Jul 04 2008

Show Us a Better Way

Further to my Web 2.0 post on Wednesday (updated a little bit earlier today, BTW), I have now had a browse through some of the ideas submitted so far to the Cabinet Office’s Show Us a Better Way competition. Many have real interest to people working in the sustainable built environment arena – I liked the suggestion of expanding PlanningAlerts.com to render a 3D model of planning applications in Google Earth, and a proposal on cycle parking sits very nicely with a suggestion I emailed just this morning to Sustrans – and there are others that look at public transport, eco-homes, green constituencies and so on. Some, arguably, are already covered by existing websites, but the stream of ideas is very stimulating.

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2008/07/show-us-a-better-way/

Jul 03 2008

A bit of a Web 2.0 day

I spent a fair chunk of yesterday looking at and talking about various Web 2.0 applications, mash-ups and events.

It was all started by reading an article on the BBC website, Government launches data mash-up. This led me to look at FixMyStreet.com, an officially-sanctioned project from MySociety.org that allows UK residents to report vandalism, abandoned cars and other nuisances in their neighbourhoods. I then clicked through to MySociety.org’s website and learned about their forthcoming OpenTech event (it’s this Saturday, 5 July, in London – too late, I’m afraid, for me to rearrange my plans and get along, but I’m hoping to read up on it afterwards). Among the sessions, there will be talks about OpenStreetMap.com (maps that you can edit, similar to Wikipedia) and PlanningAlerts.com – both of which may be of interest to a built environment audience, I think.

These sites were fresh in my mind when I met up with Fairsnape Consulting‘s Martin Brown yesterday afternoon for a brainstorming session about Be2camp. He then introduced a whole host of other ideas, some of them (Walk Score, for example) mashups of Google Maps (the BIW office in Woking, where I work, gets a score of 82 out of 100, incidentally). After the meeting, I worked the whole conversation up into a mindmap using Bubbl.us (see post) which I then shared with some of the other Be2camp protagonists (still trying to sort out a sharing/editing glitch though) via emails plus a note on the Be2camp wiki. One of them (thanks, Jodie) sent me a note about a forthcoming event on ‘cloud computing’ – CloudCampLondon, on 16 July – which I’ve just registered to attend.

Update (04 July 2008): Just been forwarded a link to a new blog, Show Us a Better Way, tied in with the UK government’s mash-up competition mentioned above. The Power of Information Task Force’s blog is also interesting reading. And it all ties in with what the Guardian newspaper has long been campaigning about with its Free Our Data campaign (see blog; I also posted about this two years ago).

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2008/07/a-bit-of-a-web-20-day/

Jul 01 2008

Taywood path to Google email smoothed by SaaS-based collaboration tools

In UK builder switches email to Google Apps, Phil Wainewright describes how UK contractor Taylor Woodrow has migrated from a conventional in-house hosted email system to Google Apps, a step, he says, that confounds critics who suggest that the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) based Google suite is not appropriate for enterprise adoption. I would also go one step further and say this is also a significant move in a notoriously risk-averse industry, but it wasn’t a leap into the unknown: apparently SaaS-based construction collaboration technologies helped smooth the way for the shift to Google.

Google Apps will be used primarily for email (“although some users have started to use the Google Sites and Google Docs applications as well”). The move will save Taywood an estimated “£1 million ($2 million) as a result of not having to host and support the software internally” (not only is construction risk-averse, it is also very cost-conscious).

According to Taywood’s IT director Rob Ramsay, there are currently no plans to adopt Google Docs in place of Microsoft Office, or to replace the specialised construction collaboration applications Taylor Woodrow uses for project management.

Interestingly though, the company’s prior familiarity with on-demand construction industry applications from indigenous UK providers such as 4Projects and Asite was a factor in easing acceptance of the Google service. “The data stored [on the provider’s systems] is quite critical for our business. With that backdrop of using products like 4Projects, there is that experience there,” said Ramsay.

The 4Projects solution has long been used by Taywood (not least because it was developed by former Taywood employees including MD Richard Vertigan and sales director Duncan Mactear), but, as the quote above suggests, the company also uses other solutions when required by customers who have ongoing relationships with other vendors (it could also have mentioned [my employer] BIW Technologies too – used by Taywood on a recently completed Crest Nicholson building in the Bristol Harbourside redevelopment, for example).

