The construction sector isn’t always the first industry that springs to mind when you think about new and innovative technology, but the sector is smarter and more diverse than you may realise. Today, the sector has the tools and processes to radically change the future of the built environment and help businesses work more efficiently and reduce costs and carbon emissions. David Boyd, Professor of Construction and Director of the Centre for Environment and Society Research, tells us more.
As the director of the Centre for Environment and Society Research at Birmingham City University, I’ve been involved in many innovative projects which are driving real change in this sector. I joined the University in 1987, and after a period of lecturing for the School of Architecture, I moved on to teach the MSc Construction Project Management course. Alongside lecturing, I work with companies large and small on a local and international basis to initiate mutually-beneficial collaborations in the field of digital construction. I’ve been lucky to work on many different projects over the years, applying my knowledge of Building Information Modelling (BIM), enhancing research and aiding proposals and bids to generate funding for innovative new digital construction projects. My work is largely based around usefulness and I always set out to achieve a practically-applicable or real-world gain.
Academic knowledge and research are vital to underpin new discoveries, but the real value is implementing this into real business situations to improve delivery and productivity. In this blog, I’ll explore more of the exciting and innovative new research projects I’ve been involved with and demonstrate how your business can benefit from a collaboration with Birmingham City University.
Issues faced within construction
Amongst the challenges faced by the industry, the four to five layers of the supply chain can make communication much more complicated. Much of the work involves complex contracts; causing bottlenecks at many stages of the process, slowing projects down and causing problems with payment.
Digital technologies are used in a wide range of industries to improve performance and customer satisfaction, and now construction is no exception. Developments in this technology mean we can now put it to work to create effective planning and work programming.
The future of digital construction
Building Information Modelling
BIM involves the creation of digital representations of physical places and characteristics to aid the project management and decision-making process throughout building projects. The platform collects extensive data and performs calculations in real time to provide feedback on the planning, design, construction and operation stages of a facility’s life.
Much of my work has focused on connecting human and information perspectives in BIM to influence better outcomes and help multiple stakeholders collaborate. For example, users would require the building to be fit for purpose, whilst facility managers would need it to be easily maintained – and both of these sets of requirements will differ from the optimum design from a building perspective. With further developments, this technology has the potential to revolutionise the construction industry and become more widely used to help control time, costs and quality.
BIM is something we now embed in the Construction Project Management course here at Birmingham City University. We’ll rely increasingly on these information systems because they provide the total package and streamline communication through every layer of the supply chain.
Adaptive socio-technical systems
I also collaborated on a series of projects to introduce socio-technical systems, which similarly focus on the complex relationships between people, information, processes and technology, for client and industry analysis. During one project, I worked closely with three major construction companies to challenge their existing practices and change the way they approach knowledge management. These findings have been communicated to several industry bodies and associations to challenge workers to not simply rely on automated systems, but to encourage skilled tradesmen to draw upon their knowledge and make decisions on the job.
Indoor Air Quality
This approach working with people, buildings and technology at Birmingham City University, has also led to research on indoor air quality and overheating in houses. Surprisingly as we make our homes more energy efficient we are also in danger of making them have poorer environments through increasing allergens, toxic chemicals and dehydration. All the factors interact making it extremely complex and difficult for designers to intervene appropriately. Certainly digital modelling can help but at the moment we need a lot more data from houses. The understanding delivered for this work demonstrates great business opportunities for building developers and product suppliers to make a positive contribution to our living environment.
Interested in driving your digital construction strategy forward?
Did you know that your business can benefit from Birmingham City University’s considerable experience and strong industry connections to enhance or challenge existing practices? I’d love to hear from any businesses in the construction industry or with a digital background that are interested in collaborating on an innovative research project to drive real-world business change.
