of sources: from computers, mobile devices, asset telemetry, smart plant and even the end users themselves. Our construction sites are now a living, breathing, manufacturing location, with real-time data driving the operations and logistics.

As an industry, we have an enormous amount of siloed legacy data in relation to the existing retained

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estate. Usually, this is in innumerable formats stored in a potpourri of different ways from aged floppy discs, scratched CDs, DVDs, on-premises servers and the cloud to, more commonly, racks of as-built drawings and folders of operation and maintenance paper etc – and not forgetting all that tacit knowledge walking about our projects in wetware form (the human brain)! As our data volumes gets larger and larger, the challenge of turning this deluge into actionable intelligence gets bigger too.

“Dashboards help us envision these large construction data sets coherently through the visual display of quantitative information, where we can reveal the data at several levels of detail, from a broad overview of a programme or project down to the fine structure of a work-package specification or object performance attributes.”

Retrospectively, we need more and more to make sure the value of this historic estate data can be harnessed, which involves data cleansing, validation and indexing to make sure it can be unified with other systems. Data in a construction organisation is, however, most often a complex web that needs to be carefully integrated to support joined-up or chained data queries, eg BIM + AIM + GIS + ERP = Big organisational value!

Having aggregated these data sets together, we need then to examine them and make sense of them to derive insights. Even though analytics are playing a part, construction is lagging behind other

sectors because as an industry we are very poor at using our data to measure and benchmark infrastructure performance.

“As an industry, construction is generating and curating vast quantities of electronic data from the earliest grains of a new project investment decision through the whole lifecycle of an asset or portfolio.”

Solving this problem will need an intervention to bring communities together that create and operate assets as highlighted in the National Infrastructure Commission report, Data for the Public Good, which sets out a roadmap towards a national digital twin: a digital model of our national infrastructure that will be able both to monitor our infrastructure in real time and to simulate the impacts of possible event.

At i3 by AECOM, we are already on this trajectory, unifying separate systems and leveraging advanced cloud analytics solutions to make sense of our clients’ data systems in a real-time environment. These systems and processes are helping us interrogate large and often unstructured datasets, offering levels of insights that traditional systems cannot. These

systems respond to client needs for consistent, realtime data to support decision making and increasingly to support forecasting and investment decision making using demand and prioritisation queries.

Storytelling with our data is becoming an ever-important and critical service of i3 by AECOM. Indeed, if a picture is worth a thousand words then enterprise-level construction data visualisation is worth at least a book!

Using dashboarding and data visualisation engines, we contextualise and form into bodies of knowledge (as illustrated above). This custom visualisation technology is helping us communicate all the relevant data we generate across our portfolio-level digital nervous system and present it in a clear and understandable way. Our customers are seeking, as Bill Gates envisioned, “business at the speed of thought” where information is available to make real-time decisions with transparent and trustworthy views of their integrated data, from cost to occupation, energy performance, schedule position.

Dashboards help us envision these large construction data sets coherently through the visual display of

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quantitative information, where we can reveal the data at several levels of detail, from a broad overview of a programme or project down to the fine structure of a work-package specification or object performance attributes.

Good construction dashboarding consists of complex ideas communicated with clarity, precision and efficiency, where graphics reveal data to stakeholders better than traditional methods. Good user interface is important; car manufacturers have shown us the best dashboards are usually the simplest and at the same time the most powerful. Construction clients are also now moving from deterministic to probabilistic use of data and asking “what if?” and “show me the impact of…” questions of their estate-level data, where on the fly they can visually and instantaneously gain insights into the effects of changes. Predictive modelling is allowing us to provide clients with early warnings before specific situations occur and implement repair before fail models with improved forecasting, allowing them to better prepare for best- and worst-case asset operational events.

Natural language interfaces, mixed reality and early artificial intelligence such as the Amelia AI interface

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are all starting to play their part in how clients and end users interface with and achieve better understanding of data, especially at an operational and service provision level.

Better data user interface is improving every week and at the same time so is our ability to make sense of our data. Your data is full of limitless and largely untapped possibilities. At i3 by AECOM, we are here to help you identify and create intelligence from your data. Contact us to find out how we can help you. ■

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David Philp MSc BSc FICE FRICS FCIOB FCInstES FGBC Global BIM/MIC Consultancy Director AECOM david.philp@aecom.com www.aecom.com/services/it-cybersecurity/i3-aecom/

BIM An Integrated Practice ecodomus

Ecodomus is a BIM Lifecycle management solution offering you a middleware solution to create bi-directional connectivity between the model, asset and building management systems, providing a fully integrated lifecycle solution.

Enscape™

Enscape offer a real-time rendering from within Revit, at lightning speed, and really brings your BIM use case of Visualisation to life, in a truly integrated way.

aconex

Aconex, the world’s leading cloud-based platform for the management of BIM project workflows and processes, provides you with a common data environment solution for the largest construction and engineering projects.

Solibri

Clash detection and model checking are critical activities that are simply and elegantly enabled in Solibri to support your BIM use case of coordination.

A connected workflow can only be created when a range of software solutions, designed to support key BIM use cases, have been elegantly implemented. A truly integrated process is the end-game for BIM practitioners. With the use of key technologies and implementation of standards like BCF and IFC, Man and Machine's experts can turn your vision into a reality. If you would like to talk to our BIM experts, please contact us at sales@manandmachine.co.uk.

01844 263700 www.manandmachine.co.uk

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ALLPLAN RAISE YOUR LEVEL ADVANCED BIM SOLUTIONS FOR AEC As a leading supplier of BIM Solutions for AEC, ALLPLAN helps you with the digital transformation in the world of construction.

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© ALLPLAN Schweiz AG | Project: Limmat Tower, Dietikon | Photographer: Beat Bühler

Why BIM is here to stay

April marked the two-year anniversary of BIM Level 2 mandate, yet industry reports suggest that the adoption of BIM remains slow. However, Lucy Abbott, BIM director of Wates Group, believes the benefits of BIM for design teams, clients and end users mean it is here to stay

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t Wates, we have seen the demand for BIM Level 2 increase by 40% over this period – a clear indicator that the use of BIM across industry is maturing. However, there is still much to be done before we can consider BIM to be accepted as the industry norm.

Implementing a BIM process is a new concept for most project teams and, inevitably, the people involved will have differing levels of understanding and capability when it comes to delivering BIM on a project. This can be a real challenge, so why do it?

Well, if there was no reward, we would likely see the adoption of BIM coming to a grinding halt – the reality is that it isn’t.

Wates is delivering a growing number of projects using BIM and is demonstrating notable benefits, including improvements in building quality, minimising programme overruns and reducing risk. The key to achieving these results is for all parties to commit to delivering BIM properly, using a standardised approach for the production of structured information, clearly defining requirements prior to commencing a project, and agreeing a collective responsibility for all project participants to support the successful delivery of BIM throughout the project lifecycle.

We take a proactive approach to working collaboratively with our customers, providing support in helping to shape their requirements in order that BIM generates real value. Working in partnership with our public sector clients, our objective is to remove the common misconceptions and provide the technical support required to meet our customers’ strategic requirements, while demonstrating how BIM can reduce risk and add value on the projects we deliver.

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We are currently delivering an exemplar BIM Level 2 project for a public sector contract. The scheme is an inner-city project in London, comprising a deep basement and four-storey extension surrounded by existing buildings. Currently at RIBA stage 5 and scheduled for completion in 2020, the scheme forms part of our client’s wider strategic objectives: to consolidate and improve how their assets are operated and maintained.

“Through the use of BIM, we have significantly de-risked the project, achieving coordinated design information

by RIBA Stage 5 prior to commencing construction – a notable achievement that we would be unlikely to accomplish without the use of BIM.”

In conjunction with the client’s BIM and facilities management team, our BIM manager, James Dixon, ensured that the plan for delivery outlined within the project BIM execution plan was aligned with the client’s BIM objectives, while developing the detailed requirements necessary to ensure that the model and data deliverables could be utilised by the client’s CAFM system following handover of the scheme.

Wates also provided guidance on tackling the challenges of implementing data security requirements – an issue of paramount importance to public sector bodies – by advising on compliant solutions to data security restrictions, while ensuring that project information could be practically generated and shared amongst the project team.

Prior to appointment, each design consultant and specialist subcontractor was assessed to verify their

BIM capability to confirm that each party was able to deliver their respective BIM deliverables. Where knowledge gaps were identified, training has been provided to safeguard the quality and compliance of the information being delivered and minimise any risk of design information not being completed to programme.

During the design concept stage, alternative design solutions were generated to ensure the scheme could be delivered within budget. Providing the ability for the client stakeholders to consider the options, easily interpret the design proposals and have the confidence to confirm RIBA Stage 2 design sign-off within two weeks; a significant improvement from the typical 4-6 month sign-off durations on public sector projects.

Design information is coordinated and validated through rule-based validation of the 3D geometry and data, with issues being identified and reported for review and prioritised for resolution. During

design team meetings, the models are used as a focal point for discussion and design development, which progresses the resolution of issues far quicker than they would on a ‘non-BIM’ project.

Where design information errors have been identified using the model, savings in risk avoidance and time are tracked to build confidence in the value that is being driven out of the BIM process, the findings of which are shared across our business and with our customers.

Evidencing that a robust process is being implemented also provides benefits with the procurement of specialist package subcontractors, who are able to confidently tender packages in the knowledge that they will be in receipt of accurate coordinated information.

During client progress meetings, the federated model is used as the basis for communicating design progress and ensuring prompt client sign-off at

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Image: © Sam Stephenson

Through the use of BIM, we have significantly de-risked the project, achieving coordinated design information by RIBA Stage 5 prior to commencing construction – a notable achievement that we would be unlikely to accomplish without the use of BIM. Moving forward, we will be exploring to test the wider application of the BIM process and its benefits, including setting out and verification of as-installed components using robotic total stations and the use of field tools to access models, report progress, manage QA, capture and verify data.

“During design team meetings, [3D] models are used as a focal point for discussion and design development, which progresses the resolution of issues far quicker than they would on a ‘non-BIM’ project.”

Lucy Abbott, BIM director of Wates Group

defined stages, as well as engagement with end users. This process is further aided through the use of VR visualisations, where stakeholders are immersed into the model to further enhance their ability to envisage and experience the proposed digital replica of their facility.

4D processes have also been adopted to align the model with the construction programme, which enables progress to be reviewed and planned versus actual construction activity to be reported. The 4D model will enable accurate communication of site logistics and health and safety requirements to construction operatives.

Additionally, 5D has been used for verification of areas, volumes and piece counts of selected packages including piles, pile caps, columns and beams, which have been analysed against manual quantity take offs to identify potential gaps in the package quantities.

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BIM has undoubtedly enhanced our client’s understanding and experience of the proposed scheme, offering greater insight into how the design has progressed and providing confidence to the client and end users that the overall design brief is being delivered in accordance with our client’s specific requirements.

BIM is helping us to add value, improve the quality of the buildings we deliver and reduce risk for our customers. There may still be sluggish take-up in industry, but we believe BIM is here to stay. ■

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Lucy Abbott BIM Director Wates Group Tel: +44 (0)1372 861000 info@wates.co.uk www.wates.co.uk www.twitter.com/WatesGroup

Hilson Moran Turns to Bluebeam Revu and Studio Prime to Drive a 60% Increase in Production Efficiency Industry-leading design consultancy Hilson Moran has adopted Bluebeam Revu and Studio Prime to help it keep ahead in the highly competitive construction sector

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s an international multidisciplinary practice offering design consultancy services for the built environment for over 40 years, UK firm Hilson Moran has significantly increased its investment in digital solutions. A change in philosophy came with the successful implementation of Bluebeam® Revu®, as the industry-leading firm embraced technology and customised its usage to open a new chapter.

“We are now entering the fourth industrial revolution, not just in our industry – it’s everywhere. And of course, we want to keep ahead of the curve,” explains Hilson Moran Director Vince Ugarow.

The Revu Phase

When Hilson Moran first rolled out Revu, the firm went from 10 licences to an enterprisewide set of 229 licences within a calendar year. Engineers quickly gravitated towards the sophisticated PDF mark-up technology in Revu, drawing review, batch overlay and even custom tool sets, which “the lab” designed exclusively for use by Hilson Moran.

Paper use also greatly declined, saving the firm money in the form of lower printing and shipping costs for drawing approvals.

“We found real benefits, and I did some measuring looking at just paper use,” says Ugarow.

“As a company we do measure how much paper we use across the business. We’ve

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done that for the last three or four years now and it’s a fact that we are using less paper; reducing that constantly about 30% over three to four years.”

Using Studio and Studio Prime

The Studio capabilities of Revu provide the added ability for multiple users to sign in to the same drawing review sessions, offering simultaneous, real-time editing for users who can be located hundreds of miles apart.

“What this has given us the opportunity to do is to collaborate with our other offices,” explains Ugarow.

“We have offices here in the UK in London, Farnborough, Cambridge and Manchester.

We also have two offices in the Middle East; in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. We use two or three

of our offices to coordinate the design, so again, Revu’s Studio feature is actually perfect for that.”

Given the need for regular cross-office collaboration, the firm decided to add the cloud-based subscription for Studio Prime, which offers all the collaborative possibilities of Studio, but with secure administrative controls and the ability to customise the product using an open API for cross-software collaboration.

“I think adopting Studio Prime certainly gave us a bit more level of comfort because you know these days cyber security is a massive issue. A lot of our clients are very sensitive in terms of the projects they do but at the end of the day, you can’t sort of push against the tide,” says Ugarow.

The results: An undeniable comparison

Hilson Moran’s focus on project efficiency played into the firm’s effort to measure the impact of incorporating Studio Sessions in Revu into their process.

“It’s very important to try and gain some metrics so you can measure the success of newly introduced technologies,” reiterates Ugarow.

“That’s certainly something that we did early on in terms of adopting the Bluebeam Studio feature. We did have two projects very similar to one another for the same client.

“The first one, which was done a year earlier, was really designed using the traditional sort of methodologies, so engineers really had their thoughts together. They drew and sketched their own systems and then merged them together. We had workshops and discussions about how to coordinate those.

“With Revu’s Studio features, and the second project, we did all that work in the collabo-

ration environment. What we found is that just the sheer number of hours we had recorded during the first version was a lot more compared to the hours spent using the Studio feature. We actually found that if you look at just the production process, [using Studio] was almost 60% more efficient, which was quite a positive surprise!”

Where do they go from here?

The value of the Studio capabilities and subscription-based Studio Prime in Revu has opened the door for more intensive project standardisation within the organisation.

“There’s going to be some real benefits once we start engaging with external partners, whether it’s architects or structural engineers on the project, or even clients as well. We see huge benefit in that, and I think we’re pretty much there to do that on projects now,” elaborates Ugarow.

Given the 60% efficiency increase in production, earned by using the Revu application’s Studio and Studio Prime on projects, work-

ing and communicating with project partners will only get easier, giving Hilson Moran a clear advantage within the highly competitive construction industry.

“We are now entering the fourth industrial revolution, not just in our industry – it’s everywhere. And of course, we want to keep ahead of the curve.”

Learn more about Bluebeam Revu at www.bluebeam.co.uk

Bluebeam Software Inc www.bluebeam.co.uk

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EU’s first 3D printed house points the way to a more sustainable construction industry The first concrete 3D printed house in the EU has been revealed in Milan as part of the Salone del Mobile 2018. Guglielmo Carra, Europe materials consulting lead at Arup, takes a look at this groundbreaking project

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rup and CLS Architetti, working jointly with Italcementi and the 3D printing company Cybe Construction, have built the first concrete 3D printed house in the EU. The building was temporarily located in the grand Piazza Cesare Beccaria during the Salone del Mobile 2018 in Milan. The house was revealed in April and remained open to the public for a few days.

The concrete printed house is a single-storey building covering 100 square metres. It has been designed to a freeform complex plan with double curved walls. The house interior includes a living area, one bedroom, a kitchen and bathroom. The green roof has been equipped with a temporary garden.

The house is made up of 35 concrete modules printed on-site and laid directly on the square pavement. With each module being completed in about 60-90 minutes, the full house was printed in just 48 hours effective time.

To manage such a short construction time, each layer of concrete needed to cure much faster than traditional concrete. A special cement mix was used to reach high mechanical performance in a short timeframe after printing, as well as to optimise its rheology. This allows the printing process to happen smoothly, with each layer staying in position while supporting the entire weight of the completed wall above.

The modules that comprise the building have been specifically designed by Arup to be disassembled at

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the end of the event and to be transported to a permanent location right outside the city of Milan.

Here, testing related to the long-term performance for both the structure and the material will be undertaken.

With this project, we have demonstrated the feasibility of using 3D printing for larger-scale projects. We are confident that this manufacturing technology represents a key alternative to current construction methods, such as precast or casted on-site concrete, particularly when it comes to complex freeform structures or cladding components.

Uniquely, this process allows for on-site construction with few limitations regarding site location.

Generally, the prototype building aims to showcase the role that 3D printing can play in changing the construction industry: • 3D printing offers a smooth and direct transfer of information from the design model to the construction operations, allowing increased efficiency and accuracy. It is possible to use the same 3D design model to optimise the planning, perform the structural analysis and finally to print the parts. This ensures that information flows seamlessly amongst stakeholders, drastically reducing building inconsistencies and potential mistakes in respect of the original design model.

• 3D printing is also a more sustainable option for traditional concrete construction processes because of the optimal application of cement only

where needed. This is key to reducing construction waste and increasing efficiency during the building process.

• 3D printing is more affordable process and less expensive than traditional construction due to the more efficient use of materials and to a more structured and faster building process. Moreover, it is possible to consider reusing materials at the end of the building’s life rather than their ending up as landfill.

“We are confident that this manufacturing technology represents a key alternative to current construction methods, such as precast or casted on-site concrete, particularly when it comes to complex freeform structures or cladding components.”

The use of a flexible manipulator mounted on a movable base is a unique feature of the successful completion of the house and makes it different from other 3D printing processes used in recent projects around the world. This feature, representing a significant step-change, allows increased flexibility and future opportunities, such as 3D printing for larger in-plant buildings and multi-storey buildings.

The evolution of robot technology will be key to scaling up 3D printing.

At Arup, we are keen to continue our investigation and engage in the design and making of new prototypes in the near future. To do so, it will be necessary to develop design solutions compliant with current building codes and regulations and to start considering updating and advancing the existing ones. This will make it easier for innovative manufacturing technologies to be adopted more quickly. Also, we must develop the performance of materials; for example, by including short fibres in the concrete mix to improve the ductility of the materials. ■

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Guglielmo Carra Europe Materials Consulting Lead Arup www.linkedin.com/company/arup/ www.instagram.com/arupgroup www.arup.com www.twitter.com/ArupGroup

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Reinventing the home: Designing the world’s first freeform 3D printed house

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A project in Tennessee is testing a “revolutionary” design to reinvent the modern home using 3D printing technology n 2016, a team from US architect WATG Urban won first prize in the Freeform Home Design Challenge, a competition commissioned by Branch Technology, an architectural fabricator specialising in large-scale 3D printing, to create a design for the world’s first freeform 3D printed family home.

Over the past year, WATG’s Chicago office has been developing the design – named Curve Appeal – with Branch Technology and recently announced that it has started the wall section testing, research and development phase of what it called this “revolutionary” project to reinvent the modern home.

Curve Appeal’s design drew inspiration from the Case Study House programme carried out between 1945 and 1996. This initiative, which was sponsored

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by Arts & Architecture magazine, saw many major architects of the day, including JR Davidson, distinguished architecture professor Pierre Koenig and Charles and Ray Eames, designers of the iconic Eames lounge chair, commissioned to create highly experimental prototype homes to meet the US post-war residential boom.