Updates (04 and 11 July 2008): Taywood’s decision also covered by CBR’s Janine Milne here and by Silicon.com.

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2008/07/taywood-path-to-google-email-smoothed-by-saas-based-collaboration-tools/

Jul 01 2008

Sustainability Now, er, Today

I have just been having a first look around Sustainability Now (see post), the free two-day virtual event organised by Phil Clark and his colleagues at Building and Building Design magazines. There’s a lot of opportunities to interact – the event has video clips, seminars, loads of downloadable white papers, case studies, brochures, and a lounge which many people seem to be using to have all kinds of conversations (some of these get intertwined; what about having lounges that are themed by subject so that people can join in the conversation they like?). Icons along the bottom of the screen help you keep track of who’s “in the room”.

On the exhibition side, just like a real-life event, I first quickly surveyed the stands and then went back to the one or two that I was interested in. Archetype, for example, was the only software vendor with an online presence, so I tentatively opened a chat window and asked a question. Just minutes later, I got a quick response and a vCard back from Archetype’s Jon Burrows and an online conversation was under way. Cool. (Archetype, by the way, specialises in software to support architectural practice’s knowledge and processes. A familiar proposition, I thought, and found out that its solution is not a software-as-a-service solution, and, yes, its principal competitor is Union Square.)

I know some of my other fellow bloggers are also at the event (I’ve spotted iSite‘s Martin Brown talking about ecotowns in the lounge, and Mel Starrs tweeted that she was mooching around the event) – so there is a bit of a Web 2.0 buzz going on outside the event’s established channels of communication (I’ve just had an email and a chat request from two different Building/CMPi people). According to Phil, the event has now had over 3000 registrations; his colleague Dawn Archambault tells me that 736 have logged in so far today (1150am), with 289 currently “live”.

I did try watching one of the event’s webinars, but a problem with my RealPlayer installation defeated me.

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2008/07/sustainability-now-er-today/

Jun 27 2008

BIM and sustainability

Having spent much of Wednesday (see earlier post) listening to people talk about building information modelling and sustainability, it was timely to get my latest AECbytes with a viewpoint from Scott Boutwell (blog; also previously cited in this blog here) talking about parallels in the increased adoption of pro-sustainability measures and the adoption of BIM by the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector and its customers.

It’s an excellent article, and if I could pick up just one point it is a familiar one (see my post Proto-building, to BIM is to build, for instance). Like some other commentators, Scott doesn’t simply focus on the technology angle, he says we must address people and process issues. In particular, he argues that various business model and organisational design issues may affect the rate of growth and adoption; his observations about collaborative design also echo some of the morning contributors at Wednesday’s BuildingSMART event. He writes:

BIM is not just the adoption of new technology, but it also incorporates new collaborative workflows. There is more emphasis on collaborative design and planning in the beginning phases of a project, so that costs and risks in later stages like construction and operations (where most of the costs are incurred) may be managed and contained. Green tech vendors can be involved in these early planning stages, so that a realistic assessment of cost savings and improved environmental performance are identified. Also, they can add value to the optimization process (conducting “what if” scenarios), which may lead to additional savings and benefits that may not have been readily apparent. Building modeling allows for earlier decision making in the design-build process, allowing earlier consensus building as well as a framework for trade-off discussions.

The new modes of collaboration among what were disparate and separate workgroups, along with sophisticated visualization, allow for continuous knowledge transfer, accelerated adoption of best practices, but perhaps most importantly, creating opportunities for “virtual work groups” to identify and evaluate innovative approaches for sustainability.

