8000 BC
Stone tablets depict vast hunting traps called desert kites.
1487
The Vitruvian Man was drawn on paper by Leonardo da Vinci.
1842
The blueprint is invented by Sir John Herschel.
1940s
Diazo produces black on white prints with Ammonia gas as the developer.
1975
Xerography machines became available.
1982
AutoCAD released a program that allowed for plans of a building to be drawn in a computer environment rather than by hand.
1997
Revit was developed in 1997, one of the first computer programs to be able to draw a building in 3D.
2011
Revit is bought up by AutoDesk, the owners of AutoCAD who developed a group of programs that allow different principles to design and quantify a building before construction starts.
2012
British Standards Institution along with the Cabinet Office developed a long-term programme to embed the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) across centrally procured public construction projects. BIM would cover all aspects of the design, construction and the future maintenance of the building, including the future decommissioning and the eventual demolition of the building.
The levels run from zero to three and are listed below:
Level 0: unmanaged CAD.
Level 1: a mix of 2D and/or 3D technology with a collaboration tool providing a Common Data Environment (CDE)
Level 2: collaborative BIM, in which 3D model information is shared within a CDE.
Level 3: Building Information Modelling - Strategic Plan - Digital Built Britain.
In 2015 the government unveiled level 3, which the cabinet office explained in the following way:
Level 3 Strategy, which will be known as “Digital Built Britain” (DBB), will encompass the cross-sector collaboration and thinking [described above] whilst taking the opportunity to rethink how we procure, deliver and operate our built environment going forward to ensure we meet our fiscal, functional, sustainability and growth objectives.
Whereas Level 2 covered a single project, Level 3 is much more advanced, covering smart cities and country-wide projects.
It was in 2013 that RIBA revised the Stages of Work to suit the changes in the construction industry, introducing Stage 0 as ‘Strategic Definition’ and Stage 7 as ‘Use’.
0 – Strategic Definition
1 – Preparation and Briefing
2 – Concept Design
3 – Spatial Coordination
4 – Technical Design
5 – Manufacturing and Construction
6 – Handover
7 – Use
VISIT RIBA'S PLAN FOR USE GUIDE
So, what role will Artificial Intelligence (AI) have in our industry? To be clear, we should consider distinguishing what is really AI and what is just ‘Data-crunching’. For example, if we skip the first two RIBA stages and look at stage 2 Concept design, the latest version of Adobe can take a 2D- elevation of a house drawn by an Architect, the program can render the wall finishes and place the house on a street with cars and people, seamlessly linking it all together creating what we would call an almost realistic photo image – but this is not AI, this is data-crunching. An Architectural practice that has an archive of concept buildings can apply this to an ‘AI engine’ and teach it their design approaches and stylistic methods, creating original designs without duplicating concepts that exist on the internet. One could say that these images are therefore created by the AI engine.
RIBA stages 3-5 are Spatial Coordination, Technical Design & Manufacturing and Construction. It’s evident from the complex process of a single construction project, that AI will be able to provide the design team with an enhanced, integrated, and sophisticated design. Although, again, most of this work will be data crunching, the mechanical design could be carried out by an ‘AI engine’. DL M&E already take Revit models from our CAD department and import them into IES to produce a thermal model of a building. The next stage will be to develop an AI engine that can recommend which system will meet the client's parameters, such as the level of environmental control, energy efficiency and of course cost . . .
The construction phase is where reality takes over; the Model still remains the backbone of the project and innovation continues to develop including the use of virtual or mixed reality to replace paper plans with M&E contractors being directed by tablets/headsets to see where services are to be located negating the old first-up best dress adage.
Again, the Model continues its journey through to the final RIBA stages of construction, and details of the materials used are loaded up. Guarantees and warranties are provisioned alongside M&E test certificates, which are added to the database. Finally, the building is handed over to the client with all associated manuals on how to run the new building.
In the past, this is where the paper trail starts to wane. However, the BIM Model remains very much live and moves into its new phase: the building is monitored via the Model. Maintenance documents can be produced and issued for all aspects of the structure with building systems monitored for the life of the building (or System). To simplify the transmission of information COBie (Construction Operations Building Information Exchange) was introduced as a spreadsheet data format that contains digital information about a building, meaning the building’s data can be read with basic Computer skills. An example could be a broken light in a classroom – the caretaker opens the spreadsheet which lists the classrooms and picks on the room and observes all the services in the room, by clicking on the lighting tab the fittings can be found and the information for a replacement can be ordered.
The idea of a building management system run from a computer has been around since the 1980s. Heating systems were controlled via a panel with sensors identifying the temperature of the room, when if left in auto would rotate the order of the pumps, boilers and fans. A similar control panel existed for air conditioning plants and if panels were connected to a phone-line they could communicate with the maintenance contractor to inform them of plant failure. A hint that AI was on the horizon came with the introduction of the ‘Weather compensator’. This device would adjust the start time of your heating based on the outside temperature from the week/month before and would use an algorithm to calculate when to fire up the boilers.
The detail of a Revit model today holds sufficient information from a design team to allow contractors to cost and build a project. When AI controls the model the clashes of any services will be found and rectified before the tender stage, saving time and materials when on site. As the details of the project are developed in the ‘virtual space’ control of building materials used can be quantified and controlled, reducing wastage and cost. In theory, AI could coordinate the ordering and delivery of material and labour. When the detailing of services and finishes are quantified within the model, the AI could be taught to identify the length of time in which work can be carried out and in which order to construct the building.
At the tender stage, the model is shared with competing companies, meaning commercial acumen will still be required, reviewing for instance the type of client, risk aversion, quality of previous work, the company’s workload, and so on. These traditional considerations will always affect the tender price, but if the cost of the project requires value engineering, then having your own AI Engine to calculate reductions will be another tool in the contractor’s pocket.