“In generic tests, a three-foot long printed beam weighing only 5lbs could carry a load of around 3,600lbs.”

In total, 36 designs were produced under the programme by architects with reputations for constantly pushing the limits of minimalist materials and striving to create open-plan spaces that focused on enhancing natural light.

WATG saw Curve Appeal as the next evolutionary step and employed many of the same modernist design principles for the project to blur the line between inside and out.

The Freeform Home Design Challenge required that participants consider all aspects of the house. For example, the building envelope was to consider material applications, fenestration and structure.

The interior had to include a kitchen, bathroom, living area and one bedroom.

In addition, proposed building systems had to resolve mechanical, electrical, plumbing and lighting requirements, while also allowing for passive solar design strategies.

Curve Appeal’s design comprises two main components: an interior core and an exterior skin derived from simple yet carefully calculated archways intended to blend the house with its surroundings.

Curve Appeal is situated in Chattanooga, Tennessee, near the Tennessee River in a wooded, sunlit area.

The site was chosen to allow the house to blend seamlessly into the environment while also providing natural shade and protection from solar radiation.

Branch Technology has the world’s largest freeform 3D printers. The process sees an architectural design turned into digital geometry. The 3D model is then turned into robotic code. 3D printing means creating complex design forms is no longer difficult or expensive.

Within the home, the complex shell geometry is intended to be not only aesthetically attractive but also structurally functional.

The arching form provides structural rigidity, using various spring points throughout the floor plan,

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allowing the structure to carry roof loads and provide large, open-plan living spaces.

The team enlisted Thornton Tomasetti, a New York-based structural engineering consultancy, to print test beams and partial wall sections to examine their load-bearing capabilities. In generic tests, a three-foot long printed beam weighing only 5lbs could carry a load of around 3,600lbs (1,632kg).

The freeform printed matrix is essentially a small space frame, making it highly efficient. The next stage will be to test the maximum load bearing qualities of each individual printed element of the structure.

Working with United States Gypsum, WATG and Branch Technology have been researching a range of gypsum material components, including gypsum spray foam from United States Gypsum’s R&D department, that could be applied on the printed structure to act as fire protection, structural reinforcement and to create a substrate for the application of finished wall materials.

The team has also been working with Interface, a high-performance mechanical, electrical and plumb-

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ing design firm, to engineer a passive mechanical system with the aim of making the house net zero energy – in other words, it will produce as much energy as it consumes.

Platt Boyd, founder of Branch Technology, said: “Curve Appeal is a very thoughtful approach to the design of our first house.

“It responds well to the site conditions, magnifies the possibilities of cellular fabrication and pushes the envelope of what is possible while still utilising more economical methods for convention building systems integration.”

The team is working towards breaking ground on Curve Appeal later this year. ■

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PBC Today Tel: 0843 504 4560 info@pbctoday.co.uk www.pbctoday.co.uk

Book your BIM review Today

Book your BIM review with Michael Johnson We are pleased to announce the appointment of Michael Johnson as Head of Digital Construction and Building Operations at Cadline. With more than 35 years practical experience of the Architecture Engineering Construction Operator (AECO) Industry, Michael's interest lies in delivering strategic project wide BIM advice to our clients ensuring both a collaborative and defined approach to the life-cycle use of information. If you would like to speak to Michael to better understand how he can help your business best leverage the benefits of a Digital workflow, please click below to book a meeting or alternatively call Michael on 07887 716103 or 01784 419922.

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Our BIM focused courses deliver the skills you need to participate in projects where BIM deliverables are a requirement.

Book your FREE place now on an Autodesk Survey Solutions Test Drive by registering for a Morning or Afternoon session.

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Morning sessions scheduled from 9.30am - 12:00pm Afternoon sessions scheduled from 1:00pm - 3:30pm

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We have awareness courses for executives, managers and practitioners that introduce each part of your business to the principles of Level 2 BIM. Our product based courses train users how to create and deliver BIM compliant deliverables in design software such as Revit, AutoCAD Civil 3D and Navisworks.

Click here to find out more

Visit: cadline.co.uk to find out more

How the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre is helping companies adopt BIM The Construction Scotland Innovation Centre provides a wide range of support to help businesses through their BIM journey. Skills and training manager Lisa Deane discusses what’s on offer

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he Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC) supports innovation projects that bring together construction businesses, university experts and public sector partners to deliver transformational change in the construction industry.

With support from Scottish Enterprise and in conjunction with a range of industry partners, we will soon be launching Phase 2 of our free BIM in Practice programme to help individuals and organisations on their journey towards implementing BIM Level 2.

Here at CSIC, naturally we want to see our sector transform into to one that makes better use of digitisation and automation to drive greater profitability, productivity, efficiency and sustainability. We see BIM as a key part of that transformation. It will support the creation of buildings that are fit for the 21st century – greener, more efficient and with more intelligent infrastructure.

As many will be familiar with, BIM Level 2 can deliver cost savings, reduced risk and added value to construction projects in the context of a more collaborative and innovative environment. Design information is shared through a common file format, which enables organisations to work collaboratively on small- and large-scale construction projects, reducing risks.

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continuous development of their BIM journey, offering support at all the following stages: Awareness – Understanding – Implementation – Adoption – Standard Practice – Continuous Development.

Lisa Deane, Skills and training manager

Our free programme of support has been designed to: • Raise awareness of the opportunities Scottish supply chain companies can realise through BIM Level 2.

• Demonstrate the benefits that can be achieved through knowledge sharing, collaboration, innovation and best practice – all founding principles of Level 2.

• Support business through the adoption phase.

Throughout the first year of the programme, over 200 businesses benefited from the support available through workshops and an online advisory service.

Awareness – For businesses who are unfamiliar with BIM, our introductory workshops will offer an overview of the benefits working with BIM can bring to an organisation and the practices and processes involved. These workshops will be hosted at the CSIC Innovation Factory near Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness. Additionally, this workshop will be available as an e-learning module.

“BIM level 2 can deliver cost savings, reduced risk and added value to construction projects in the context of a more collaborative and innovative environment.”

Understanding – Acknowledging that BIM requires significant investment and commitment of resources to any organisation considering adoption, our BIM For Business Leaders e-learning module is designed to enable greater understanding of BIM by CEOs, finance directors and other senior leaders involved in strategic decision-making.

In addition to the workshops previously run throughout Scotland, this year’s refreshed programme provides organisations with even greater benefits including physical workshops, e-learning modules, a collaborative platform aimed at enabling discussion and facilitating best practice, and a catalogue of support through a library of useful information and content hosted at www.cs-ic.org/BIM .

Implementation – Covering the areas involved in implementing BIM such as People, Processes, Systems and Practices, these workshops support this stage in an organisation’s journey. There will be eight events held throughout Scotland, which are open to businesses from across the industry. In addition, four specific workshops will focus on particular groups within the industry, such as architecture and design.

These workshops will provide greater detail on the specifics of implementing BIM for businesses in these areas and will also be available as e-learning modules.

The programme is designed to support businesses from their initial awareness of BIM practices to the

Adoption – Once adopted, our online learning resources will help consolidate knowledge.

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Image: © Andy Buchanan 2017

“Throughout the first year of the programme, over 200 businesses benefited from the support available through workshops and an online advisory service.”

Standard Practice – For businesses already adopting BIM, CSIC can provide support and guidance through our online collaboration platform and FAQ library.

Continuous Development – Whether a business is just setting out on its journey or a little further down the road, our expertise and resources can be accessed.

To maximise the benefits of this free programme of support, CSIC strongly recommends that interested businesses sign up to the full series of workshops and support. In doing so, businesses will also benefit from a 20% discount on membership of CSIC’s Innovation Factory and access to innovation project support and potential funding. ■ Full details of the programme can be found at: www.cs-ic.org/bim

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All our events are carried out in partnership with other organisations. Interested in collaborating?

Contact Lisa Deane on 0141 212 5250 or email ldeane@cs-ic.org for more information.

The Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC) is one of eight industry-led and demand-driven Innovation Centres supported by the Scottish Funding Council, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands & Islands Enterprise and 13 Scottish universities.

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Lisa Deane Skills and training manager Construction Scotland Innovation Centre Tel: +44 (0)141 212 5250 hello@cs-ic.org www.cs-ic.org www.twitter.com/CScotIC www.linkedin.com/company/construction-scotlandinnovation-centre

Life Cycle Evaluator An intelligent long-term approach to property life cycle management RICS Life Cycle Evaluator supports the management of your property portfolio by providing the detail you need to cover the maintenance, servicing and costs of your buildings at component level.

It will help: • Prevent over/underestimation of component costs and life expectancy, accessing costs and increasing efficiency • Promote a long-term property approach helping you cost and schedule maintenance activity appropriately over the defined life of the property • Provide evidence based decision support to meet the needs of the property occupants.

Visit rics.org/lce or call +44 (0)24 7686 8433

Why technology is the key to inspiring the industry's next generation More than anything else, we have come to associate the younger generations with technology – be it smartphones, social media or video games. When we look ahead to the next generation of construction industry leaders, we therefore need more than anything to capitalise on young people’s interest in tech, says Nick Conway of ITC Concepts

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his year, we’ve heard many organisations voice their concerns about the skills shortage in the construction industry and an ageing workforce within the sector. The need to attract fresh talent to the industry is evident. It’s therefore time we used one of the industry’s fastest-growing resources to appeal to a generation of tech natives.

“…the role that technology plays in construction needs to be emphasised in all aspects of recruitment and outreach.”

I believe that technology will be essential in changing the perception of the construction industry

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among young people; both for the process of reaching a younger audience and in helping make the sector more appealing and accessible to them.

Tech has quickly become a part of everyday life for most, if not all, people working in construction. At ITC, for example, we use a specially developed app for snagging, have integrated video technology into our collaborative working programs and are committed users of project management software. Technology has become an integral part of problem-solving across the industry, both on-site and in design-led work and office-based roles.

could see how much more engaged they were with the subject matter as a result.

If we are to change the perception of construction, it's essential that we get involved with as much outreach as possible, including engagement at a school level, and reaching out to young people in a way that resonates with them.

Nick Conway, Director of ITC Concepts

However, the truth remains that many people outside the industry do not associate our sector with technology, or even with innovation.

“If we are to change the perception of construction, it's essential that we get involved with as much outreach as possible, including engagement at a school level, and reaching out to young people in a way that resonates with them.”

The construction industry should be getting involved with existing STEM initiatives that are trying to appeal to young people, and not least because these initiatives often target young women, who are, to a large extent, an untapped resource for the male-dominated industry. And we should be challenging ourselves to adapt our style and approach in order to appeal to a new generation of potential industry leaders.

From inside the industry, it is clear that tech is the future and that it will change the face of how we work and what we create. And if tech is the future of the industry then why shouldn’t it be used to recruit the future generation of construction experts too? ■

In response to this, the role that technology plays in construction needs to be emphasised in all aspects of recruitment and outreach. Otherwise, many talented and enthusiastic students who are interested in pursuing careers in STEM subjects might rule out a career in construction because of this outdated image of the industry.

Thankfully, there are already many great initiatives that can help us change this perception, including campaigns that draw connections between video games and the operation of machinery.

At a careers event recently, ITC showcased the technological innovation involved in a career in construction by bringing along our own VR headsets and demonstrating what it's like to work on a live site. The response from attendees was fantastic; you

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Nick Conway Director ITC Concepts Tel: +44 (0)20 8296 1800 info@itcconcepts.co.uk www.itcconcepts.co.uk www.twitter.com/itcconcepts www.facebook.com/itcconceptsltd www.linkedin.com/company/itc-concepts-ltd

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Interserve improves site progress discipline with Powerproject’s site-to-office reporting app On a recent £135m project to deliver seven schools simultaneously across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Berkshire, Interserve explored what Powerproject’s companion app, Site Progress Mobile, could do to improve the collection, management and integration of progress updates

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Image: © Matt Clayton

anaging a multi-site build is always a significant challenge, requiring the tightest of project management both individually, and in terms of oversight and co-ordination between projects. Interserve, one of the world’s foremost support services and construction companies, uses Powerproject planning software for that purpose on many of its projects.

Multi-site activities multiply at fit-out stage

As the project approached the fit-out stage, it was clear that the number of activities would increase exponentially and that tracking project progress in the critical final phase would become challenging. With seven schools of broadly similar configuration, size and shape, with fitout sometimes happening on multiple storeys or in separate classroom blocks, it was evident that tracking progress accurately through each location was imperative.

With a vast number of activities to manage across seven geographically separate sites, Peter Farmer, one of the Senior Planning Engineers at Interserve Construction’s Strategic Projects division was tasked with overseeing the project progress. Peter decided to use the Site Progress Mobile app to help track progress on the move and out on site.

Originally, Peter and his colleague would visit each site and walk around with a notepad – but this was a time-consuming exercise, not only because each school had to be tracked

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individually but also because of the time traveling between sites spanning Hemel Hempstead, Luton, Watford, Reading, Bishop’s Hatfield, Cheshunt, and Kings Langley.

“Before Site Progress Mobile, capturing progress updates was time consuming. By the time you had walked the site, gone top to bottom of the building, input the data into the programme, assessed progress achieved, and spoken to the construction team, it would take the best part of a day. Following that, we still had to format progress reports to be issued,” Peter explained that.

“With Site Progress Mobile, it took us between a third to a half of the original time.”

Eliminating the task of manually inputting progress updates into the programme, in

addition to enabling faster collection of data itself, is the main benefit that Peter identified.

“The beauty of Site Progress Mobile is that the data collected with your phone can be downloaded directly into the programme. It removed a laborious task and the potential for errors from having to input data manually,” he said.

Creating new perspective on progress

Keeping tabs on progress means tracking all current activities, everywhere, constantly.

Peter is clear about the vital role of progress management, saying: “Progress management is essential. You must always know where each job is on the timeline. Often you will speak to a sub-contractor and they are unsure

where their element is – so you need to find out for yourself. On this project, we implemented a location-based scheduling system.

Each building was sub-divided into a number of locations. We could identify the status of individual tasks in each, helping us to build a very accurate picture of our position.”

“The beauty of Site Progress Mobile is that the data collected with your phone can be downloaded directly into the programme. It removed a laborious task and the potential for errors from having to input data manually.”

The mobile app helped Peter and his colleague to monitor every location.

“By walking around with Site Progress Mobile in front of us, we picked everything up and logged it. We downloaded the relevant segments of the programme to our mobile devices beforehand, so everything we needed

to check was visible – we could then allocate progress accordingly. We used our judgement to decide percentages and were able to make comments and take photographs associated with programmed tasks,” he said.

Image overload Taking lots of in-progress site photographs is the norm in construction, but these are often cumbersome to file, keep track of, and distribute – a problem that increases as the number of concurrent activities rises.

Peter was emphatic about the benefit in this area, commenting that: “Managing photographs used to be an absolute nightmare.

On seven sites, we took a lot of pictures. Site Progress Mobile has made the data collection and collation associated with progress monitoring much more straightforward. The fact you can attach a photo directly to a relevant task or bar line and add comments to it is brilliant. It’s easy and simple to use, and it makes life easier.

An instant visual record is available of the status of tasks at a particular point in time.”

In conclusion, Peter said “You have two choices for progress management on a project like this. You can have either all the activities printed out from the programme or on a spreadsheet, giving you numerous sides of text on A4 sheets for each site that you have to annotate – or, with Site Progress Mobile, you have it all on your mobile device.”

Jonathan Hunter

Chief Operating Officer Elecosoft

Tel: +44 (0)1844 261700 info@elecosoft.com

www.elecosoft.com

www.twitter.com/astapmsoftware

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Case study: TILOS helps Thames Tideway teams to visualise and integrate plans for 25km London super-sewer TILOS is playing a key role in the delivery of the Thames Tideway super-sewer, the largest-ever infrastructure project undertaken by the UK water industry

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projects. It combines the flexibility of a drawing package with the power of project management, and to exchange data seamlessly with other major project planning software packages.

he Thames Tideway Tunnel is a major new sewer urgently needed to protect the tidal River Thames from pollution, which is due to be completed in 2023. Stretching 25km along the route of the River Thames at a depth of 65m, the tunnel will be more than seven metres in diameter. It is the largest infrastructure project ever undertaken by the UK water industry. As this major project progresses, it is vital for all contractors to integrate their works, plan and collaborate effectively. It is for that reason that TILOS has been in use since 2010 to help visualise the entirety of the works.

For almost five years, Evangelos Kovaios, the integration scheduler – programme controls for Tideway, worked to evolve the use of TILOS for maximum effectiveness, liaising closely with Elecosoft to shape and fine-tune the template around the complex requirements of this significant, multi-party project, and create ever-clearer visual representation.

TILOS is a software application that is designed for planning, managing and delivering linear construction

Today, TILOS delivers an unparalleled, complete overview of the Thames Tideway Tunnel project, which

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informs monthly integration meetings and forms an essential part of board communication for stakeholder organisations.

There are seven essential benefits which he believes TILOS brings to the project: Tell the whole project story in one page “TILOS gives us the ability to tell the whole project story graphically on one single page. That is very important for Tideway because, including all the contractors, we have between 50-60 thousand activities to manage. A percentage of these are pulled into a summarised Project Master Programme in TILOS, which has around 1,000 activities that represents our construction programme.”

Anyone on the team can understand the plan “TILOS makes it easy for anyone on the project to understand the programme, and it really works excellently as a communication tool between the project teams for East, West and Central sections, and the system integrator. We also include the enabling works within our TILOS plan, since we can’t start work on any site until they finish their activities.”

Collaborative ‘what if’ scenario planning “The Tideway project has three major contractors working together, who need to collaborate and inte-

grate their schedules all the time. Using TILOS, it is very easy for us to do that, create ‘what if’ scenarios and assess any opportunities we have on the project.

Construction managers have a visual representation, then based on that can suggest different ways to do the tunnelling or interfaces. Within an hour, we can have multiple scenarios worked out, and see the impact of each one on the actual integration of the programme.”

“TILOS is so valuable that it has been used for the past year in the official board report for each project period. It’s easy to create ‘what if’ scenarios so we run two versions of the programme: the nonmitigated and the mitigated version for the board.”

Clear sight of the critical path “Each individual team develops their own programmes in silos, but then we need to glue the programmes together with interface milestones between them. We can integrate the schedule in our project planning software, but then the critical path changes. We produce the TILOS after the integration and can actually see the critical path on one page.

That way, we know what affects what, can see if we need to change the logic, or start a new ‘what if’ scenario.”

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Providing focus for integration meetings “Our TILOS is used in every integration meeting – we can’t go ahead until we have produced it. Because every single person in the team has a TILOS output in front of them, we’re all talking the same language.

There are usually at least 12 people at each meeting, including delivery managers, planners, construction managers and others. It puts everyone on the same page.”

“TILOS makes it easy for anyone on the project to understand the programme, and it really works excellently as a communication tool between the project teams for East, West and Central sections, and the system integrator. We also include the enabling works within our TILOS plan, since we can’t start work on any site until they finish their activities.”

Essential for high-level reporting “TILOS is so valuable that it has been used for the past year in the official board report for each project period. It’s easy to create ‘what if’ scenarios so we run two versions of the programme: the non-mitigated and the mitigated version for the board.

“We have used the ‘what if’ scenario planning capability of TILOS in our QRSA risk analysis and reporting process. Each quarter, we run a risk analysis and model two scenarios, which assume 50% and 80% of identified risks occur. This year we started modelling these programmes, called P50 and P80, in TILOS. People can now see the comparison on a single page between our baseline, our current forecast and the P50 or P80 forecasts, along with the impact on completion timeframes.”