Scott goes to on to cover other issues including:

  • developing skills and simulation methodologies
  • the technology framework – moving to real-time scenario planning as the business intelligence sector is doing [a sector already being revolutionised by Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications too, particularly among SMEs, I would add – see this article for example]
  • portfolio management
  • the need for benchmarks and standards [also timely given this week’s UK publication of the new BREEAM system – see Mel Starr’s informed commentary – with its talk of outstanding projects being turned into exemplar case studies]

Related posts: From BIM to BIN (18 June 2008); Collaboration and lean construction (17 June 2008)

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2008/06/bim-and-sustainability/

Jun 27 2008

Reviewing BuildingSMART 2008

I have now had a couple of days to reflect on Wednesday’s BuildingSMART conference in London (see my live-blog posts here and here). My thoughts….

UK lagging behind – Given that it’s an organisation’s annual event, you would expect a lot of the same people to turn up each year, and there were a lot of familiar faces. Yet I felt there were fewer UK people than at last year‘s event. This is perhaps one reason why I got the impression that BuildingSMART’s vision of interoperable building information modelling (iBIM) is much nearer achievement in other countries (notably, Scandinavia and the US), while UK presenters are still talking about overcoming barriers to BIM adoption (the parallel BuildLondonLive event sort of confirmed this geographical divide – 9 of the 12 listed teams were completely drawn from outside the UK, only one appeared to be solely UK in origin).

Sustainability and FM – The sustainability theme that ran through parts of the event was welcome, particularly as it also encouraged contributors to talk about the long-term, across-the-asset-life-cycle use and re-use of information. Too often we seem to focus on use of information during design and construction and forget that we should also be looking earlier, during planning and concept stages, and later, throughout the operational life and onto eventual demolition or dismantling of an asset.

BuildingSMART rejuvenated – I talked briefly to Chris Groome and he agreed that the emergence of Building Information Modelling had given the old International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI) a new lease of life. My BIW colleague, chief executive Colin Smith was briefly co-opted to the IAI’s board earlier this decade, but quickly became disillusioned with the then slow pace of change. The change of name has helped give the organisation a new image, and the active involvement of UK AEC ICT companies like Synchro and Asite is a positive sign. As and when BIM capability starts becomes a competitive requirement domestically, both among AEC companies and ICT providers, then perhaps BuildingSMART will start to grow in stature and influence in the UK.

Low attendance – I arrived quite early and there appeared to be almost 100 badges on the registration table, but periodic headcounts during the day showed attendance in the auditorium peaked at about 60. Some individuals dropped in for only part of the day (eg: some BLL participants), but I did wonder, yet again, about the continued wisdom of running conventional conferences on industry ICT. Just as exhibitions appear to be dwindling in importance within the AEC ICT sector (see: The Great Construction Computing no-show), it appears conferences also struggle to get backsides on seats.

BuildLondonLive – More encouraging was the extensive international interest with the BuildLondonLive project – maybe the future will be more about combining real and virtual events, with a corresponding change in how events are organised, funded and hosted? I was looking to see how the BLL teams might embrace some Web 2.0 technologies, but we saw little evidence of take-up among them (perhaps they used them, but we didn’t see?). The BLL blog and Twitter feeds were enthusiastically updated by staff from co-sponsor Asite, but the wiki wasn’t touched.

UCI? – Sadly, apart from the new badge appearing on conference literature and some PowerPoint slides, there was no Uniting Construction Information presence. Maybe recent downsizing at Constructing Excellence, one of the enablers behind the initiative, was a factor?

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2008/06/reviewing-buildingsmart-2008/

Jun 25 2008

BuildingSMART conference, part 2

1450pm BST: The afternoon sessions of the BuildingSMART conference kick off with break-out sessions, and I opted for one on creating a market for sustainable buildings – not well-attended but some interesting discussion – with perspectives from Norway and Iceland.

Defining sustainable buildings is difficult due to the many different types of buildings – standards for sustainable housing may not be applicable to commercial offices, for example. Too many standards exist; local climate conditions vary (making different standards inevitable); few or no commercial imperatives apply; benefits of sustainable housing are not clear; need to develop tools and methods for operational maintenance and sustainability (PFI tends to focus on the former); encourage good practice both at individual buildings and across neighbourhoods, etc.

UK case studies

1545pm BST: In “The Journey”, Tim Williams talked about what tools and techniques BDP had been employing in what he called “concept information modelling“, where, using Bentley’s Generative Components, BDP working on spaces before starting building design, creating better quality environments for people.