Effortless programme planning data exchange “The easy and automated integration with our programme planning software is ideal. We programme in another software package, but TILOS has the amazing

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capability to suck all the information out and create an output automatically. Without this automation, we would never be able to turn around such a quick representation of our plans. The planning maturity and the TILOS template we have evolved in the past few years mean that for each TILOS output, it only takes us 10 minutes to create the PDF. “Speed is essential when we integrate the programmes. Each period, there is a ‘data date’ by which all contractors must report their progress. Then there is a short time of checking and manipulating, accepting or rejecting information. Once that ends, from the point that data is locked down in the programme planning software each period, we have less than a day to generate the summary programme and our integrated TILOS view, ready for the integration meeting. Because of the TILOS integration with the planning software, we can generate everything really quickly.

“We don’t use TILOS for most of the month, but on that single day it is critical – it can exchange information with the planning software, and produce the output automatically and quickly, so we don’t have to do any slow data input or typing.” ■

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Elecosoft Tel: +44 (0)1844 261 700 info@elecosoft.com www.elecosoft.com www.twitter.com/astapmsoftware

Intuitive mobile digital solutions play a vital part in digital transformation Intuitivity, mobility and digital transformation are critical dimensions of our world today

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n an interview, Benoît Jeannin, Script&Go’s founder and CEO, calls for deeper consideration of the need for digital transformation.

Why is it important to enable digital transformation?

It’s important to facilitate digital transformation throughout a project lifecycle for a variety of reasons: Firstly, digital transformation can improve productivity, particularly labour productivity.

It adds value and saves time on a daily basis.

Digital transformation should be the first stage in any organisation’s journey to a new way of productive working, fusing business and IT perspectives, through use of disruptive IT technologies for successful business outcomes.

Secondly, digital transformation can improve sustainability. It reduces not only the amount of paper used during daily work processes (and so reducing CO2 emissions) but may also contribute to reducing travel times between, say, an office and a construction site.

Thirdly, digital transformation can improve wellbeing. It relieves the stress (and its negative impact on health) of performing often repetitive work processes like task management (such as snagging and non-conformity recording) and reporting for quality control and quality assurance purposes through the conversion of tedious, manual processes to digital, and even automated ones.

Who can benefit from mobile digital solutions?

In our 2017 Construction Works Observatory,

Script&Go presented the results and analysis of a survey of 300 clients using our BatiScript construction management solution. This revealed that the majority who had taken steps to specify this solution as part of their digital transformation were construction managers, followed by developer-owners and lead consultants (architects, engineers).

All these stakeholders, and others, can benefit from mobile digital solutions.

What can intuitive mobile digital solutions offer to construction stakeholders?

Stakeholder profiles, whether in the field or in the office, can differ widely. Logic dictates that software functionalities should respond to the habits and gestures of each user profile in order to give successful user experience.

To ease construction stakeholders in their daily operations, a number of software developers such as ourselves have developed construction management software and mobile applications that allow processes to be digitised. All of these aim, with differing levels of success, to meet user needs and achieve the benefits already mentioned and more.

Mobile digital solutions, deployable on tablets

and smartphones, go a step further than solely PC-based digital solutions. They allow workers to collaborate seamlessly, including in real-time, for enhanced productivity gains.

Those solutions that succeed in enabling rapid, yet comprehensive, digital transformation, are often modular in format, intuitive and easy-to-use.

At Script&Go, we take pride in enabling the successful digital transformation of our clients’ operations through their use of our solutions, such as BatiScript and our mission of care.

Mary Bon

Content Marketing Manager Script&Go

Tel: +44 (0)7399 431881

mary.bon@scriptandgo.com www.scriptandgo.com/en/

www.twitter.com/ScriptandGo_EN

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SFS ushers in new era of technical training and support for the whole construction supply chain

Known in the industry for providing excellent technical support for building specification professionals, designers, installers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), SFS, the market-leading fastening systems manufacturer, continues to enhance its technical support to the industry and provide collaborative support to its partners. David Wigglesworth, MD of SFS UK, explains its strategy Collaboration is the key

At SFS, we firmly believe that manufacturers should work collaboratively across the whole construction supply chain throughout the lifecycle of a building project. It’s important for us to understand the design intent of a project so that we can advise on the best products to achieve the overall building design and performance required. Even the smallest of components, like the fixings or hinges, can complement or compromise the system chosen, whether the attributes relate to the aesthetics, quality or performance of the design vision.

We also realise that architects and designers can’t know absolutely everything about every component of the build and that’s why we have specification and technical teams to understand the variables of each specific project and work closely with design teams to select the right product for the application at the design stage. Transferring this advice into project documents via the specification is essential to provide a robust design solution that can be tendered accurately and procured in line with the contractor’s programme.

Specification Support Receiving key specification material from manufacturers is indispensable as they usually contain important technical information that

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could be overlooked if a specifier completes the specification in isolation. Plus, it has the added benefit of saving specifiers a lot of time and makes data easier to incorporate into their own BIM files.

SFS can provide a range of practical resources, such as product literature, technical documentation, BIM files and ETAs, as well as the unique Project Builder software

by NVELOPE, for achieving the right solution for rainscreen support systems. SFS’s technical team provides on-site pull-out tests and wind load calculations and can advise on technical issues to mitigate risks and ensure the best solution is chosen for a sustainable building envelope.

In the UK, SFS customers also benefit from a specification team that can advise on NBS clauses and ensure important specification issues such as corrosion risk, airtightness and meaningful warranties are fully addressed and that projects meet regulations and avoid costly rectifications.

Training We also believe that education and a continual cycle of education for designers and contractors will help to improve the specification and build process. SFS offers a new RIBAapproved CPD seminar programme, providing

the latest technical insights into creating high quality and safe building envelopes.

Five complementary CPD seminars are now available to book, which can be delivered at clients’ offices and are worth double points to RIBA Chartered Architects. All the seminars provide up-to-the-minute technical information and guidance for designing-in longevity, safety, security, legislative compliance and client satisfaction.

“At the heart of the SFS Academy will be a comprehensive training programme, which will be developed to provide structured learning for everyone in the construction supply chain.”

With seminar topics including support systems for rainscreen cladding, envelope airtightness and thermal efficiency, fixing of warm roofs, designing roof safety systems and hinge technology, the CPD seminar programme utilises a wealth of technical know-how from right across the SFS Group.

Unique Training Facility

To offer a new dimension to its already world-class technical support, SFS has opened a unique new facility at its UK headquarters in Leeds.

The SFS Academy brings together the complete family of SFS fastening solutions, including its market-leading fasteners for roofing and cladding, Nvelope rainscreen support systems and Soter Safety Systems, in the context of a state-of-the-art training and educational facility. Developed with accessibility and interactivity in mind, the SFS Academy is equipped with a wide variety of sample products for visitors to explore, supported by the technical story that lies behind them.

At the heart of the SFS Academy will be a comprehensive training programme, which will be developed to provide structured learning for everyone in the construction supply chain.

But the SFS Academy is not restricted to SFS events. It is also open for the industry to use, with the conference and seminar rooms available for joint strategic initiatives offering seminar sessions across product or system themes and industry trends and developments.

“Receiving key specification material from manufacturers is indispensable as they usually contain important technical information that could be overlooked if a specifier completes the specification in isolation. Plus, it has the added benefit of saving specifiers a lot of time and makes data easier to incorporate into their own BIM files.”

The creation of the SFS Academy represents a major investment in the company’s UK operations, which has been based at the same site in Leeds since 1891. The Leeds base is key to the global SFS Group network, providing comprehensive technical, specification, sales and logistical support on the doorstep of British customers, as well as providing bespoke powder coating facilities for its products supplied to the UK market.

new SFS family – SFS, Nvelope and Soter Safety Systems – with a superbly equipped platform to support specifiers, installers and OEMs. We’ve always led the market in terms of our customer support and this excellent new facility will extend that even further.

We look forward to welcoming customers, suppliers and industry colleagues to the Academy over the coming months.

David Wigglesworth Managing Director

SFS Group Fastening Technology Ltd Tel: 0113 2085 500

uk.info@sfsintec.biz www.sfsintec.co.uk

The SFS Academy perfectly encapsulates the

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Using BIM to define criticality, vulnerability and risk Iain Miskimmin of Bentley Systems explains the value of an asset tagging strategy in assessing criticality, vulnerability and risk to ultimately inform better decision making

S

ince BIM was officially launched into the consciousness of the construction industry in the 2011 Government Construction Strategy and reinforced with the less well-known Government Soft Landings, most have come to realise that it is more than just a pretty 3D picture and understand that the value of information is dramatically increased when it is connected with other pieces of information to give us a truly holistic answer to our questions.

of assets and has to constantly prioritse their funding towards those assets that are critical to delivering their defined outcomes.

That connected information becomes more valuable again when it can be used for multiple purposes.

During the six years of presenting at the Crossrail BIM Academy, I have had the privilege to interact with and brainstorm with 5,500 of the world’s digital professionals and one piece of methodology, taken originally from the oil and gas industry, reused by Crossrail and repeated many times around the world, has stood out.

• Free flowing – Where routine delays are infrequent and journeys are reliable safe and serviceable – where no one should be harmed when travelling or working.

An asset tagging strategy is not just for labelling things (which is the common misconception) but there to record basic information allowing the duty and function to be recorded. It has also become clear that the information recorded can be reused to help inform us of the criticality, vulnerability and risk to our assets.

From our Government Soft Landings documentation, we know that is it correct to set an outcome-driven goal and that outcome can be achieved through a set of functions (not products), so I will take you through an example from outcome to risk.

For this example, I will take information freely available from the internet. I have picked an organisation we all know well, one that owns a significantly high number

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“The sooner we start gathering the basic information demanded by an asset tagging strategy, the more options we have to avoid the risk in the first place.”

Outcomes

• Accessible and integrated – So people are free to choose their mode of transport and can move safely across and alongside our roads.

• Support economic growth with a modern and reliable road network that reduces delays, creates jobs, helps business and opens up new areas for development.

• Ensure our activities result in a long-term and sustainable benefit to the environment.

Functions

Taking the first outcome and applying it to a high-level asset such as a junction, its basic function should be to “allow the smooth flow of traffic from one road to another”. The junction, in turn, is made up of many primary function units (PFU), one of which is a bridge. This asset’s basic function is to “allow one road to cross another”. The bridge is split into functional units (FU), one of which is a lane with a basic function of “allow northbound traffic across

Assets

Criminal/ Terrorist

e erv obs

identify criticality

da Function

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ide

Commuter

de

fen d

Security

ge Protection

t

harm pa im

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Vulnerability

exploit

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Outcomes

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manage

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Attack

achieve

reduce likelihood

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IMPACT

the bridge”. Finally, we get down to one of the individual assets, the crash barrier with a basic function of “stop northbound traffic leaving the bridge and impacting on the road below”.

Now there are almost 88,000 highway bridges in the UK, with over 12,000 of them belonging to the organisation in question. Which ones should have a priority when it comes to funding? How do we know they are critical? How vulnerable are the critical ones, what is the risk and how do we mitigate this?

Criticality

What do we define as critical when looking at our national infrastructure in the UK? • Those networks, systems and assets necessary to maintain society and enable life.

• UK defines 10 critical sectors, including electricity, water supply, energy (oil, gas, etc), finance and food.

• Significant impact on GDP. • Largely privately-owned, commercial enterprises, but consequences of failure are of national significance.

ny mitigate risk

• Vital to UK resilience.

To help us work out the criticality, three pieces of information from the asset tagging strategy can be used: Function What function does the asset carry out? How vital is it to achieving the desired outcomes?

Functional grouping What Primary Functional Unit or Functional Unit does the asset belong to? The obvious ones are the physical assets, but when looking at this, we need to look at not only the asset breakdown structure but also the economic, environmental and political relationships. For example, is this bridge the sole access to an industrial estate, vital to the local economy or to an important government location? Is the only way around it a long diversion, adding to both the environmental and social impact?

Locational grouping When looking at the location of our assets in this context, it should not only understand where they are in the network, but also geographically, taking

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Asset Tag

Equipment, Material, Product, Service or Person What physical thing carries out this function?

Classification Function Functional Grouping / System Basic Information Requirement

What functionality do I carry out?

What functional grouping or system do I belong to?

What basic data do I need to know at each stage?

Locational Grouping

What locational grouping do I belong to?

Asset Tag Label / ID

How am I identified?

into account the size of the population it supports and the GDP that they create.

Vulnerability

It is important when we look at our infrastructure assets that we understand how vulnerable they might be. Once again, information from the asset tagging strategy can be reused to help inform us.

Classification Firstly, an understanding about what type of thing the asset is. A concrete slab is less vulnerable than a delicate sensor or camera system.

Basic information The basic information we gather about the asset should be able to answer questions about any weaknesses in it, or the system it belongs to. Such as its height off the ground, IP rating and the materials it is made from.

Location grouping Once again, the location is important. An asset in a public area is more vulnerable than one in a closed off, private area.

Likelihood, impact and consequence The basic information we have recorded in the asset tagging strategy will also help us to determine whether the likelihood falls in the probabilistic or deterministic categories. It will also lead us to understand the impact and consequence if the

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What type of thing am I?

asset is successfully attacked through criminal or terrorist means.

• Will it cause damage to property, profits, social licence or civic pride?

• Will the disruption cause inconvenience to the asset users, or potentially the GDP of the country?

• Will it harm the end user, causing, deaths, illness or pollution?

• Will it impair the profitability, share price, reputation, regulation and ultimately existence of the owner?

Risk and treatment

When talking to many of the academy attendees over the years, the majority have opted to measure the risk to their assets in words rather than numbers to help avoid misunderstandings, so recording them as anywhere between ‘very high’ and ‘very low’ will help us to work out what treatment needs to be done.

Avoid/Remove/Terminate It is recommended that we start our collection of information and our asset tagging strategy when we first imagine a need. This activity can then help us to design out that risk or perhaps remove the point of failure in the functions defined in the first place.

Accept/Tolerate/Retain Not an easy thing to do, but sometimes the only

Asset Tag

Classification

What type of thing am I?

Function Equipment, Material, Product, Service or Person

What functionality do I carry out?

Functional Grouping / System Basic Information Requirement Locational Grouping

What functional grouping or system do I belong to?

Questions about weakness What locational grouping do I belong to?

Asset Tag Label / ID

Risk

Avoid/ Accept/ Control/ Transfer

Impact

What is the consequence?

Criticality

How critical am I to my organisational outcomes?

Vulnerability

What are my vulnerabilities?

Likelihood

Statistical analysis from AIM/ Historical data and other sources

Very High – High – Moderate – Low – Very Low

course open to us is to accept the consequences and perhaps gamble on the likelihood?

• Criticality helps us understand how much time, effort and money ought to be invested.

Control/Reduce/Mitigate With the correct information at hand, we can lessen the impact or likelihood and put both active and passive measures in place.

• Vulnerability will define the level of protection we need to apply.

Transfer Finally, we can choose to insure the risk out and potentially transfer the ownership of the risk entirely.

“The basic information we gather about the asset should be able to answer questions about any weaknesses in it, or the system it belongs to.”

Summary

In all of this analysis, getting information early is key.

The sooner we start gathering the basic information demanded by an asset tagging strategy, the more options we have to avoid the risk in the first place.

Key information in this is the asset breakdown structure (Functional groupings) so we know the impact this asset has on others, the location, allowing us to understand its importance and the function supporting the Outcomes.

• Likelihood can be gained through statistical analysis of our AIM and other connected data.

Thus, we can make a better decision to either avoid, accept, control or transfer the risk. ■

...............................................

Iain Miskimmin Digital Asset Advisor/Director BIM Advancement Academies Bentley Systems UK Tel: +44 (0)207 861 0900 Iain.Miskimmin@bentley.com www.bentley.com www.twitter.com/bentleysystems www.facebook.com/BentleySystems/

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Construction Verification Grows Up… The use of 3D BIM models constantly updated by multiple sources of data are becoming increasingly common in construction – but how do we ensure the finished article matches its as-designed “digital twin”? FARO’s Vito Marone discusses state-of-the-art construction verification techniques

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e’re all aware that ‘digital’ is big right now. It’s big in our personal lives, big in our social activities, big in our homes and now – albeit almost the last to catch on – it’s big in the architecture, engineering, construction and operation (AECO) industry.

More often now, we see virtual 3D models embellished with data sources being developed through the design process no matter what sector of the built environment.

These ‘digital twins’ are just in their infancy at the design stage and the intention is that they mature through the construction process and into the operational life of the asset to test and analyse its use and performance.

The ultimate aim is that a digital twin continuously learns and updates itself from multiple sources to represent its near real-time status, working condition or position. So how do we check that what is physically constructed reflects the ‘as designed’ digital twin?

In order to fully appreciate what’s available to us now, let’s consider for a moment the traditional way of checking (verifying) what is actually constructed versus what has been designed. In most cases today, even when in possession of an up-to-date BIM-authored model, the checking of physical construction against that model is rarely as thorough as it should be. Often, an approach along the lines of ‘this is the way we used to do it’ is

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carried over to checking against 2D drawings extracted from a model. Hence, we have a range of solutions from surveyors on site taking key measurements upon completion and marking up drawings through to surveyors on site measuring at key stages of construction and producing/updating digital drawings for comparison.

It’s fair to say that although methods such as these have seen buildings completed and functioning today through 2D documentation techniques, it’s not necessarily going to take us confidently into the new digital age.

The advent of BIM processes creating data-rich virtual models of buildings, roads, rail lines and waterways with links to specification, cost and time data sources is enabling a construction business environment much more akin to that of automotive or product manufacturing businesses.

It follows, therefore, that clients are beginning to use the valuable data for ongoing business operations rather than simply procuring a ‘building that their business takes place in’.

Indeed, it’s sometimes now a requirement for construction teams to demonstrate that what was designed and signed-off, has been built in the real world and performs the way it has been designed to. Similarly, we as vehicle or electronics buyers, for instance, won’t stand for products delivered that don’t match the stated or designed performance – so why should building owners do so?

As an example of the industry shifting, it’s this very fact, alongside often quoted figures that there is generally a 30-40% energy performance gap between as designed and as constructed buildings, that led the UK government to include the need for construction verification via point cloud or LiDAR techniques in their BIM process known as BIM Level 2 (PAS1192-2:2013 Section 10.2).

“In a nutshell, technological advances now allow construction companies to much more precisely and quickly verify using easily captured digital representations of the real world against designed and modelled building works.”

So how does the modern construction company deal with these digital requests for verification?

FARO’s Vito Marone says: “While this is a stateof-the-art process and a big shift in the construction industry, what we’re doing here is bringing 20-30 years of our experience from the manufacturing industry to construction.”

Assuming readers are comfortable with the process of ‘laser scanning’, FARO’s BuildIT software provides the ability to compare that measured survey with a 3D model or indeed another scan or analyse the scan itself.

Marone outlines a very intuitive, simple

Validate your 3D scan to your digital design files with a 3D analysis

process using their new BuildIT software – “currently the software has several features that it does very well, but there’s more to come in planned future versions”.

Once you’ve pointed the software to the design model and the measured survey and/or the input device, the results are quickly displayed in the most appropriate way you choose. With the standard features of version one, “the return on investment (ROI) is through the roof,” says Marone.

In a nutshell, technological advances now allow construction companies to much more precisely and quickly verify using easily captured digital representations of the real world against designed and modelled building works.

It’s not a static process either; the software can be used in ‘real time’, feeding in measured data, analysing it and then, using a ‘tracer’, project a pattern on the surface where areas are out of tolerance.

Beyond this, in marrying the software and hardware together (including non-FARO hardware) contractors can continuously record what has been built for various

purposes. It’s useful for delving in to the past too: the software maintains a record of the measured surveys and can allow users to see what was built and when then how it was covered up during the construction stages.

The output from the software (in various forms from traditional printed reports to real-time projection on to site elements) can be used by various parties for tasks such as incremental sign-off of construction work, conformity to building standards and generally to determine the correct location of larger items such as walls, ducts, doors etc.

With a multitude of uses in applying this manufacturing industry approach to the many facets of the construction industry already in mind, it’s exciting to begin to think about just how many people will be helped, how many days or weeks will be saved in construction programmes, how much less material will be wasted and how much better our industry will be.

In summary, Marone says: “What we have released is a very complete first version of our software for the construction industry.

It’s also a toolkit and we’re really very excited to see what the industry will do with it.”

Construction verification is a fundamentally important part of the new era of our digitally enabled environment. It’s the process of developing and updating the digital twin that is helping to drive huge inefficiencies out of our industry and enabling us to create more technically complex solutions for our modern world.

More info at: www.faro.com Test a free trial option of the FARO BuiltIT Construction Software.

Anke Abendroth

Content Marketing Manager EMEA FARO UK

Tel: +49 (0)7150 9797 – 311 anke.abendroth@faro.com www.faro.com

www.twitter.com/faroeurope

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Digitalisation holds key to £575m savings for housebuilders Stewart Dalgarno, director of product development at Stewart Milne Group, discusses how utilising digital technologies in the design and build process can bring added value and yield savings for UK housebuilders

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he need for the UK to deliver quality new homes, on time, within budget and at scale, is a challenge for many of the country’s housebuilders and the effectiveness and suitability of traditional design, construction and aftercare services in today’s modern world is being questioned.

to accuracy discrepancies and changes that can add significant time to the design process as plans must be redrawn and laboriously updated. Design conflicts are often not identified and the risk for error is high as drawing revisions are difficult to track and require multiple reworking.

In a bid to drive the sector forward, Stewart Milne Group – in partnership with the CITB and MacTaggart and Mickel Homes – undertook a pilot study to evaluate the potential business case for digital working and the benefits that new 3D technologies, such as BIM, virtual and augmented reality and clash detection, could deliver.

To overcome this, Stewart Milne Timber Systems launched the UK’s first digital BIM library for offsite timber building systems. Featuring over 100 Stewart Milne Timber Systems’ wall, floor and roof systems, architects and designers can easily create ‘smart’ digital models of new homes, so different teams can collaborate and compare with 3D information.

“By working digitally, there could be a 50% increase in the likelihood of a positive planning outcome, a reduction in the planning cycle by about a third and a cost of disruption saving of approximately £600 per plot.”

The study concluded that adopting digital technology in construction could provide savings of £3,500 per plot and yield many less tangible, but equally important, benefits. Based on government figures, nearly 165,000 homes were built in the year to June 2017, which indicates a potential total saving of £575m could be realised for housebuilders.

Digitalisation holds the key to faster design, planning approval, improved quality, productivity and early sales revenues. By replacing 2D working practices with 3D digital technology, developers could effectively prepare themselves for future challenges and increase their competitiveness and efficiency.

The traditional 2D paper-based process is susceptible

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Using the 3D digital models, design revisions are faster, more easily tracked and less costly to produce, with inconsistencies flagged early and resolved more promptly.

A digital-enabled planning and design process streamlines drawings and generates accurate visualisations showing clear design intent. By working digitally, there could be a 50% increase in the likelihood of a positive planning outcome, a reduction in the planning cycle by about a third and a cost of disruption saving of approximately £600 per plot.

By putting digital technologies into practice, Stewart Milne Group is confident that a positive planning outcome can be achieved for its own developments and those of Stewart Milne Timber Systems.

The benefits of digitalisation extend into the construction phase, as the technology has the potential to improve on-site safety for workers by a third and minimise the risk of, and time needed for, snagging and defects, leading to a potential saving of £250 per plot.

Image: © DarrenHartleyPhotography

In addition to value-added benefits across the construction phase, digital technology can also be used to support the sales process and reduce marketing-related costs. The study indicated that sales rates for homes could increase by 20% when realistic 3D models were shown, bringing to life external and internal visualisations of a home, giving prospective buyers greater confidence to purchase a property “off plan”. This is capitalised upon by using offsite construction, where homes can be delivered much more efficiently.

Time and money is also saved as marketing images can be generated directly from the digital model and, as VR technology becomes more mainstream, there will be opportunities to give customers an immersive virtual walkthrough of their prospective homes and developments.

Based on the study and the Stewart Milne Timber Systems BIM library, the business case for shifting to digital 3D design, construction and marketing is clear and compelling. However, the transition from traditional 2D practices won’t be realised overnight and the fear of failure can be a challenging hurdle to overcome.

Organisations that remain 2D will find it increasingly difficult to deliver cost and material efficiencies. They risk losing their competitive edge and, as traditional 2D systems become outdated and unsupported, profitability becomes increasingly limited. Companies that embrace 3D digital solutions will become more valued, profitable and attractive.

While successful implementation will require investment and sustained effort, Stewart Milne Group believes that digital technology solutions will provide a clear, immediate and sustained payback.

Stewart Milne Timber System clients are already realising the benefits from the UK’s first BIM library for timber frame systems, pushing their businesses and the sector forward by incorporating new collaborative ways of working digitally. ■ ...............................................

Stewart Dalgarno Director of Product Development Stewart Milne Group www.stewartmilne.com www.twitter.com/TimberSystems www.linkedin.com/company/stewart-milne

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Uncovering hidden risks: Environmental risk assessments With more developments taking place on brownfield sites, environmental risk assessments are becoming increasingly important to ensure schemes avoid potentially nasty surprises. Chris Loaring, Head of Consultancy at Argyll Environmental, takes a look

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For example, do you know what the site has been used for in the past? If its brownfield land, have the correct investigations – and potentially remediation works – been carried out to rid it of any unsafe contaminants? Does the site have any risk of flooding? Could it be susceptible to any ground stability hazards, such as sinkholes or subsidence?

The first difficulty with risks such as these is that what you see is not what you get: the vast majority of problems are either below the ground’s surface or not imminently apparent to the naked eye.

Image: © Liz Finlayson/Vervate

f you are about to purchase a new site or property, whether for refurbishment or a completely new redevelopment project, it’s important to do your research to make sure the site isn’t bringing with it any environmental hazards that may have an impact on the delivery of your project.

Chris Loaring, Head of Consultancy at Argyll Environmental

remediation has already taken place – there is the possibility that it could present a risk to health or affect local water sources or ecosystems, depending on what the contaminant is. Investigation at the outset is always recommended.

We recently advised about a town centre retail property that was in great condition, apart from the buried remains of a former gasworks that turned out to be severely contaminated.

This would never have been found without carrying out an environmental investigation – or until the toxins started leaking into the neighbouring river further down the line.

Before embarking on any development or land purchase transaction, it is vital to ensure that the correct due diligence checks are carried out to find out whether any hazards are apparent and, if so, to determine what it means to your project (and legally, what needs to be done to mitigate the risk).

With more development projects taking place on designated brownfield sites, the risk of discovering contaminated land is potentially higher. While in most circumstances associated risks may be relatively low – or

An environmental site assessment carried out by a specialist consultant will identify any potential risks that could impact the development, both in the immediate transactional timescale and in the long-term future.

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Is your project at risk?

Risks highlighted can be anything from potential unexploded ordnance, flood risk or ground instability through to land contaminants that may be present as a result of past industrial activities, such as mining, chemical production, manufacturing or tanneries, to name just a few.

The starting point is information gathering and research. Here at Argyll, our team completes a full range of analysis services, from undertaking simple report reviews or accessing desk-based data reports to more hands-on physical site-based assessments.

By undertaking environmental due diligence at the outset, you can clearly understand any hidden risks and receive practical and relevant advice to help you protect your property, site or business – whether it’s from flooding, contaminated land or ground instability.

Accessing historical mapping data is another way of extrapolating information regarding past activities that took place on the land. For example, from viewing a historic map, you can quickly identify whether industrial buildings, quarries, factories or similar where situated in your location.

Both councils and a number of commercial providers hold a range of information on potential sources of contamination. Councils maintain registers to illustrate when legal action is taken on contaminated land and for those sites that may be contaminated. Both sources also hold data on historic land use, planning history, pollution incidents, details of closed landfill sites and site-specific reports on investigation and remediation.

nation is present, and whether a programme of soil, water or gas sampling is required. It is only after actual samples have been taken and analysed that decisions can then be made regarding whether any remedial work may be necessary.

Ultimately, identifying that a plot of land may be affected by an environmental risk doesn’t mean the planned project is doomed; it does, however, require the implementation of a strategy to manage the identified risks in a correct – and sustainable – way.

Once thorough desktop studies have been undertaken, if a potential risk is identified, the next stage is typically to commission a Phase 1 site assessment. At this level of reporting, an environmental consultant will visit the site and carry out a physical site walkover to provide precise recommendations.

It is also worth noting that a number of helpful guides are available, which are worth referring to. The Environment Agency has produced a useful guidance paper, which includes a detailed workflow of the steps that should be taken from risk assessment through to audit and remediation for contaminated land, while the Know Your Flood Risk campaign offers free guides on flood risk, resilience and recovery.

DEFRA and the National Planning Policy Framework also offer a wide range of downloadable guidance papers.

This helps build up a clear picture of the scale of risks, such as whether any contami-

Ultimately, responsibility lies with the land owner and developer to ensure that any

development is carried out in a safe and sustainable way and that the land is appropriate for its intended use.

Undertaking the correct level of environmental rigour from day one will ultimately provide peace of mind too all involved – not only for today’s owner and developer, but to the future generations of occupants too.

Chris Loaring

Head of Consultancy Argyll Environmental

Tel: +44 (0)845 458 5250

orders@argyllenviro.com

www.argyllenvironmental.co.uk www.twitter.com/argyllenviro

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Getting into the DNA of product data

With the availability of concise and easily applied data consistently being identified as a stumbling block in the widespread adoption of BIM, Alex Small, BIM and digital platforms manager at Tata Steel, discusses a more streamlined approach to sharing product information

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nhancing and supporting the adoption of BIM technology is vital for UK construction. As we know, BIM offers tangible supply chain benefits.

It saves essential time and costs, and can highlight any technical issues within the design stage and beyond, right through to end user asset management. Yet for many, the heavy investment cost is prohibitive.

For building product manufacturers, mapping a route through the complicated landscape of BIM objects and data sets is no simple task, particularly given the variety of options and platforms available.

From choosing where to host objects to deciding which formats to produce them in, there are numerous decisions that have to be carefully considered.

What’s more, generating the data is only the beginning of the story – the information must be accurately maintained to ensure it is as up-to-date as possible, all of which must be implemented across multiple CAD formats.

It’s a true juggling act and getting it right can be tricky.

Yet it’s vital to ensure manufacturers’ customers are able to access the information they need, when they need it. Historically, it’s fair to say that many manufacturers have fallen short of the mark on this, providing either too much or not enough BIM data. This then cascades throughout the supply chain and creates further issues when contractors and operators are overloaded with detail or can’t find the information they require.

If BIM is to be properly adopted, the industry needs to provide the design community with the tools it needs. Indeed, for many architects, specifiers and designers, a BIM object is not always the most

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appropriate solution – sometimes just readily accessible product data is what’s called for.

It’s clear that a different approach is needed, which is why at Tata Steel we have developed our DNA Profiler – a web-based BIM tool that allows users, at any stage in the construction process, to configure any of our European construction products with the precise level of geometric detail and exact level of information they require.

“The intention is that this resource will support the exchange of information, ensuring that the right level of quality, safety and compliance standards are met.”

When we embarked upon the project, our intention was clear. We understood the frustrations shared by architects, specifiers, engineers and facility managers around interoperability and data overload. We also recognised that some BIM users want manufacturers to supply objects with a very high level of detail and rafts of data embedded into them, while others want only the basics – and some don’t want an object at all. Our aim, therefore, was to develop a unique, easy to use tool that would aid the flow of information through the construction process, in a wide choice of formats and levels of detail.

The result is a flexible, web-based tool that hosts more than 6,100 of the company’s European construction brand products – including Celsius®, ComFlor®, Kalzip® and Catnic® products - in all relevant BIM software formats, with the option to download data sets, 3D objects or both combined, for continued parametric functionality.

The 3D objects are available in a wide range of native CAD software formats, such as Trimble SketchUp, Navisworks and Inventor. Data can be embedded in objects in Autodesk Revit and ARCHICAD, with Tekla, Allplan and IFC to follow soon. The DNA Profiler also allows users to find a product by filtering on product data and performance characteristics. Architects and contractors can therefore access the data they need in the correct format and tailor it specifically to meet Employer Information Requirements (EIR).

“If BIM is to be properly adopted, the industry needs to provide the design community with the tools it needs.”

For consistency and interoperability, the data is structured following ISO and CEN requirements and will be connected through API integration with coBuilder. This enables any attribute to be mapped across different standards or national requirements and can be translated into other languages. Each of the DNA Profiler’s data-rich BIM objects features information such as contact details, mechanical properties, performance characteristics, maintenance requirements and guarantee periods. In the future, it will be expanded to include information on lead times, pricing and more.

Tata Steel has made the decision to launch the DNA Profiler for architects, engineers, contractors and end clients while still in beta testing. This is because, although it is very useful, there is a lot more that it could offer and we are hoping to get constructive feedback, which will help us to shape further developments of the tool.

The intention is that this resource will support the exchange of information, ensuring that the right level of quality, safety and compliance standards are met.

Critically, as it draws directly from Tata Steel’s database, users can be assured that the data they are accessing is up to date. We also see it supporting client handovers at completion too, ensuring the inclusion of the correct documents, data, models and warranties – all contributing to helping teams to manage and build a project on time and to budget.

The DNA Profiler has been created with a sharp eye on the future of BIM implementation – recognising that while the industry must pull together to support more universal adoption of BIM, not all manufacturers have the means or resources to provide the level of data that is needed. Some 98% of building product manufacturers fall within the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) category – with over 17,000

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employing fewer than 10 people. Facing an everchanging landscape affected by evolving legislation, initiatives, global finances and trends, SMEs have limited flexibility and funds to invest in the latest practices and technologies.

“When we embarked upon the project, our intention was clear. We understood the frustrations shared by architects, specifiers, engineers and facility managers around interoperability and data overload.”

To facilitate the wider adoption of BIM technology, the manufacturing industry needs to support SMEs and we envision that the DNA Profiler could play a role here too. We intend to make it available to other manufacturers under licence to help them develop their own BIM journey. This will have many benefits, such as easier development of systems and assemblies in CAD tools. It could also make development of follow-on software for the construction sector more standardised, as manufacturers would be offering their data to CAD systems in the same way.

As a business, Tata Steel is committed to sharing our BIM knowledge and feel that the DNA Profiler is a

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major step towards simplifying the availability of complex product data online. We hope that not only will it provide a much-needed tool for the design community, but that it will also pave the way towards a more unified approach to data sharing throughout the industry. ■ For an online demo of the Tata Steel DNA Profiler visit www.tatasteelDNAprofiler.com

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Alex Small BIM and digital platforms manager Tata Steel Tel: +44 (0)207 975 8368 www.tatasteelconstruction.com www.twitter.com/tatasteelconstr

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Connect with us

Building smart cities

Smart cities that harness data to improve the lives of citizens are no longer a far-off vision – they are a reality. Susie Tomson, Sustainability Director at PCSG, discusses their emergence – and a new initiative to create a blueprint for smart cities around the globe

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decade ago, the smart city debate centred on fads and headline-grabbing technologies. The visionary idea of connected devices exchanging data – the Internet of Things (IoT) – came to be embodied by the fridge that warned you when milk was running low.

Harnessing technology to improve urban living proved to be full of pitfalls – as exemplified by Barcelona, one of the pioneers of the smart city concept.

“City Hall ended up with a lot of data…a lot of dashboards,” explained Francesca Bria, the city’s chief technology officer and digital commissioner, in a recent FT interview. “Yet without any capacity to really use data and information to take better decisions for the public good.”

But now a combination of advances in technology and a new maturity of approach has put smart cities and the use of IoT technology to enable us to meet the challenges facing our cities firmly back on the corporate agenda.

Factors including a rapid reduction in the unit cost of collecting, processing and storing information, the rise of mobile technology, an exponential growth in computing power and advances in data capturing techniques such as networked sensors have made it possible for us to generate and analyse huge quantities of data about our environment.

In addition, those working in the arena, as demonstrated by Barcelona, have learnt from their past experiences and have developed a greater understanding of the need to put the people and the outcome – not the technology – first.

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CityVerve: A blueprint for smart cities A fresh impetus to the smart city/IoT agenda, has come from big-name organisations including Dell.

Last year, at the IQT Day Conference in New York, the computer giant announced a three-year investment in IoT technologies.

“The demonstrator, based in Manchester, is focused on harnessing technology to better manage the city’s assets, improve the efficiency of services and to better serve the needs of its citizens.”

“We will soon have 100bn connected devices and then a trillion,” chairman Michael Dell announced.

“We will be awash in data.”

In the UK, companies including BT, Cisco and Ordnance Survey (the custodian of a geospatial database, containing over half a billion data points), have thrown their weight behind CityVerve – the UK’s smart city demonstrator.

The demonstrator, based in Manchester, is focused on harnessing technology to better manage the city’s assets, improve the efficiency of services and to better serve the needs of its citizens.

With a focus on areas including the public transport network and energy consumption in the city, it ultimately aims to be a blueprint for cities around the globe, showing how IoT technology can create better places to live and work.

Those behind the project have been quick to emphasise that its focus is on people and social outcomes – rather than on technology.

“This project isn’t just about giving cutting-edge connectivity to sensors and devices,” explains Vicki DeBlasi, CityVerve communications lead. “It isn’t about ‘things’ at all – it’s about people.”

Smart Infrastructure: Unlocking value from our assets The ‘smart’ use of data to improve our built environment was the focus of a paper released in September 2016 by the Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure & Construction (CSIC).

Compiled by leaders from industry and academia, the Smart Infrastructure Paper argued that digitally enhanced infrastructure – which it defined as the result of combining physical infrastructure with digital infrastructure (sensors/IoT/big data) – has the “potential to make a revolutionary impact on the efficient use of existing infrastructure as well as new build”.

It highlighted how owners will be able to use technology to gather data from their infrastructure in use – monitoring condition, so maintenance is targeted at the right time or engaging directly with customers to manage demand and reduce the need for new construction. The key, it said, is data but, more specifically, “the ability to understand and act on” that data.

PCSG: Applications for our ‘smart’ age Harnessing today’s data-rich world to generate value for owner-operators and building occupants was the prompt for PCSG’s exciting new energy optimisation and user well-being app, Entelligently.

Co-developed with KnowNow Information, it utilises the most sophisticated sort of sensors: people.

“With a focus on areas including the public transport network and energy consumption in the city, it ultimately aims to be a blueprint for cities around the globe, showing how IoT technology can create better places to live and work.”

Building occupants – whether office-workers or students – are encouraged to feed information into an easy-to-use app about their comfort levels – whether they feel hot, cold or sleepy. To encourage this feedback, they receive ‘smart nudges’ or ‘snudges’ suggesting how they might feel and providing actions they can take to avoid discomfort.

The app recognises that everyone is individual in their comfort profile and that trying to create a uniform internal environment in any office only leads to continual adjustment of heating and cooling

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controls. This continually increases the energy consumption as air con units work inefficiently battling for the perfect temperature – and contributing to the energy performance gap.