The “Health PFI” case study was delivered by Miles Walker (HOK) and David Throssell (Skanska) and looked at the Bart’s Hospital project in London, talking about a five-year (so far) journey through use of BIM for design, construction and (latterly) FM – where designers now routinely consider ease of equipment installation and maintenance by using walk-throughs, etc. Skanska is trialling hand-held devices to capture data on site and deliver it into their document management system. Long-term effort is focused on creating a functioning asset that will retain easy access to associated data for upwards of 35 years.

The British Geological Survey’s HQ building was discussed by Ben Alderman of Zisman Bowyer & Partners, being a design-and-build project where ZBP got involved with services design, alongside the architect and structural engineer, very early on using an integrated 3D CAD model. Sequencing of site operations could be easily explained to the client, invaluable when a lot of components were being fabricated off-site. There were problems with incompatability of different analysis programs between the different disciplines, so interoperability remains an issue.

Neal Kalita of Davis Langdon talked about Life Cycle Costing in the context of sustainable tall buildings, work undertaken with Aedas Architects. At the core of their model was the vision of a single, shared building model (inertia in the UK AEC industry currently often prevents this, as do issues of intellectual property). In the Davis Langdon model, cost is king, requiring only basic building information (though this often exposed the discipline differences between cost consultants and, say, architects). Memory maps were used to help identify the key variables, which were then transferred into a simple model that could be manipulated. Results:

  • Big decisions early in the process.
  • Robust rules of thumb enabling rapid dynamic design changes.

In “The Long Haul”, Graham Brierley of Laing O’Rourke started by saying “Interoperable BIM is part of the corporate strategy to make the Group more competitive”. Leanness and agility are key, to overcome issues of rework, low productivity, waste, cost and schedule overruns, poor relationships, fragmented design and delivery, and lack of control over processes. Barriers included procurement routes (eg: lack of integration between design and construction teams), varying levels of resources and capability, different model authoring practices, and [like ZBP] interoperability.

Overseas applications of IFC-compliant BIM

Rapid-fire set of presentations on what is happening in Norway, the USA and worldwide.

Mikael Lye talked about Norwegian government practices and ongoign campaigns (eNorway 2009) which includes use of open standards, including BIM IFC and GIS (need to look at ByggSok, Statsbygg‘s BIM programme and the Norwegian defence agency, which has three pilot BIM projects running). Conclusion: “The technology is not fully developed yet, but is good enough to be used”.

Lars Christenson presented on behalf of a group of US organisations, including the US Coastguard project; US GSA has bought into BIM message and is currently working on a 4D programme; BIM used to analyse circulation routes through a US court-house; code compliance now automated; US Army Corps of Engineers is requiring BIM across its $50bn, ten-year programme.

Lars then talked about BuildingSMART International: breaking down barriers, enabling interoperability; creating, developing and promoting open standards – both internationally and through its regional chapters; and supporting projects. Need to move away from document-centric situations to a shared language. Change can be encouraged by major client enforcing BIM as a basic requirement (eg: Norway’s Statsbygg, US and Finland), but this has not happened in the UK, though the UK is not alone in lagging behind. “BuildingSMART is not for the future, it is here today.”

BIM, BuildingSMART

Mark Bew brought matters to a conclusion, talking about the journey up a slippery slope to the “nirvana” of interoperable BIM (iBIM), and how BuildingSMART might help with some tools to help organisations make that journey. He displayed a vision and mission for BuildingSMART and invited feedback.

(This and previous BuildingSMART post updated (1200 BST, 26 June 2008) to add links and tags.)

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2008/06/buildingsmart-conference-part-2/

Jun 25 2008

BuildingSMART Conference, RIBA, London

0940am BST: This is the first of (hopefully) several updates from the BuildingSMART one-day conference at the RIBA in London (the main auditorium has wi-fi (hurray!), but few power connections (boo!), but by topping up the battery from time to time, I hope to get by). Only about 40 delegates in the room as the event gets under way – though I know several people are involved with BuildLondonLive.