Engaging and influencing occupants – and providing a snapshot of the comfort levels of those around them – leads to a more energy efficient building, lower energy bills and staff who, because they can influence and improve their own comfort and wellbeing (and are doing their bit for the environment), are increasingly satisfied and perform better.

We were thrilled when, following a selection day, our app was one of a group selected for further development by the CityVerve programme. It has doubled the number of buildings now using Entelligently.

The ‘smart’ age is now a reality. The time has come for us to exploit the data available, to reset the relationship between buildings, people and communities – and to unlock the value for our construction and infrastructure sectors and for our citizens. ■

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For more information on Entelligently, email susie.tomson@pcsg.co.uk For more information about KnowNow Information go to kn-i.com For more information about PCSG go to www.pcsg.co.uk For more information on CityVerve, see: https://cityverve.org.uk/

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Susie Tomson Sustainability Director PCSG Tel: +44 (0)208 680 4120 enquiries@pcsg.co.uk www.pcsg.co.uk www.twitter.com/SusieTomson

Update progress to your plan from your mobile

With Site Progress Mobile for Powerproject you can: Record project progress quickly and easily Update progress at any time, from any location – even without a signal Improve data accuracy by removing the need for re-keying progress updates Take photographs and associate them with particular tasks or build stages

To find out more please visit: elecosoft.com/siteprogress

elecosoft.com Powerproject: The power behind successful projects

RIBA and BIM: How design is fundamental to the process Ryan Simmonds, sales director of framing at voestalpine Metsec plc, explains why it’s vital to invest more time in the design stage than at any other point in the process and how working with the right partners early on can change how a project develops

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he Royal Institute of British Architects’ (RIBA) plan of work is an accepted industry process outlining the critical stages of a construction project. RIBA revised its plan of work in 2013, noting that the complexities of projects have increased and the older plan was outdated.

The previous plan of work’s A to L stages began at the preparation stage and failed to consider the strategic definition. The new plan has broadened the process and taken sections such as conceptual design and given it a standalone stage.

“If, during the design stages, the materials and building methods are all selected, agreed upon and fixed, the costs can be accurately calculated and a final budget can be created.”

What has not altered is the preparation and design stages, which have always been seen as the most crucial stages of a project.

Engagement at design stage The design and planning stages underpin an entire construction project. If this crucial part of a build is rushed or all relevant parties are not properly consulted, a project will be subject to constant changes as it develops to factor in elements that were not fully considered or understood in the initial stages.

However, main contractors and architects are frequently failing to engage all relevant parties at the planning and design stages, instead choosing to engage them at technical design stage – or even sometimes construction stage. More often than not

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concepts, methods or materials that can bring value need to be retrospectively worked into the plan, which can cause project delays, redesign work and additional cost.

The design is the most crucial stage of any project and getting it right before moving ahead is the foundation for a smooth delivery and successful build. During early planning stages, manufacturers and specialists – like Metsec – can offer a myriad of benefits. Working collaboratively, main contractors and architects can enlist not only technical and estimating support but also can benefit from manufacturers’ consultancy and raising awareness of products and methods on the market that would fit with the main contractor’s needs, such as offsite solutions or alternative materials.

Engaging all relevant parties at the design stage promotes a collaborative approach from the outset. Working through all options available to them, and having manufacturers attend early technical meetings, means the overall plan of the project is more informed. Without firm input at the conceptual and developmental

design stages, the design throughout the project will always be subject to change – potentially causing both delays and additional costs.

“Quality, while often subjective, is more controlled with a fixed design that all parties work towards. All elements that need to work together or complement one another within the project to create a high-quality build and finish can be explored in advance.”

Integrating BIM Level 2 This is where working to Building Information Modelling (BIM) Level 2 is invaluable. The notion of BIM is the process of designing, constructing or operating a building, infrastructure or landscape asset using electronic information. In practice, this means that a project can be designed and built using data sets and images digitally, before even entering the site. The objective of BIM is to satisfy time, cost

and quality requirements by managing the project using a more efficient and reliable method of work.

Collaborating from the very beginning of the project, all parties work together using the same processes to produce an in-depth and complete design that not only specifies all materials needed and methods used but also gives a final cost and timescale to deliver the project.

There are a number of facets within BIM but particularly crucial to the success of a project are the Employer’s Information Requirements (EIR) and the BIM Execution Plan (BEP).

With the EIR agreed during the crucial design stages, it defines the project including the standards being adopted, outputs required, when these should be supplied and in what format, plus any supporting documentation. It gives all parties involved a clear understanding of what is expected and to become

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BIM Level 2 certified, a bespoke BIM Implementation Plan (BIP) must be developed.

Within BIM, the BIM Execution Plan (BEP) is a critical document as it underpins project integration.

A written plan, it brings together all of the tasks and related information as set out in the EIR, with all the stakeholders and processes factored in.

Through investing in the design stages, this BIM documentation can be created and can underpin the rest of the project through the construction stages right through to building handover.

Benefits of fixing design Investing time in the planning and design stages means that costs can be better controlled throughout delivery. If, during the design stages, the materials and building methods are all selected, agreed upon and fixed, the costs can be accurately calculated and a final budget can be created.

“The design is the most crucial stage of any project and getting it right before moving ahead is the foundation for a smooth delivery and successful build.”

Similarly, with timings, understanding the methods of construction and the parties involved, along with the lead times of the materials required, can give a more fixed indication of timescales as all parties that will impact delivery are consulted at the design stages and commit to the timing and execution plan.

Quality, while often subjective, is more controlled with a fixed design that all parties work towards. All elements that need to work together or complement one another within the project to create a high quality build and finish can be explored in advance. If the design was subject to change, altered materials or products that were factored in at a later stage could negatively impact the quality of the completed project, either by being substandard and this not being tested in the early collaborative stages or by failing to integrate with other materials or existing elements already worked into the initial design.

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Ryan Simmonds, sales director of framing at voestalpine Metsec plc

By utilising BIM Level 2, investing time in design and planning, and consulting with all relevant parties to gain their valuable specialist insight, the main contractor will be able to produce an informed, fixed and detailed design that can be used throughout the project and help to ensure on-time, on-budget delivery and successful completion of the project. ■

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Ryan Simmonds Sales Director of Framing voestalpine Metsec plc Tel: +44 (0)121 601 6000 metsec@metsec.com www.metsec.com www.twitter.com/MetsecUK

BIM&CO adds ETIM to its classification systems and communications standards

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BIM&CO, the BIM content platform, is introducing the international classification standard ETIM to its platform

TIM is one of the main classification standards in use in the electrical and HVAC sector. It provides a standardised way of classifying electrical and climate control products, simplifying the process of communicating and exchanging information about them at every stage of their lifecycle.

Most major electrical and climate control engineering companies, such as Legrand, GE, Delta Dore, Hager, Atlantic, Aldes, Müller, Schneider Electric, Philips and Sonepar, are today using the ETIM standard.

Through its working partnership with Trace Software, the company responsible for developing and producing the Elec Calc and Elec Calc BIM electrical calculation and design software applications, BIM&CO has acquired a unique range of expertise in the digitalisation of BIM products manufactured by the electrical industry. This expertise has facilitated the process of adding and incorporating the ETIM cataloguing system. This new form of classification increases system interoperability and product cataloguing, and makes it

Valentin Malemanche

easier for manufacturers to provide product specifications and recommendations.

Valentin Malemanche, product expert at BIM&CO, said: “The introduction of ETIM to our platform means technical advisers now have the ability to search using the ETIM classification and can more rapidly find the product or technical data they are looking for, which is consistent with our philosophy of ensuring interoperability between the various industry standards.

“Manufacturers that already have their own ETIM-based catalogue management tool can now upload their data directly to the platform, with our solution taking care of the process of automatically mapping it. Because it uses the BIM&CO object property system as a basis, this integration of ETIM also simplifies the work of the partners responsible for developing the professional software applications (ElecCalc, ClimaWin, etc.).

BIM&CO’s open classification system is currently the only system that enables users to go so far in terms of facilitating the exchange of manufactured product data.”

By making the ETIM classification model available, BIM&CO is increasing the speed at which manufacturers are able to digitise their catalogues. Through its open object property management system, OPMS, the BIM&CO platform enables manufacturers to structure and distribute the data for their products and make it available to serve the needs of BIM software and processes, which feature at every stage of a building’s lifecycle.

The objects can all be accessed at https://www.bimandco.com/en/bim_objects

Vincent Berlioz

Business Development Manager BIM&CO

Tel: +33 (0)648 138 075

contact@bimandco.com www.bimandco.com/en

www.twitter.com/bimandcoWorld

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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

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he company, based in Sandwell, focuses on adding value through expert design, precision manufacturing and on-time, in-full product delivery.

Established more than 85 years ago as a cold roll-forming company, Metsec provides purlins, steel framing, cable management, dry lining and custom roll-forming to its broad range of customers. Originally founded in 1931, it is now part of the metal forming division of voestalpine group, a global technology and capital goods group.

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Headquartered in Oldbury, and with a sales and technical office in the Middle East, Metsec has supplied products and design services to landmark projects including the Queensferry Crossing, Abu Dhabi airport, Resorts World, Wimbledon, BBC Wales studios and Glasgow Velodrome, along with a host of retail sites, sports stadia, hotels and student accommodation.

BIM

A champion of Building Information Modelling (BIM), Metsec holds BIM Level 2 accreditation,

the first tier two designer and manufacturer to achieve the standard for design and construction in the UK. In addition, last year Metsec was announced as one of the first six companies globally to achieve the new PAS 1192-2 kitemark from the British Standards Institution (BSI) relating to BIM, and the only tier two company to be awarded the accreditation.

The kitemark is a way for construction businesses around the world to prove their

voestalpine Metsec plc headquarters in Oldbury

capabilities in delivering projects at the design and construction phase and acts as a seal of approval for companies qualified to deliver projects at both the design and construction phase.

Purlins

Metsec’s purlins division is the UK’s largest designer and manufacturer of light gauge galvanised steel purlins, side rails and mezzanine flooring systems and has provided purlins solutions to a number of sports stadia, retailers and major airports and rail stations in the UK and the Middle East.

Steel framing Metsec is the market leader in light gauge, galvanised steel structural framing systems.

Metsec’s offsite framing solution, Metframe, delivers considerable time and cost savings and has been used on several construction projects, such as Gosford Gate student accommodation, Palmerston School and CATS College Canterbury.

Cable management

Metsec cable management manufactures cable containment and support systems for the mechanical and electrical services industry.

Products include both pre- and post-galvanised cable ladders, cable trays, cable trunking and metal framing systems. As a bespoke

solutions provider, Metsec provides the accompanying accessories, giving customers flexibility when specifying.

“A champion of Building Information Modelling (BIM), Metsec holds BIM Level 2 accreditation, the first tier two designer and manufacturer to achieve the standard for design and construction in the UK.”

Engineering products Metsec’s engineering products division specialises in the bespoke manufacture of custom roll-formed steel sections, and a variety of additional engineering services including profile manipulation, drilling laser processes and welding, enabling complete solutions to be undertaken for a wide range of construction, industrial and automotive applications.

Dry lining Metsec’s dry lining division designs, manufactures and supplies light gauge, non-load bearing cold-rolled formed metal products for use in partitioning, dry lining and ceiling systems. As a result of extensive research and development, combined with high volume advanced manufacturing techniques, all

Smithfield Square, a BIM designed project from Metsec

Metsec dry lining systems conform to the latest British and European standards.

Accreditations Metsec is accredited to ISO 9001, BS OHSAS 18001 and was the first cold roll-forming specialist to operate an Integrated Management System certified by BSI that complies with the requirements of PAS 99. Metsec acknowledges that sustainability is a responsibility not a choice and in recognition of ongoing efforts has received certifications for BES 6001 ensuring all products are made with material that has been responsibly sourced. The company is also accredited to ISO 14001 and part of the BCSA Steel Construction Sustainability Charter.

voestalpine Metsec plc

Tel: +44 (0)121 601 6000 metsec@metsec.com www.metsec.com

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Assessing the risks of nanomaterials in construction

New guidance has been published on how to manage the possible health risks associated with nanomaterials in construction. It follows research sponsored by the Institution of Occupational Safety & Health (IOSH) into how widespread their use is and the risks they might create. Professor Alistair Gibb and Dr Wendy Jones from Loughborough University, who led the research, look at the issues

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he use of nanomaterials in construction is becoming increasingly common – and it is easy to see why.

are exposed to nanoparticles or nanofibres in the form of dusts or aerosols – which can occur during construction or demolition – then there may be a risk.

They have brought about new construction products with incredibly innovative properties. Self-cleaning glass – as reportedly used on the roof of St Pancras train station in London – is one example, with others being super-efficient insulation and very high-strength concrete.

There are many factors that contribute to the toxicity of nanomaterials. Size is one, as smaller particles are typically more reactive than larger ones. Other factors include: what the substance is, in terms of its chemical composition and type and structure; how soluble it is and whether the particles stick together; whether other substances or contaminants are present; and the shape of the particle.

It is estimated that by 2025, half of our building materials may contain nanomaterials, enabled by technological advances that have allowed for the manipulation of matter at an atomic level.

But do we need to stop for a moment and consider whether they may introduce additional health risks?

If so, how might we successfully manage such risks?

Recently published research, conducted at Loughborough University and sponsored by the Institution of Occupational Safety & Health (IOSH), examined how nanomaterials are being used in construction and what health risks might be associated with them.

The final point here is of particular importance. We know, for example, that some fibres might behave like asbestos and become lodged in the lungs.

Those which are long, straight and stiff, such as certain Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs), are the most likely to be problematic. However, many other CNTs are shorter or curly and these are much less likely to be hazardous.

Research Our team found that nanomaterials are primarily used in surface coatings, concrete, window glass, insulation and steel.

What was clear from our study is that our knowledge of the risks of nanotechnology is far from complete.

The evidence around the harmfulness of particular nanoparticles is limited. Even more problematically, we have relatively little information on which nanomaterials are being used in construction materials. For example, CNTs are seemingly contained in only a handful of specialist products; but we lack information as to what the shape of those particular CNTs might be (over 50,000 different ones are believed to exist).

As long as they are embedded in a solid, stable structure, there is no risk. However, when workers

Much more in-depth research is required to provide clear evidence of the likelihood of workers

From this, we produced guidance for industry on how these risks can be assessed and managed.

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Self-cleaning glass was reportedly used on the roof of St Pancras Station

on construction and demolition project being exposed to particles, what those particles might be and whether there are significant associated health risks.

Guidance With so many unanswered questions, pending further research into the subject, it is not easy to say what companies need to do to ensure employees are not at risk from nanomaterials. However, it is important to remember there are many existing risks in construction and demolition that we already know about.

For example, the presence of respirable crystalline silica (one of the carcinogens targeted by IOSH’s No Time to Lose campaign) is a major existing risk.

Organisations are advised to continue to concentrate on managing these existing risks as nano-enabled products currently in common use are not believed to increase hazard levels to a great extent.

Also, controls such as extraction and dust suppression used for existing risks can negate the additional risk from most nanomaterials, as can the use of personal protective equipment; though this should only be used when control is not possible with other means, or in addition to other control measures.

On top of that, companies should be asking questions of the suppliers of new materials, including what shape and size the particles in a product are. Information about the presence of nanomaterials should be recorded, for example in the CDM health and safety file or in BIM. This will support decision making

about building changes or demolition in future when additional information on toxicity might be available.

Where to get assistance The rise of nanomaterial use will undoubtedly continue. However, this should not be at the expense of people’s health. It is vital, therefore, that in addition to reminding construction employers of the importance of good practice in health risk management generally, this study and guidance is the springboard to greater research. ■ To view the full report and guidance, visit www.iosh.co.uk/nanotechnology For more information about IOSH, visit www.iosh.com ...............................................

Professor Alistair Gibb Professor of Construction Engineering Management Loughborough University School of Architecture, Building & Civil Engineering Tel: +44 (0)1509 223097 a.g.gibb@lboro.ac.uk www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/abce/staff/alistair-gibb/ Dr Wendy Jones Research Associate Loughborough University School of Architecture, Building & Civil Engineering Tel: +44 (0)1509 226196 w.jones2@lboro.ac.uk www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/abce/staff/wendy-jones/

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Virtual site tours: Making virtual reality a reality Kier’s Adam Nixon looks at the added benefits of virtual reality as part of his BIM rotation on the Kier graduate scheme

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n a world of TIDPs, LoDMs, CoBie information, BEPs and a range of standards to go with them, how do we get engagement from those on site at our construction projects who might be less familiar with BIM? And how can we work closer them?

Simple: by demonstrating how technologies in combination with BIM can make their jobs easier and more efficient.

Image courtesy of Race Cottam Associates and Ares Landscape Architects

“By using 360° scans of the project, we are able to provide the end user with a virtual tour and record of their brand new facility, while simultaneously serving as a record of the condition in which we handed over the project.”

The construction industry, like many, is performancedriven, with the need to be able to quantify a project success based on a number of areas including quality, cost and time (with the overarching umbrella of Health and Safety). It’s by showing the added value of embracing new technologies, starting with the use of virtual reality, that we can have further conversations with interdisciplinary project teams about integrating solutions which may not show immediate visibility.

Virtual Site Tours & Inductions Astrea Academy Sheffield

New build secondary and the refurbishment of a Primary school for approximately 1,400 students. Education provision is from nursery right through to sixth form.

Health and Safety As the principal designer for the scheme, it was imperative that residual risks were captured efficiently.

The recent release of PAS 1192-6 goes some way to bridging the gap between 2D format information into

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Astrea Academy Sheffield

the 3D environment. In addition, the use of 360° panoramic images and QR codes have enabled us to develop an immersive experience allowing for a Virtual Site Tour as we learn from different industries, such as gaming and manufacturing, to refine our construction management techniques and processes.

One of the challenges on the project was a level change of approximately 25m, which meant large earthwork and civil activities were needed before beginning to start building the academy. With the vast quantity of retaining walls, we needed to ensure risks were being communicated and understood in the right way.

Cost The added value of implementing the tour can be seen through the reduced time it takes to carry out

Q Floor: Isonometric View of generated model

Q Floor: Recovery Bays

an onsite induction, as the supply chain can be sent the tour prior to visiting the site so they are more informed about the layout. As the cost of producing the virtual site tour is minimal, there is no reason why this approach could not be adopted more in the construction industry. The images also act as a record which can be relied upon in the future.

3D Survey: Q Floor Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield

Refurbishment project on the 19th floor of a live hospital to provide four No operating theatres, including associated support and recovery areas.

Quality Information While record keeping is an important aspect of how we monitor quality through the construction phase of the project lifecycle, this does not mean that thousands of photos have to be taken and kept in a folder.

By using 360° scans of the project, we are able to provide the end user with a virtual tour and record of their brand new facility, while simultaneously serving as a record of the condition in which we handed over the project. This powerful aid helps to improve soft landings of our project in general, with the potential of regular surveys during the construction phase to assist the project team inductions and pre-inductions prior to the supply chain arriving on site.

Time Those not able to attend the site on a regular basis have the potential to have a greater input into the project. The ability to view the model, which is hosted online, in remote meetings away from site allows teams to better visualise the scheme and enhance collaboration. Surveys can be carried out at regular intervals with little or no disruptions to operations. ■

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Adam Nixon Graduate Design Manager Kier Construction – Northern Tel: +44 (0)113 8200500 adam.nixon@kier.co.uk www.kier.co.uk www.twitter.com/kiergroup

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A new security standard to protect people and places

Government organisations are increasing their emphasis on protecting highly populated urban areas and infrastructure from different types of vehicle attack with physical perimeter security. Jaz Vilkhu, Marshalls’ Managing Director of Landscape Protection, argues that for the first time, the new PAS 170 standard will offer assured products to secure against criminal threats and accidental impacts

P

rotecting people and infrastructure is, unsurprisingly, now a core consideration for planners and security advisers in planning new and existing buildings, public spaces or events, whether that’s to protect against a vehicle-borne terror attack, an accidental collision or a criminal ram raid targeting commercial property.

Both major city councils and district and borough authorities have increased their focus on security measures that can mitigate against these incidents, and Marshalls has seen a growing number commission and install protective street furniture manufactured to the British Standard Institution’s (BSI) PAS 68 and IWA 14.1.

“PAS 170 will provide organisations with this assurance of proven performance for the first time and will also enable them to reduce their insurance premiums, given the security measures are accredited by a government standard.”

Incorporating this type of security measure is an essential part of protecting people, places and infrastructure. But it is equally important that the type of product installed is proportionate to the threat. In many situations, such as in car parks or outside an ATM, local authorities may only need security products that mitigate against low speed pas-

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senger vehicles and not those manufactured to the highest specifications.

Delivering a more cost-effective protective solution

Up until now, ‘anti-ram’ has covered these lower rated products. But a tested and proven standard that provides an assured security product for this level of threat didn’t exist. To meet this need, the government has introduced PAS 170, a new series of requirements that will transform how local authorities can protect against the vehicle threat from criminal and accidental impacts.

As opposed to PAS 68 and IWA 14.1 where the testing weights typically range from 1.5 tonnes

to 7.5 tonnes for speeds of either 30, 40 or 50mph, PAS 170 delivers a testing standard for vehicles of up to 2.5 tonnes travelling at between 10 and 20mph.

This difference means that street furniture manufacturers can conduct a greater number of product tests, using a wider range of vehicles and speeds, which can provide an organisation more choice in picking the right type of security product for a particular space.

Roger Knight, Marshalls’ Head of New Product Development and Engineering for Landscape Protection, said: “The knock-on effect of introducing PAS 170 is local authorities can now

Image: © Jonathan Jacob Photography Ltd

bollards which are tested to PAS 170 and can be tailored to factor in landscape restrictions, such as a limited excavation depth or the requirement for lift assist to enable occasional vehicle access, depending on the site in question.

Retailers on the high street, specifiers and business owners more generally are concerned that large, intimidating barriers may create an environment of fear among the public, so aesthetics must also be a key consideration. Marshalls’ bollard cores have been developed and tested so that they can be specified at this standard with decorative sleeves in various materials to complement any surrounding area. access more cost-effective, tested products for sites such as shop fronts, ATMs, car parks and high streets, where there is possibly only a need to specify security that can mitigate against incidents involving low speed passenger vehicles. In these situations, there could be no requirement to consider a product that can stop a 7.5-tonne articulated lorry travelling at 50mph.”

“Incorporating this type of security measure is an essential part of protecting people, places and infrastructure. But it is equally important that the type of product installed is proportionate to the threat.”

Protecting against the impact of ram raiding

This new standard will have a significant impact when it comes to negating ram raids against commercial property. The rise in vehicular crimes has seen a sharp increase in demand for anti-ram solutions. But until now, there was no testing standard available to assure buyers of what speed and weight this type of product could withstand and how they would perform.

PAS 170 will provide organisations with this

assurance of proven performance for the first time and will also enable them to reduce their insurance premiums, given the security measures are accredited by a government standard.

While it offers greater flexibility in specifying security measures, this new requirement is not intended to replace any element of the full-scale vehicle impact test methods, which were created and designed to mitigate against a vehicle-borne terrorist threat using unmodified commercial vehicles. These standards - the latest Publicly Available Specification for security barriers used in hostile vehicle mitigation - are set by the Home Office and Office for Security & Counter-Terrorism, together with key agencies the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) and the National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO). They were developed to help government organisations assure levels of protection against intentional or accidental vehicle impacts and ensure defences were customised to the risk profile of a specific site, such as a town square or high street.

Bespoke security products designed to PAS 170 requirements

It’s vital that those responsible for shaping public spaces recognise that there is no onesize-fits-all response to the risks posed by intentional or accidental vehicle incidents.

The threat level should govern the type of security that’s specified, and the new PAS 170 standard will provide specifiers and security professionals with more flexible, cost-effective options to secure their public spaces.

Abigail Kellett

Product Manager Marshalls PLC

Tel: 01422 312000

www.marshalls.co.uk/ landscapeprotection

www.twitter.com/MarshallsCom

Marshalls has a range of Rhino Anti-Ram

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Blockchain and smart contracts: Binary solutions in a non-binary industry?

Legal expert and BIM specialist May Winfield examines the benefits, risks and future development of blockchain and smart contracts in the construction industry

“T

he first generation of the digital revolution brought us the Internet of information. The second generation – powered by blockchain technology – is bringing us the Internet of value: a new platform to reshape the world of business and transform the old order of human affairs for the better… Trust is established through mass collaboration and clever code rather than by powerful intermediaries like governments and banks.” – Dan Tapscott, author of Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin Is Changing Money, Business and the World.

Blockchain has been proclaimed as a symbol of the Fourth Industrial Revolution – a disruptive technology that will likely become as ubiquitous as the internet.

Sweden is considering placing their entire land registry system on a blockchain. While frequently referred to in the context of Bitcoin, blockchain and smart contracts are increasingly being considered to increase efficiency of BIM and digitisation within the construction industry.

Benefits and risks

Cost and security: The way blockchain and smart contracts function means there’s potential for a significant reduction in costs, as well as an increase in speed and security, making it harder to perpetrate fraud. The increased transparency of the data will likely have a positive knock-on effect of increasing trust and collaboration between parties.

The immutable nature of these technologies does not come without complications, however. They don’t readily allow for the flexibility of judgment required for tests of reasonableness or other agreed terms that require value judgments. Other practical questions also need to be addressed, such as the impact

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of termination on the data and the applicability of the Data Protection Act and the 2018 GDPR. With multiple ecosystems and an absence of common standards, there is also the issue of differing quality controls, testing regimes, processes and procedures, as well as different terminology. If parties do not clarify the intended scope of use, risk allocation and processes for blockchain in their project from the outset, they could be opening up the real possibility of mismanaged and differing expectations and resulting disputes.

“In view of the growing attention and use of these technologies, the future likely does hold more specific standard form documentation, guidance and regulations governing both blockchain and smart contracts.”

For smart contracts in particular, there is the added complication of the legal standing and applicable jurisdiction of a smart contract, if it was operating independently of a more traditional or standard contract.

Incorporating blockchain and smart contracts requirements into our contracts

Smart contracts could complement a ‘traditional’ contract well, although the interaction between the two forms of ‘contract’ would need to be carefully considered. Some commentators have suggested that the ‘traditional’ contract could be drafted to be a form of framework or umbrella within which the smart contract(s) operate. This would, however, depend on the scope of the smart contracts and the end result that the parties want to achieve.

Similar considerations apply to the incorporation of blockchain into a contract: in short, the blockchain and/or smart contract needs to work consistently and comprehensively with any other binding terms and conditions between the parties.

The standardisation of contract terms and documentation will no doubt develop over time but, in the meantime, if parties do wish to forge ahead in the use of blockchain and/or smart contracts for their projects, assuming this is going to be via incorporation into a more standard form of contract, what might such additional terms include?

Security measures and interoperability mitigation steps would also be relevant.

“For smart contracts in particular, there is the added complication of the legal standing and applicable jurisdiction of a smart contract, if it was operating independently of a more traditional or standard contract.”

Firstly, it would be sensible to get specialised legal advice to ensure any applicable regulations and legal requirements are complied with.

As a final thought, how will the use of blockchain and smart contracts impact parties’ rights to claim additional costs, time and, in the case of NEC contracts, compensation events? Who bears the risk should they result in delays or increased costs to the project? In addition, what is the impact of insolvency or termination on the operation of the blockchain?

As regards the contract terms themselves, as with BIM, it would probably be helpful for parties to specify how blockchain and/or smart contracts will be utilised for the project, including during which part of the project, by whom and for what purpose.

In view of the growing attention and use of these technologies, the future likely does hold more specific standard form documentation, guidance and regulations governing both blockchain and

The future

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In the UK, a number of All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) have already been looking at blockchain, including a specific APPG Blockchain launched early this year.

Even the Lord Chief Justice of England & Wales, in a lecture in mid-2017, expressly recognised that the laws of England and Wales may need to be updated to take into account blockchain and smart contracts, noting that: “Certainly, the European Commission takes the view that legislative change will be needed to deal with new forms of contract, such as blockchain and smart contracts. I have no doubt that we must consider whether our law (as it will then be) will need similar legislative updating.”

It will be exciting to see how this growing area develops over time. ■ May Winfield, Senior Construction Solicitor and BIM/Digitisation Legal Specialist

** This article is for information purposes only and not for the pur-

pose of providing legal advice. You should contact your legal advisors

to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem.**

smart contracts. As we have seen with BIM, in the event that blockchain and/or smart contracts meet with widespread use within our industry, standard documentation and practice will no doubt emerge.

Specific regulations are already starting to develop in some jurisdictions. In the US, there are a number of instances where blockchain and smart contracts have been given legal recognition via legislation and other means.

The European Commission ran a research project, #Blockchain4EU: Blockchain for Industrial Transformations, until February 2018, looking into the applications of blockchain for non-financial EU industrial sectors, which appears to have included consideration of specific legislation.

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May Winfield Senior Construction Solicitor and BIM/Digitisation Legal Specialist bim4legal@gmail.com www.linkedin.com/in/maywinfield/ www.twitter.com/BuildLaw_ArtTea

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HoloMeeting: A new tool for collaborative design

Virtual, augmented and mixed reality are gaining a foothold in construction as digital transformation progresses. Matthew Bumford of Kazendi looks at the emergence of this technology and how the HoloMeeting remote meeting tool can support the collaborative design so important to BIM

W

ith the release of Microsoft’s HoloLens back in 2016, industry and enterprise clients were given an opportunity to explore a literal new dimension for creative work processes. Fast forward to today and the possibilities unleashed by immersive technologies and advanced augmented reality (or mixed reality as it is known) are being realised.

For the building and construction industry, across all major verticals from initial design to ongoing building maintenance and repair, this has positive real-life implications that could disrupt the industry in a major and positive way.

Virtual, Augmented, Mixed?

Before we get too ahead of ourselves, we should first explore exactly what mixed reality is and how it can benefit the industry. There are a number of so-called immersive technologies in the market at the moment, including augmented reality and virtual reality, which can lead to various degrees of confusion and crossover, as well as misunderstandings about how they can be used from a commercial perspective.

Augmented Reality: A type of virtual augmentation that is not informed by real-world data in anyway and instead uses geo place-setters or markers to allow data to ‘float’ against its real-world location.

Seen mostly via smartphones or tablets, the tech has a variety of uses across both consumer and industry technologies. Perhaps the most famous example of augmented reality is the Pokemon Go app or Google’s now defunct smart glasses.

Virtual Reality: Using a virtual reality helmet or goggles, users become fully immersed into a virtual

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world where every facet has been rendered digitally.

Currently, virtual headsets require the user to be tethered to a high-performance PC but the technology has proved useful for training purposes, especially within the industries and the gaming community.

Mixed Reality: This can be seen as a crossover between virtual and augmented reality where every virtual presence or hologram is informed by real-world positional data. Using transparent smart goggles or a helmet, the user sees holograms placed within their actual environment. As it is untethered, computing is done via the headset itself and so it can be used remotely. Mixed reality is best suited for commercial and industrial purposes. Today’s mixed reality push is being led by Microsoft and its HoloLens headset.

Immersive, hands-free, adaptable

While there are clear industrial uses for both augmented reality and virtual reality, the technologies, and their relative hardware, have certain limitations that have certainly hindered their widespread commercial adoption. For augmented reality, it is the lack of real-world positioning and the physical screen limitations of mobiles and tablets. For virtual reality, it is the tethered nature of the headsets that hold it back.

That is not to be biased towards mixed reality, as there are clearly viable commercial and industrial uses for both AR and VR. However, when it comes to several industrial functions, such as remote support, design and collaborative elements – it is mixed reality leading the way.

The reason for this is because mixed reality is driven

Image: © daniilvolkov

by one key, commercially focused player: Microsoft.

Microsoft’s HoloLens headset is a powerful, inclusive computing system built on the Windows 10 infrastructure that can be incorporated with existing Windows programs and tools like Office, OneDrive and Skype and so comes with a well-established office suite for businesses to take advantage of.

Microsoft already saw the industrial potential of HoloLens from the outset and so engaged with market leaders such as Trimble, Volvo and ThyssenKrupp to test pilot programmes for the use of mixed reality in real workplace scenarios.

efficient, dynamic and collaborative. Perhaps nowhere is this more true than with industrial design.

Our experience of being an early adopter of Microsoft HoloLens and one of the first studios in Europe to dedicate ourselves to mixed reality has enabled us to amass over 20 commercial projects since 2016. The insight garnered from this and direct client feedback, as well as our own internal process requirements, led us to create HoloMeeting.

The potential of mixed reality is there to be seen.

We saw that industrial clients clearly wanted to innovate and implement new technologies and techniques (such as BIM for the construction industry) and yet various limitations have tended to hold back such implementation. Through the development of HoloMeeting, we aim to be able to support this desire and allow the industries to use mixed reality technology as a support tool for existing processes and increase the wider adoption of HoloLens for commercial usage.

From a design and collaboration perspective, mixed reality is a technology that can help bridge gaps in current industrial processes, making them more

The ACE industries of architecture, construction and engineering are a prime audience to benefit from HoloMeeting, both as a standalone application and to augment BIM practices.

This gave it something of a head start in being able to trial various aspects of functionality directly in the market before putting its headset out to the world.

The ROI therefore is already proven, not simply a possibility.

Mixed Reality for design and collaboration

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Image: © daniilvolkov

What is HoloMeeting?

Digital transformation in construction has been something of a long and painful process. With notoriously thin margins, often innovation has needed to take a step back in the face of simply ‘getting things done’.

Even with BIM implementation, this requires all parties across the ecosystem to be on board with the same file types and, importantly, at the same location (not always feasible when international builds are concerned).

“It’s exciting to see the application used, and championed, by those that live and breathe BIM every day…”

So BIM and the potential efficiencies it can bring to design and construction projects is often held back by outside influences.

With support for over 60 different file types, HoloMeeting becomes the ultimate industry leveller, with multiple assets able to be ported into the holographic workspace, including popular Building Information Modelling assets like Revit, as well as support for other 3D file types such as Solidworks, AutoCad, Open Cad, Rhino and more. That is in addition to supporting popular 2D file types such as PDF

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documents. This means that meetings can be held fluidly and effectively, without users needing to be in the same room and with all the information from both 2D and 3D assets available to move forward.

How does it work?

HoloMeeting is a remote collaboration tool using Microsoft HoloLens and has been designed to ease of use and efficiency in mind. It works just as well in the field as it does in office locations so can be used for both remote maintenance and on-the-job communication as much as it is a collaborative tool.

This is important because it immediately connects all players across the building and design ecosystem, from those laying out the initial sketches to those actively constructing the project. Such fluidity means impact and efficiency: an architect from the other side of the world can be in touch in an immersive 3D capacity and be on a construction site to act as a remote expert – reducing delays and increasing transparency across the whole building process.

At the design stage too, meetings no longer need to be arranged months in advance for international and dispersed teams as HoloMeeting brings people together in the same ‘space’ instantly.

Image: © daniilvolkov

This workspace (as pictured) is the hub of HoloMeeting and allows for design, collaboration and communication to be as fluid and intuitive remotely as it would in an office scenario. HoloMeeting does not serve to replace these current practices but rather support them and make them more efficient and engaging.

In that respect, collaborative work needn’t be so ‘stop-start’ as it can be currently but more malleable and therefore more immersive than ever before.

What does this mean for construction?

The HoloLens is a piece of technology that seems tailor-made for the construction sector and is set to solve many of the niggling issues of inefficiency that the industry suffers from. As such, it is set to become a key part in the wider field of digital transformation in construction. HoloMeeting acts as a bridge within this transformation, adding value across a range of verticals and with numerous use cases. It can be used just as effectively for board meetings as it can for design; just as well for the weekly sales call as it can assist field engineers with their repairs. We see it as a leveller and a tool to be used within the wider network, not to replace anything. Which is important to note as there is often a hesitancy among (especially older) industries to adopt new technology.

Where collaborative design is concerned, the application is already at a stage where it can be used on a daily basis to promote collaboration. Designers, constructors, architects and engineers do not need to ‘live’ inside the HoloLens but can simply jump into design meetings when needed and even pick up where they left off, just like closing the door and coming back a week later in the real world.

It’s exciting to see the application used, and championed, by those that live and breathe BIM every day and see it as a worthwhile addition to the digital construction toolbox. ■

...............................................

Matthew Bumford Head of Marketing Kazendi Tel: +44 (0)208 133 2266 matt@kazendi.com www.kazendi.com www.twitter.com/Kazendi www.facebook.com/kazendi

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Building for the future: Increasing productivity must be top priority for construction Simon Cross, director of SiteSmart at BRE and a member of the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), says increasing productivity – now more than ever as we lead up to Brexit – should be the sector’s number one priority in 2018

T

he economic indicators point to a challenging 2018 for Britain in the lead up to Brexit in 2019.

The OECD forecasts the UK’s GDP will grow by only 1% in 2018. Construction, which accounts for around 6.7% of the UK economy and employs approximately 2.9m people (circa 10% of the population), therefore, has never been more critical to UK plc’s fortunes.

Construction, however, has its own set of challenges, some as a consequence of Brexit; others due to its traditional business models and long-term lack of investment in skills, technology, systems and processes.

Indeed, Office for National Statistics analysis shows over the three months from September to November 2017, construction output decreased by 2%.

Brexit will surely exacerbate the skills shortages already being experienced, as anecdotal evidence suggests much-needed skilled workers from Europe are leaving the UK to return to their homelands. Furthermore, Britain is not producing in sufficient quantities UK nationals, via apprenticeships, to replace them.

try has the potential to be 20-40% more efficient, which would significantly increase operating margins (contractors’ are less than 1%), provide R&D capital and develop sector resilience.

How that’s going to happen is through a combination of policy levers and market forces: 1. AI and advanced manufacturing The recent (November 2017) presumption by five government departments in favour of offsite construction across suitable capital programmes where it represents best value for money is hugely significant in real terms and as a signpost of the direction of travel.

“The use of digital technologies (including BIM) for analysis and decision making has been the digital catalyst within the sector. Now the industry has to accelerate its adoption across projects throughout the entire supply chain and across an asset’s whole lifecycle…”

Given this gloomy scenario, driving productivity – ie the efficiency of converting inputs (people, machinery or processes) into useful or desired outputs – is critical not only to individual companies but also the nation as a whole, lest we slide into economic stagnation and even decline.

Standardisation will improve efficiencies in time, labour, materials and waste. It is already stimulating investment, innovation and R&D, and encouraging disruption both from within our sector and by outsiders. The outlier could be an existing tech giant or a newcomer who transforms. I welcome them all.

So, how can construction improve its productivity and what’s the potential benefit of doing so? Let’s start with the latter. I believe the construction indus-

New business models require a significant change in culture, business structures, supply chain models and behaviours. I believe this change requirement is

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largely underestimated in the construction sector.

Only when an organisation demonstrates better performance through new business models will we see the change required.

Such new business models, as well as cultural shifts, are essential for an industry that has for too long maintained the status quo to the detriment of productivity. An expedited shift to advanced industrialised manufacturing will drive efficiencies through new systems and processes, reduce build times and attract new talent.