0955am BST: Mark Bew (ex Costain, now Scott Wilson; vice-chair of BuildingSMART) is doing an overview of the day ahead and reviewing what has happened since last year’s event. Talking about the commercial imperative, he says the organisation is looking at producing a report showing the benefits of investing in BIM to organisations; this should be available later this year).

Keynotes

1005am BST: Sunand Prasad (President of RIBA) welcomes BuildingSMART to the RIBA. We face an “emergency”: climate change is now squarely on the construction industry’s agenda, and will have a profound impact. The traditional model of designing where things are left to the future is no longer appropriate – sustainability measures have to be incorporated into planning and design processes from the very start. “Without BIM we cannot do this; BIM is what makes this possible.” There are increasingly no excuses for not working in a collaborative way, stitching together different people’s knowledge. RIBA is creating knowledge communities, enabled by IT, with BIM expected to fit into the picture in the future. The test of the BIM breakthrough will be when intermediate-size practices take BIM on board – not just the large consultancies, etc.

1035am BST: Arto Kiviniemi from Finland’s VTT has been talking about his country’s strategy to transform the competitiveness of its construction industry, describing problems of a fragmented industry, no process owners, and change-averse attitudes [sounds familiar!] – these made BIM a major challenge. Nonetheless, the Confederation of Finnish Construction Companies decided to adopt BIM in 2001, and the first BIM projects were undertaken in 2001-2002 (Helsinki University of Technology auditorium). Since last year, Senate Properties has a policy of only using IFC-compliant BIM for architecture on its projects (structural and MEP BIMs not yet mandatory). Small survey in August 2007 showed Finland using BIM on 30% of projects (20% in Denmark and Sweden). Process development is a necessity: the problems are more to do with people and skills, not technology.

1110am BST: Andrew Eastwell, chief executive of BSRIA talked about “nuggets of information” that he has accumulated with relevance to BuildingSMART, starting with plugs for the KTN for the Modern Built Environment and the Technology Strategy Board – which has just launched a Low Impact Building research initiative (first calls for proposals launched in May, with expressions of interest due next month).

World population growth focuses the mind: 1.7 billion more people by 2020; 50% of global construction activity will take place in China. Carbon dioxide concentrations and computing power also growing exponentially. Google, Amazon, iTunes, Sky, Nectar, etc all collating data about individuals, and becoming increasingly connected (and potentially intrusive).

Interesting graphs on power generation showing heavy reliance on coal-fired power stations, especially to supply electricity at peak periods.

Linked together pervasive computing (Zigbee), BIM database management, active demand management, and increasingly open architectures for HVAC, and began talking about intelligent building components. Harness power of chip and integrate it, with modelling the design integration force. Eventually, “hand BIM over as the asset management tool.” Models should extend to estates or districts to incorporate travel, power sharing, utilities, wind map, automated demand management, etc. So BIM is not just design and construction, it is also an FM tool. And with apologies to Harold Wilson:

“The Britain that is going to be forged in the carbon-free revolution will be no place for restrictive practices or outdated methods.”

Putting sustainability on the Agenda

1150am BST: Wolfram Trinius from Hamburg, said sustainable construction is “a clear, urgent and global challenge”, with building and construction the so-called “40% sector” (resource use, waste generation, emissions), notwithstanding its significant economic and social impacts. Sustainable development is also very much on the political agenda across the EU. Wolfram talked about ISO 15392:2008 and recommended delegates read up on it and its principles: continual improvement, equity, global thinking and local action, holistic approach, responsibility, involvement of interested parties, long-term concern, precaution and risk, transparency. He then talked about performance-based building and service life planning – the key elements to describe and quantify the life cycle of a built asset – and then justified the need for sustainable construction: the ultimate goal: a multi-faceted definition of “quality” (functionality, economy/efficiency, environmental impact, resource efficient, health and comfort, integrated into the socio-economic environment and thus maintaining long-term value). Sustainability demands all actors being able to discuss his perspectives and options.

1210pm BST: Svein Erik Haagenrud talked about STAND-INN: its vision: sustainable value creation for customers over the life-cycle of buildings using information models. Svein said we need to move from 3D (difficult, dangerous and dirty) to new, more sustainable methods. This poses challenges for standards bodies, but STAND-INN has contributed to putting sustainable construction and BuildingSMART on the EU R&D agenda.