Ultimately, it will increase operating margins that could be reinvested in R&D and enhance systems and processes that will continue the virtuous circle of greater efficiency, performance improvement and altogether better outcomes, including social and environmental sustainability indicators.

2. Data and digitalisation The capturing, interpretation and application of data and the digitalisation of processes and systems to measure and benchmark KPIs drives productivity

and profitability. It is an enabler and lifts up the sector to support growth and new business models.

The use of digital technologies (including BIM) for analysis and decision making has been the digital catalyst within the sector. Now the industry has to accelerate its adoption across projects throughout the entire supply chain – not only within functional silos – and across an asset’s whole lifecycle, including post-occupancy and during maintenance.

BRE’s SiteSmart suite of tools – including YellowJacket and SmartWaste – helps customers to measure affordably their data, KPIs and other characteristics of their construction sites and projects. Thus informed, they are able to make more agile decisions and improvements to increase their productivity and save money.

For example, when using SmartWaste, our data shows that construction projects become more efficient and save an average of £12,000 per project on waste alone via landfill taxes and associated recovery costs tied into circular economy models.

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Simon Cross, director of SiteSmart at BRE and a member of the Construction Leadership Council (CLC)

The SiteSmart tools measure the core KPIs of waste, energy consumption and transportation on construction sites, as well as related CO2 emissions, water use, timber procurement, health, safety, quality and process efficiency.

“Standardisation will improve efficiencies in time, labour, materials and waste. It is already stimulating investment, innovation and R&D, and encouraging disruption both from within our sector and by outsiders.”

They have demonstrated that it is possible to build to a higher specification at no or minimal extra cost when focusing on process efficiency, lean and offsite construction, and similar productivity improvement measures. Data and digitalisation are the enablers of the step change.

3. Skills and training Skills and training are essential to deliver productivity and increase profitability, and to meet the adaptation to an increasingly technologically driven workplace, including on construction sites.

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For example, drones are regularly used on construction sites to aid project logistics and to guide automated bulldozers. 3D printing is used to manufacture building materials, components and even prototype whole buildings onsite. Robotics are an increasing factor in the workplace; all require human skills at many levels.

All in all, it stands to reason that better qualified and trained employees and contractors will be more efficient, innovative and likely have a higher level of motivation. Individually and collectively these are characteristics that improve productivity and profitability. ■ ...............................................

Simon Cross Director of SiteSmart BRE Group Tel: +44 (0)333 321 88 11 enquiries@bre.co.uk www.bresitesmart.com www.twitter.com/BRE_SmartSite www.linkedin.com/company/building-researchestablishment-bre-/

Skydôme entrusts BIM&CO with the publication of its BIM objects Through the BIM&CO for Manufacturers offer, BIM&CO and Skydôme, the manufacturer specialising in zenithal overhead lighting solutions, have entered into a collaboration to distribute quality BIM objects dedicated to natural lighting for all stages of the BIM process

T

rue to its motto, Opening up to the world around us, Skydôme has entered the world of BIM. The manufacturer of zenithal lighting, ventilation and smoke extraction solutions was impressed by BIM&CO’s technology.

In search of a rigorous partner, Skydôme has indeed chosen the start-up to take charge of the modelling, integration and distribution of its flagship products, Skybaie and Equilux Wood.

The manufacturer, whose teams are currently being trained in BIM and modelling, plans to publish more parametric objects on BIM&CO. With the BIM&CO solution, which gives them direct access to the platform, Skydôme can easily publish new objects or update existing product data. This is a unique feature in the market.

Aurore Brzezinski, R&D manager, said: “It was important for us to offer architects and design companies objects that are not just ‘marketing’ objects, but are instead real ‘full BIM’ parametric objects, whose data are correctly structured and complete. Skydôme has to take into account the business constraints of the different stakeholders in the digital model.

“In addition to the quality of the objects modelled by BIM&CO, we appreciated the support of their teams during all the stages of the project. We have equipped ourselves with BIM software in-house, we are training our teams and we hope to model our entire

range ourselves in the future. Thanks to BIM&CO’s recommendations and advice on best practice, will have no difficulty publishing them on the platform independently in the long term.”

is this autonomy, and with it the assurance of maintaining control over their brand and product data, that has convinced Skydôme, with whom we are particularly proud to be collaborating.”

As Etienne Mullie, CEO of BIM&CO, clarifies: “BIM&CO’s policy is to offer manufacturers easy access to BIM through support and stateof-the-art technology. BIM&CO offers a set of tools enabling manufacturers to structure and distribute their product data in the form of BIM-ready objects. Their objects are thus adapted to all stages of the BIM process, from design through to construction, operation and maintenance.

You can find Skydôme’s products here.

“Our goal is not to lock clients into a proprietary solution, but rather to work alongside them and give them the keys to autonomy. It

www.twitter.com/bimandcoWorld

BIM&CO

Tel: +33 (0)648 138 075

contact@bimandco.com www.bimandco.com/en

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IoT-enabled BIM asset data management Man and Machine’s Phil Read looks at how the Internet of Things can help maintain coordinated, maintainable asset data to minimise waste and speed up construction

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anaging maintainable asset data is at the core of what BIM is really about. It is also vital to have a single geometric BIM model that is well coordinated during the design work stages to minimise wastage and improve the speed of construction of the built asset. By doing this, we hope to reduce onsite issues and make the most of our onsite resources.

But when we talk about BIM these days, Phil Read, managing director of Man and Machine, has an interesting take.

“While we respect the need for geometry and a single model (or even a BIM comprised of a set of linked models and databases), we need to understand that BIM is also about data and workflow, not just parametric modelling and coordination,” he says.

Regarding the creation of a “solution set” supporting all aspects of the BIM workflow, Read continues: “We hear many people talk about Common Data Environments (CDEs) in a way that suggests they will single-handedly solve all the needs on a project, in sharing the BIM information and data. While CDEs are increasingly adding more and more functionality, it is unlikely that a CDE will really support all aspects of a BIM workflow.

“A BIM workflow may involve local coordination between linked disciplines (eg electrical and containment), key discipline coordination (architectural, structural and MEP), design review using BCF, as well as onsite task management and workflow. Furthermore,

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BIM TASK MANAGEMENT PLATFORM (e.g. BIM Collab, BIM Track)

CLOUD BASED BUILDING SERVICES WORK-IN-PROGRESS (e.g. Collaboration for Revit)

IN-HOUSE DATA MANAGEMENT PLATFORM (e.g. Autodesk Vault, Sharepoint, Shared Drive)

MULTIPLE PROJECT BASED CDE’S (e.g. Ecodomus, Aconex, A-Site, 4P)

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PLATFORMS (e.g. Autodesk Forge, BIM Launcher) CLOUD BASED PROJECT SERVER (e.g. BIM360)

INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT ENVIRONMENT

integration with local file servers that hold work-in-progress, PAS 1192 naming convention implementation, workflow automation, revision and version control, live syncing to site project servers and so on, may also be required.”

What Read is alluding to is a set of linked software platforms forming what he refers to as an Integrated Management Environment (IME). Linking these software platforms requires skilled software development and programming, as well as a detailed understanding of connecting APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). Man and Machine offers such a service and is taking a forwardthinking approach to how to make this requirement a reality, using products like its BIM Launcher development and Autodesk Forge.

Such a solution is really a connected set of software services or platforms that uses the

internet as the connection highway. This is another example of how the Internet of Things (IoT) is really manifesting itself in real world examples. It seems that Man and Machine has a way through the complexity and can be contacted on 01844 263700 or sales@manandmachine.co.uk.

Phil Read

Managing Director Man and Machine

Tel: +44 (0)1844 263700

marketing@manandmachine.co.uk www.manandmachine.co.uk

www.twitter.com/ManandMachineUK

BIM Common Data Environments An effective BIM project requires all organisations working on it, to have fast, easy access to project documentation, including drawings, BIM models, contracts, reports, schedules, bids/tenders and more.

The Aconex software platform offers a complete solution that is: - Modern, cloud-based, mobile and easy to use - The best model for connecting project teams with an unalterable audit trail - A fast, flexible platform that is adaptable to your needs - Not siloed and offers complete automated and integrated project lifecycle workflows If you would like to know more please contact us at sales@manandmachine.co.uk or on 01844 263700

01844 263700 www.manandmachine.co.uk

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Quantifying the benefits of offsite construction

CIRIA, working with its members, industry partners and Buildoffsite, is poised to start work on producing good practice guidance for quantifying the benefits of offsite construction. This guidance is needed now, it would seem, more than ever to encourage and accelerate its uptake into mainstream construction practices, says Kieran Tully

O

ffsite construction techniques have been with us for some time but its increased adoption is certainly seen as one way of addressing some of the challenges the construction industry faces. Poor productivity is one such challenge and is most clearly represented in the current housing shortage. High quality modular housebuilding is seen as a possible solution, once other obstacles are tackled such as planning.

Productivity, or lack of improved productivity, is an issue the industry has been challenged with addressing for years. The government, in partnership with industry, set out its strategy for change in Construction 2025 (July 2013) and since then great strides have been made towards realising the ambitions of the strategy, with offsite construction playing its part admirably well through better integrated supply chains and the use of digital technologies.

Most recently, the government has confirmed its commitment to industry through the £170m Construction Industry Sector Deal, with the objectives the same as originally set out in Construction 2025.

Industry will play its part with a £250m contribution to the Sector Deal.

The policy from government is therefore clear and it is up to industry to not only rise to the challenge but to lead the transformation to improved productivity and the ambitions of Construction 2025.

CIRIA, in its role to improve the performance of the construction industry, is working with its members, other industry organisations and leadership groups to produce an industry guide that allows the benefits of offsite construction to be quantified.

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The difficulty at present is that there is no independent industry standard methodology for assessing the benefits of offsite techniques against traditional construction practices. As a result, there is a reluctance to change from the tried and tested due to a lack of certainty.

Clear, demonstrable benefits to the client and end user are needed to drive change and allow clients to understand the risks, the benefits and make informed decisions.

Lowest construction capital cost is often a key driver in the decision-making process but what about the whole life cost? How does offsite construction fair with traditional construction costs and how is this assessed?

Most assessments are made through the client’s tender process on a case-by-case basis. This may not provide for an easy comparison between approaches on a particular scheme, identify all the possible benefits that are available or act as a record for future projects.

The client’s own procurement practice and supply chain should also be receptive to the potential case for offsite solutions; integrated and digitally enabled for best results.

Other benefits associated with offsite construction include better quality control and fewer defects on completion due to manufacture in a more controlled factory environment.

Shorter onsite construction programmes may be a sought-after benefit where there is the need to

Modular housing: Irwell Riverside, Manchester. Photo courtesy of Urban Splash

minimise disruption to existing operations, typified by railway, highway or airport infrastructure that run on a near 24/7 basis.

Modular construction aims to fix the scheme design at an early stage in the project to start the manufacturing process. There is little in the way of making fundamental changes to the design, whereas traditional build can remain as flexible for the client for as long as possible.

Some might see the fixing of the scheme design at an early stage as giving the project a degree of certainty and allow the project to move forward, whereas maintaining design flexibility keeps the project in the design phase.

The guide aims to highlight the differences between modular and traditional construction in an objective way throughout the design and construction lifecycle.

Modular construction requires investment in Building Information Modelling (BIM) to integrate and test the

design of work packages. Although this might mean more effort at an early stage, it can lead to a snag-free design and ultimately fewer snags on site.

“The difficulty at present is that there is no independent industry standard methodology for assessing the benefits of offsite techniques against traditional construction practices. As a result, there is a reluctance to change from the tried and tested due to a lack of certainty.”

A BIM approach using standardised structural grids also allows for a better comparison between options, eg concrete or steel frame. It also allows the client to better understand the whole life cost of the structure when BIM modelling is used from the start of the project.

CIRIA will provide a summary report of key metrics and a methodology to enable the comparison of benefits of offsite construction with more traditional techniques.

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Hinckley Point, Somerset: Site accommodation being assembled. Photo courtesy of Caledonian Modular/Mott MacDonald

The project’s key objectives will be to: • Identify common project drivers in more detail; approach to risk, innovation and procurement.

The project started in February 2018 with a funders’ meeting to define the scope in more detail and publication is planned for spring 2019. ■

• Identify the benefits of offsite techniques against more traditional approaches by collecting data in a format that will enable comparison.

• Enable clients, designers, specifiers, contractors and others to quantify for themselves the benefits of offsite construction techniques when compared to typical construction approaches.

The guide will support a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach at an early stage of the design process with contributions across disciplines, eg structures, facades, mechanical and electrical, and public health.

The project’s data scope will cover a number of sectors, including housing, schools and hospitals, where repeatability of standard solutions can add value.

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Kieran Tully BEng CEng MICE MIET Associate Director CIRIA Tel: +44 (0) 20 7549 3300 enquiries@ciria.org www.ciria.org www.twitter.com/ciriaupdates www.youtube.com/user/CIRIANews www.linkedin.com/company/ciria

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The rise of software cities

The technology we use is changing the way we sculpt our cities. Peter Debney of Oasys considers how software has been used in the planning process of city spaces

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echnology is having a huge impact on urban planning, building design and city management from simulation software to geographic information systems and building information modelling.

Efficient crowd movement Urban planning and other architectural projects commonly use this type of software to help predict the movement of hundreds of thousands of pedestrians in complex building environments. Pedestrian simulation software has advanced dramatically over the past decade, allowing designers to easily simulate thousands of individual personalities within imported 3D models of city spaces. The simulated pedestrians can act intelligently according to set user-defined guidelines. For example, a certain amount could have contactless payment methods or fast-track tickets, allowing them to react with situations differently.

There are many cases where this software can be used. For architects designing a new building or arena that has the potential to host thousands of people, this technology can be used to simulate an evacuation. The crowd can be monitored to see what collisions they come across and how well they can achieve the goal of escaping the building.

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From transport stations to shopping centres and hospitals, pedestrian simulation software can help determine design when thinking about potential emergencies. With the rise of terror incidents across Europe, the use of crowd simulation and preparing for unlikely situations is more important than ever.

Why geographic information systems (GIS) are important on all projects Being able to capture geographical data from a range of sources as a computer system, GIS is the tool that all project planners are looking for.

One advantage of GIS is being able to use multilayer mapping. Similar to a density map, this feature allows the user to see a range of measures on one area. For example, potential agricultural land, areas that are prone to flooding and erodible land can all be visible on one map. This allows urban planners to visualise areas that would not be suitable for building on.

This tool can also keep record of permits within a project, allowing more conversant decisions to be made by management. The success of potential businesses can be analysed too by measuring their proximity to potential competitors and customers.

Why building information modelling (BIM) technology is important BIM is a process that allows you to analyse your model in the wider scheme of things, bringing many different models from different engineering disciplines into a single BIM model. BIM can help visually present any implications changes to the model would have on other aspects of the model. This technology is important in the design of ‘smart cities’ to test out the impact a building will have on its surroundings before construction goes ahead.

Through the use of this technology, we can see when city spaces are being used and who by. At the moment, the data is collected from Flickr and Twitter uploads, and this is planned to expand to other social networks.

Planners of proposed projects could experience challenges along the way if their build is on already established land. However, BIM can inform system managers of a wide range of factors. For example, the software could show how deep to dig in order to not crash into underground fibre optic cables.

Potentially, this could be used by urban planners in the future to analyse when city spaces are busy and help with crowd simulation decisions. It will also be possible to make comparisons between cities and replicate planning of structures if it has been successful in a city that runs in the same way. ■

Using BIM can create a collaborative project with designers from other engineering disciplines. For example, workers on drainage construction and landscaping can consult the same model to help better inform their decisions.

What can we expect next?

The urban planning world is experiencing some immense changes, especially with the growth of technology within the industry. One of these, not used for urban planning yet, is an open-source

software that has been developed in New York. It is currently a system that creates a map using data to visualise how people move through cities. Heat spots on the map become more intense when areas are popular.

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Peter Debney Application Specialist Oasys Tel: +44 (0)207 755 4515 oasys@arup.com www.oasys-software.com www.twitter.com/oasys_software

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Are You Ready for BIM Level 2 Certification?

Building Information Modelling, or BIM, has already made a huge impact in the way we build.

Not only does it ensure a better building quality, efficiency and sustainability, but the adoption of BIM brings firms additional benefits such as lower costs, better resource management and delivering projects on time. Couple your commitment to adopt this methodology with the attainment of company or personal BIM Level 2 Certification and you’ll gain recognition for meeting the highest UK construction standards.

It is not a surprise then that the UK government mandates for all centrally procured public projects to be BIM Level 2 compliant and include all digital documentation and asset information.

The NBS National BIM Report 2017, shows that 62% of the Construction Industry is already leveraging BIM workflows, but there is also a large percentage that have yet to adopt or are unsure how.

Does this mean that all SMEs and private projects do not need to implement BIM? Not at all, though not mandated in the private sector, the benefits of adopting BIM outweigh the costs and can give your firm a competitive edge over other suppliers and be the difference between winning a bid or not.

BRE BIM Level 2 Certification Achieving 3rd party BIM certification from BRE Global (the certification arm of BRE Group) – an independent and universally recognised authority in the construction sector will demonstrate to your existing and future customers that your work continues to meet the national BIM Level 2 standards and that they can trust you to deliver an excellent build.

In addition to gaining recognition for meeting the highest UK construction standards, being certificated by BRE Global brings you: • An impartial assessment of your internal processes and workflows, identifying where improvements may be achieved.

• Reassurance that your processes are being correctly implemented on project work.

• BIM Level 2 compliant project delivery together with the knowledge and experience this brings.

• Showcase of your competencies and providing peace of mind to your customers.

• Independent evidence of compliance with BIM Level 2 (PAS1192-2:2013) for all future PQQ’s.

• Considerable competitive advantage in your field.

How Do I get Ready for BIM Level 2 Certification?

BRE and GRAITEC joined forces so companies can benefit from a unified, all-inclusive service that supports them on their BIM journey from gap analysis with a pre-assessment service through to advisory, consultancy, software training and support, right through to BIM certification.

Advise Company

Process Training

Certify Individual

Assess Company

“This focused, joined-up approach will make it far more efficient for companies to prepare for BIM Level 2 Certification. It will also mean that Graitec clients can benefit from the BIM Level 2 process knowledge and training services provided by BRE, but also have the software, consultancy and support services that we cannot offer.”

Paul Oakley, BIM Director at BRE

Certify Company

Software

Software Training & Certified Users

Common Data Environments

Standards, Methods & Procedure

Consultancy & Support

GRAITEC Support for a Successful BIM Certification Graitec are one of Europe’s largest independent CAD, CAE and BIM software authors with a wealth of experience in BIM implementation incl. standards, methods and procedure, Consultancy and Common Data environments that can support PAS1192:2 requirements. Our partnership with BRE helps support companies with a smooth, end-to-end process for adopting BIM Level 2 Business Systems Certification.

Retake after 3 years

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For more information about BIM certification or certification readiness please visit our BRE BIM Certification page.

Call Graitec on: (023) 8086 8947 or email: enquiries@graitec.co.uk

Exploring the potential of digital technology

Transformation is happening all around us and while other industries have been quick to make the digital leap, the construction industry has been slower out of the starting blocks. Steve Thompson of EOS Facades shares his views on the positive impact technology will have on today’s construction industry

S

teel framing system (SFS) designers and offsite manufacturers are leading the way in changing the face of construction – and the rate of advancements in our sector is accelerating at a relentless pace. The combination of offsite manufacturing and digital construction technology presents a compelling proposition.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is at the forefront of the latest digital revolution. There is now almost a universal recognition of BIM within the construction industry, but some are still slow to fully implement its use – even in the offsite sector.

The discipline and collaborative working that BIM facilitates are ideally suited to the needs of prefabrication in terms of early coordination and three-dimensional design information – particularly when using steel framing systems. The output of the BIM design process, the IFC model, can now be directly imported into the fabrication software, eliminating the time-consuming translation of engineer’s information into cut lists and assembly drawings.

In terms of procurement, BIM is a powerful tool that allows construction companies to quantify the requirements of their projects. This enables control of spending and time management, resulting in the reduction of wastage in these areas.

It is essential that BIM is used in the early design stages of a project to ensure that there is capacity to not only clearly identify the elements of the project but, through the use of BIM, we are also able to anticipate when to procure materials or structural elements – saving both time and money. It is

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extremely difficult to transport the appropriate knowledge across all construction partners at the same time without the use of BIM; this can lead to teams procuring the wrong materials at the wrong time, in different volumes.

Way back in 2011, the government committed to the use of BIM Level 2 on all centrally procured public sector projects. More recently, government announcements, underpinned by a number of industry reports and major investment declarations, are advancing the offsite sector.

“The digital age is evolving. We are constantly adapting technology in order to enhance all aspects of the modern world.”

Driven by the demand for more predictability throughout the construction process, the resurgence in offsite construction has resulted in increased levels of market activity and innovation. While the housebuilding industry appears to be grabbing many of the headlines, offsite construction is also rapidly expanding in other sectors.

BIM is a key enabler for integrating offsite technology into construction practices. This is something crucial within government projects as there is an acute need for time-efficient construction, as well as a vital responsibility for our industry and government to reduce our carbon footprint through the application of low energy buildings – resulting in lower costs for the end user.

The digital age is evolving. We are constantly adapting technology in order to enhance all aspects

of the modern world. Our own state-of-the art manufacturing facility has changed beyond recognition, with further expansion planned for next year. EOS has extended our section capability with a significant investment in new advanced roll-forming machinery that has been specifically commissioned.

But BIM is only the start of this transition: the construction sector is changing fast – as we found out at the recent Explore Offsite Outlooks event.

Virtual reality (VR) – an artificial, computer-generated simulation of an environment – has transformed the way that architects present their vision. It immerses the user by making them feel like they are experiencing the simulated reality first-hand – allowing clients to play an integral part of the design process and ‘virtually’ enter the building and validate the layout.

Augmented reality (AR), on the other hand, provides more freedom for the user because it does not need a head-mounted display. Augmented reality takes the

real world and adds something to it – for example, a new extension could be digitally superimposed on to an existing building.

This has profound implications for the future design of buildings and those who build them. Tomorrow’s construction professionals will need to master the new software programming skills and learn to co-work with automated technology. ■

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Steve Thompson Managing Director EOS Facades Tel: +44 (0)1325 303030 enquiries@eosuk.org www.eos-facades.co.uk www.twitter.com/EOS_Facades

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Case study: Willmott Dixon site managers empowered to react faster

Elecosoft’s Powerproject software, which aims to improve the efficiency of highly repetitive elements of housebuilding, has been put to use on Willmott Dixon’s multi-phase Aberfeldy Village regeneration project in east London

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lanning excellence is very important to Willmott Dixon, which is driving a programme of culture change to connect every employee with planning and the effective use of time. Its residential teams work from local construction offices nationwide in a ‘one company’ approach. Its housing customers benefit from consistency and broad access to all the skills, expertise and know-how.

Changing pressures

Every construction project experiences pressure.

Managing changing customer needs is fundamental to project and progress management.

In housebuilding, however, additional stakeholders come into play, as Paul Hoskins, National Planning Manager at Willmott Dixon, outlined: “What makes residential construction different is that there are numerous homeowners involved, as well as the development customer. This creates lots of competing influences, so commitments and demands can change very quickly. Project leaders will be asked to

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focus on one part of a development then a new need will arise from the developer’s assessment of the marketplace – perhaps being asked to accelerate completion of one part of the scheme over another or bring forward completion of a show home. Or, change can come from new homeowners themselves, who have requested something specific or a little different on a sale that has just been made.”

Site managers have been empowered to engage with planning so they can react faster.

Paul explained: “We ask our people on projects to be accountable and responsible for their time on their projects. A lot of them will do the planning, the thinking and the scheduling that goes with it. We have equipped them with Powerproject so they have the ability to do the things they need to do without waiting for a planner to come along and update the programme.

We used to use MS Project before moving over a couple of years ago… it was a lot less accessible and it was more clunky – now it is much more intuitive.”

Fit for the job

Powerproject has features that are designed to support the high degree of repetition in housebuilding, including templates and the ability to view multiple builds on one screen. Paul said that “because of the repetitive work elements, what is particularly useful is the way you can put multiple tasks per line then repeat them in Powerproject. It makes it very simple for the team”.

After changing software, Willmott Dixon worked with its developer, Elecosoft, to tune it to their needs and create a custom template.

Aberfeldy Village, Tower Hamlets – Phase 1 complete

Paul said: “The time we spent on the consultancy element with Elecosoft to develop the template was worth it. It means they can just use the tool, instead of having to know everything that goes on behind the scenes.”

Although the software has a Line of Balance (LOB) feature that helps housebuilders to optimise the flow of resources, Willmott Dixon has also worked with Elecosoft to develop an interface that enables information to be extracted easily from Powerproject into its internal LOB tool.

Paul believes that it works well as a system: “It allows us to take repetitive works, where we might have hundreds of homes, and easily repeat the trades and optimise their resource efficiency. We do it natively in Powerproject first then take it into our tool to add different dimensions. Then we can extract the information back into Powerproject where it joins up with the rest of the development.”

than 1,100 new homes, as well as shops, healthcare and community facilities over its 12-year development.

Aaron said: “The presentation of Powerproject is much better than our previous software. This really helped us when talking with our supply chain, customers and team. It feels like it has been built for the job in hand and worked with me, rather than me having to struggle to get what I wanted from the software.

“I found I could control the rescheduling more easily and it was great to be able to quickly filter the programme by a particular trade, or a specific home, instead of having to flip back and forth.

“The information I want is easy to get to and it’s simple to use. I could not only run ‘what if’ scenarios easily, but trust what it told me. I’ve now got all my site managers on board too and they are using it for the short-term programmes.” ■

Grassroots acceptance

Providing a tool is only useful if the people who need to use it find it easy and helpful. On a house build, the only people who can react fast on the ground are the site managers, who can’t always wait for a planner to come along to update a programme.

The software has been in recent use by Aaron Pearson, Operations Manager at the Aberfeldy Village multiphase regeneration development at Tower Hamlets in east London. Aberfeldy Village will create more

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Elecosoft Tel: +44 (0)1844 261 700 info@elecosoft.com www.elecosoft.com www.twitter.com/astapmsoftware

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Case study: The changing face of offsite construction Raymond Millar, Construction Director at the McAvoy Group and Buildoffsite member, looks at the design and offsite construction of a new state-of-the-art academy in Slough and how it was delivered weeks ahead of programme

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ynch Hill Enterprise Academy is a £20m education campus and one of the largest-ever modular schools to be built in the UK. It demonstrates a number of innovations that contributed to its early completion – an unprecedented 17 weeks ahead of programme, giving this new free school the benefit of even earlier occupation.

Lynch Hill is a 1,140-place academy built offsite by principal contractor the McAvoy Group for the Learning Alliance Academy Trust. In recognition of its success, the project has already been shortlisted for five industry awards.

Funded by the Education & Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), this three-storey, 8,750m2 building is an exemplar offsite education project which has a design inspired by the world-leading Harvard Business School.

Pre-construction challenges The design for Lynch Hill was initially developed for another site and then had to be adapted for a second and final brownfield site. The build programme had to accommodate extensive demolition works, asbestos removal, restricted access and the school’s first intake of pupils, who were located in temporary buildings also on the site.

Construction had to be phased to allow early handover of the sports hall and changing facilities for use by the school.

Design criteria The design brief set out a number of important criteria, all to be met within the ESFA’s available budget: • Facilitate the exchange of knowledge with business and encourage a sense of enterprise among

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students, thereby helping to bridge the skills gap for local companies.

• Create an environment for collaborative learning and mentoring, and provide good visibility as part of the school’s anti-bullying strategy.

• Excellent acoustic performance.

• Community access to the sports facilities.

A design to encourage collaborative learning The school is designed around four large multi-functional central spaces that help to maximise natural light and encourage collaborative learning. The use of inspirational messages and bold colours throughout reflects the academy’s ethos of enterprise, aspiration and achievement.

“Around 65% of the building’s construction was completed offsite. A total of 146 modules were installed with doors, windows, ironmongery, internal walls, plumbing, electrics and joinery already in place. This approach reduced the build programme to just 53 weeks.”

The building features an impressive full-height glazed entrance, a striking timber colonnade and a palette of materials that includes render and timber-effect rainscreen cladding to harmonise the scheme in its semi-rural location.

Outstanding educational facilities Offsite construction was used for the curriculum wing. Facilities include science laboratories, an ICT suite, SEN hub, studios for music, drama and art, areas for informal learning, sixth form study and

social space, kitchen and café. An enterprise exchange runs through the core of the building on two levels to facilitate collaboration with local businesses.

“The speed of offsite construction was the biggest benefit of the approach on this project. To build a school of this scale over two floors and using a state-of-the-art design within a year is amazing.”

Externally there is a landscaped area and social space, which form a large arrival plaza at the front of the school. This creates a sense of place and identity for the academy and encourages informal gatherings with its planting and seating.

Technical advancements in offsite construction Lynch Hill demonstrates a number of technical advancements in offsite construction. Larger, 15.6m-long modules and a new lifting system were specially engineered by McAvoy for the project, which reduced time, transport and installation costs and further improved construction efficiency. Some

of the steel-framed modules were pre-clad offsite in the factory to further reduce time on site.

The use of a McAvoy offsite solution removed the need for storage of large volumes of building materials on the site, helping to address the issue of restricted access.

Around 65% of the building’s construction was completed offsite. A total of 146 modules were installed with doors, windows, ironmongery, internal walls, plumbing, electrics and joinery already in place. This approach reduced the build programme to just 53 weeks.

The build programme was around six months shorter compared to site-based construction for a school of this scale.

The client perspective Phil Clarke, ESFA Project Manager, said: “The main driver for offsite for this project was speed – and to see a building of this scale constructed so quickly

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was amazing. The McAvoy construction team was fantastic and demonstrated a high level of skill and flexibility.

“The combination of steel-framed construction and the offsite solution works really well and is seamless.

You would never know this was a modular build. This is an outstanding secondary school scheme.”

“It is also fantastic to see the synergy between offsite solutions and the latest digital technologies. Harnessing BIM allows processes to be streamlined even further, to help facilitate better decision making among schools and local authorities. The enhanced stakeholder engagement at the earliest possible stages of a project will result in truly outstanding buildings.”

Gillian Coffey, Executive Head Teacher at Lynch Hill, said: “This new academy has been developed to address a severe shortfall in school places in Slough.

The facilities are terrific and the children are enjoying a fantastic new learning environment and the

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benefits of cutting-edge design. The building works very well to optimise the space, to provide excellent acoustic performance and high levels of natural light, and to futureproof the needs of the children.

“The speed of offsite construction was the biggest benefit of the approach on this project. To build a school of this scale over two floors and using a state-of-the-art design within a year is amazing.”

Digitising construction BIM was valuable for the Lynch Hill project, allowing design plans to be reviewed for clash detection of services with the modular structure. This helped to ensure seamless construction and removed the need for additional site works.

BIM allows processes to be streamlined to help deliver better decision making at the earliest possible stages in the life of a project. The increased use of BIM will deliver shorter design periods, giving schools and LEAs the benefit of reduced risk and even earlier occupation. It also allows all of the necessary technical data for the building assets to be embedded into models.

Since the inception of Lynch Hill, McAvoy now offers virtual reality, which is particularly valuable for education schemes to enhance stakeholder collaboration.

Teaching staff can now be ‘put into’ a virtual building and have the opportunity to ‘walk around’ the building at the earliest design stage to feel and experience its functionality and assess usability.

“The combination of steel-framed construction and the offsite solution works really well and is seamless. You would never know this was a modular build. This is an outstanding secondary school scheme.”

The industry view Commenting on the project, Ian Pannell, a Director of Buildoffsite, said: “This project takes the use of offsite for secondary schools to a completely new level for speed, quality and design.

“Time and cost overruns on both public and private sector building projects are still unacceptably high.

By contrast and as McAvoy successfully demonstrates with Lynch Hill, offsite construction can significantly

reduce risk with much greater assurance of delivery on time and on budget.

“It is also fantastic to see the synergy between offsite solutions and the latest digital technologies.

Harnessing BIM allows processes to be streamlined even further, to help facilitate better decision making among schools and local authorities. The enhanced stakeholder engagement at the earliest possible stages of a project will result in truly outstanding buildings.” ■ www.mcavoygroup.com www.buildoffsite.com

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Raymond Millar Construction Director The McAvoy Group Tel: +44 (0)845 076 0100 buildsmart@mcavoygroup.com www.mcavoygroup.com www.twitter.com/mcavoygroup

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Delivering fast, reliable connectivity to temporary sites using 4G WAN solutions

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n my last article, I discussed why construction businesses are increasingly turning to 4G Wide Area Network (WAN) solutions to achieve ‘always on’ network connectivity for temporary project sites.

In this article, we will look at a practical application of this, examining how industrial service provider Bilfinger uses 4G WAN solutions to bring its short-term maintenance projects online quickly and without the need for expensive cable installation.

“When setting up temporary sites, Bilfinger likes to replicate as many aspects of the office environment as possible. A big part of this is the ability to make both internal and external telephone calls from the site.”

Image: © Cradlepoint

Hubert Da Costa, VP EMEA at Cradlepoint, explains how leading industrial services provider Bilfinger uses 4G WAN technology to bring short-term sites online quickly and reliably

Hubert Da Costa, VP EMEA at Cradlepoint

no access to existing ethernet cables. Furthermore, with very little time between contracts being awarded and projects starting, it’s both logistically impossible and cost prohibitive to lay dedicated cabling each time.

Fast, reliable internet connectivity is an essential part of any business environment today, regardless of whether it’s a modern office or temporary command centre at a remote site. As a leading global provider of maintenance, modifications and operations for customers in the industrial sector, Bilfinger regularly has to deal with both such environments. Project teams working on-site must be able to liaise closely with co-workers back at head office and vice versa, often needing to share large data files between locations quickly to get the job done.

A great example is a contract the company won in autumn 2015 to fix and upgrade a broken boiler at a power plant near Frankfurt, Germany. Every day the boiler remained out of service was costing the plant thousands of euros, so the lead time was just 30 days between contract win and project commencement.

The company decided a 4G WAN solution was the best way to get the project up and running quickly, without the need for any additional infrastructure to be in place.

Remote sites and short lead times make dedicated cables unviable Typically, on-site command centres are located in open-air locations, such as a car park, where there’s

Solving on-site headaches caused by high data volumes For the power plant boiler upgrade project, the biggest challenge was the significant data volumes

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Image: © shotbydave

that needed to be sent back and forth between employees on-site and those back at head office. In addition to construction files and database-driven enterprise applications, centralised governance rules for updates also apply to Bilfinger employees’ computers, pushing daily data volumes even higher.

To cope with the level of demand, the company used SIM cards that permit up to 50GB of data per month, the maximum offered by most carriers. However, even with 50GB, employees were regularly running up against their data limits just 15-18 days into the month. To combat this, the company initially used two routers, each with a SIM card. As soon as the maximum data volume of a SIM card was reached, the employees on-site exchanged the routers.

However, this system quickly proved problematic, with the monthly router exchange regularly causing power failures and data loss.

Bilfinger explained the issues to Vodafone, which recommended switching to a new 4G WAN router with the capability to seamlessly change from one SIM card to another. Doing so meant the on-site team didn’t

have to manually deal with multiple devices or risk power failures – known as load balancing or SIM card failover. The router also contained two SIM card slots for each of the two modems, which gives Bilfinger dual SIM, dual modem capability. These additional slots also provided a multi-failover solution, meaning that if the primary mobile network failed suddenly, the on-site team could quickly switch to another network and avoid disruption to the project.

More effective communications on-site using VoIP When setting up temporary sites, Bilfinger likes to replicate as many aspects of the office environment as possible. A big part of this is the ability to make both internal and external telephone calls from the site. During the Frankfurt project, the company was able to set up a VPN and use the 4G WAN router to transfer data to desk-based handsets, giving employees the means to make and receive calls, just as they would in a normal office. Not only did this improve project efficiency, it made communications with the on-site team far easier, reducing reliance on email as the primary form of communication.

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Image: © lovro77

4G WAN solutions now the standard for Bilfinger Following the success of the Frankfurt project, 4G WAN solutions have become the standard on all Bilfinger’s short-term project sites. They are portable, cost-effective and simple enough that even non-IT staff can set them up on-site. The company is also exploring how it can use the Software-Defined Perimeter (SDP) capability of its 4G WAN routers as an alternative to traditional VPN gateways in some situations.

“Fast, reliable internet connectivity is an essential part of any business environment today, regardless of whether it’s a modern office or temporary command centre at a remote site.”

Bilfinger’s infrastructure department is now considering how 4G WAN solutions can be integrated into more traditional networks as well, such as providing 4G failover backup solutions to wired DSL or MPLS lines, preventing business downtime.

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As this example shows, 4G WAN solutions are increasingly being recognised by organisations like Bilfinger as the best way to provide fast, effective connectivity on project sites, regardless of location. Their potential also goes beyond temporary sites, with 4G WAN now increasingly seen as an ideal failover solution to the more conventional wired setups that businesses all over the world rely on every day. ■

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Hubert Da Costa VP EMEA Cradlepoint www.cradlepoint.com www.twitter.com/cradlepoint

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Growing frustrations caused by incorrect spec detail on BIM objects can lead to some colourful language

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© 2017 British Board of Agrément. All Rights reserved.

top

5

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Here are our definitive top five reasons why we think it is good for your business and your product sales: 1 Getting specifiers on side: We know

specifiers prefer BBA approved products if they are available – a BBA BIM Object Assurance stamp puts your product at their fingertips.

2 You are with the best: 50 years of

unrivalled expertise in building and construction product certification means the BBA is quite simply the best stamp of independent review you can get.

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Index Allianz Insurance plc ...................................................6-7

ALLPLAN UK Ltd ......................................................32-33

BIMandco..............................................................83, 105

Landmark PLC .........................................................70-71

Man and Machine..............31, 75, 88-89, 106-107, 129

Marshalls PLC ..........................................................92-93

Bluebeam Software Inc ..........................................38-39

RICS ......................................................................51, OBC

Cad Assist................................................................11, 97

SFS ............................................................................60-61

British Board of Agrément.................................130-131

Cadline...........................................................................47

Script&Go ......................................................................59 Solibri ....................................................................37, 111

ELECOSOFT LTD..........................................27, 54-55, 79

Stroma .................................................................IFC, 125

Faro UK.....................................................................66-67

TATA Steel.................................................................42-43

Elmtech..........................................................................23 FP Mccann................................................................14-15

Graitec..................................................................114-115

Superdream (Metsec) .............................................84-85 Trimble .............................................................18-19, IBC

Planning & Building Control Today provides cutting-edge policy analysis combined with insight and opinions from trade associations and other professionals.

We welcome contact from all experts with an interest in making an editorial contribution.

CONTACT Andy Jowett Editor ajowett@pbctoday.co.uk

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