BuildLondonLive

1300pm BST: The BuildLondonLive project was introduced to the audience  by Jeff Wix, who explained how the Asite cBIM and Onuma Planning System was being used for free to help the teams collaborate and share ideas. It’s a major event with teams working hard to design complex projects in just 48 hours (reminiscent of the Teamwork events undertaken in 2002), using any design tools but strongly promoting use of open standards, particularly Google Earth and IFC. Over 320 participants and observers are now taking part, using a lot of collaborative tools and some Web 2.0 (including wikis, blogs (updates being published regularly here), a YouTube channel and Twitter feeds – though it’s not clear if these are being used within or between teams or just as part of the external information feeds). The National Platform ICTA study was also mentioned.

Asite being used to generate reports on how the technologies are being used, and there is a live web services link between the Asite system and Onuma that links data to Google Earth. Asite Navigator is being used by most teams to synchronise data between desktops and the web environment. OPS allows sharing of inputs to the conceptual design; Asite then manages communication between collaborators over the detail of the design; model servers would need to be used to manage data in this stage in future. An exit report will be published – hopefully before September – pulling together the learning experiences associated with the BuildLondonLive event. And there has apparently been a lot of press interest.

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2008/06/buildingsmart-conference-riba-london/

Jun 25 2008

10 years after Egan: BIW survey

Sir John EganWhile Constructing Excellence is currently engaged with an online survey into what benefits (if any) have been experienced as a result of the 1998 Egan Report (see post) – BIW Technologies [my employer] has been doing the same, but via a telephone survey. The results are being published this week – and have already been covered on Building magazine’s website here (Update (17.15pm BST, 25 June 2008): also covered by Contract Journal).

Not surprisingly, our survey showed that not enough progress has been made to meet Egan targets set by Sir John Egan 10 years ago (supporting research from  Constructing Excellence that showed all seven of the 1998 targets had been missed). Of course, we asked about information and communications technologies (ICT) – ignored in the Egan Report – and there was, thankfully, a clear recognition that these had a part to play in promoting collaborative working in the UK AEC industry. We have called for the Wolstenholme working party, set up to review the Egan report ten years on, to make a more explicit endorsement of the potential impact of ICT tools in delivering a more collaborative, sustainable construction industry.

Related post: Egan: 10 years on (again)

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2008/06/10-years-after-egan-biw-survey/

Jun 24 2008

How web 2.0 friendly is AEC ICT?

I have thinking a lot about Web 2.0 stuff today. Over and above my day job and my usual background Tweets, RSS and blog-watching, I have been trying to help move the proposed BE2camp event along (we now have a potential central London venue for the October event, with interest from contributors in the US and Australia already), have been working on a new corporate blog project, and have been reading sporadic Tweets about this week’s BuildLondonLive (see yesterday’s post).

Tomorrow, I will be at the BuildingSMART conference, and – with my Web 2.0 hat on – I was wondering whether I might live-blog from the event? There will be lots of AEC techie people at the event, but I am not sure how far the organisers will have embraced the immediacy of Web 2.0 tools. Yes, I could ‘microblog’ (via TwitToday on my phone, for example), but I think it would be more informative if I could publish a steady stream of updates from the conference. I will have to see what connectivity I can get at the RIBA and then decide.

BuildLondonLive, BuildingSMART and Be2Camp all offer different perspectives on use of ICT tools by the AEC industry. I suspect tomorrow will be very mainstream – pretty much focused on high-end BIM tools and other established AEC technologies and processes, whereas October will, I think, be more experimental and potentially more cutting-edge and collaborative.

(I started composing this post on the train en route to a Chartered Institute of Public Relations seminar on PR for the London Crossrail project. “I wonder how geared up that event, and the project itself, will be to bloggers?” I wrote before I shut down my PC. I was pleasantly surprised when, after his presentation, Crossrail PR & Communications manager Alick Whitfield said he was very much alert to both the threats and opportunities offered by blogs, Facebook and the like.)

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2008/06/how-web-20-friendly-is-aec-ict/

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