Buildings significantly contribute to global energy consumption, especially in France and Europe, making their optimization crucial for addressing climate change. Integrating Building Performance Simulations (BPS) with Internet of Things (IoT) systems offers a promising solution for efficient energy management. While IoT systems enable real-time monitoring and control, they often miss complex physical phenomena like thermal dynamics. BPS fills this gap using mathematical models. However, interoperability is essential for effective collaboration. This paper presents the Web of Simulations Ontology (WoSO) to address these challenges, demonstrating its application in a pilot office building in France for the European BuildON project.
The RASE (requirements, applicability, selection and exception) approach has been developed as a means to make regulatory and other text machine-operable whilst remaining human-readable. It has delivered some substantive successes in terms of accuracy, efficiency and completeness. However, the question can be asked as to why there are four labels, and not a larger (or smaller) number. This simple question rises important questions concerning both research methodologies and about learning processes.
A Digital Building LogBook is a practical framework for capturing essential information throughout a building's life cycle. The main purpose of this ongoing research is to identify the main Building LogBook functions and to evaluate the relevance of the current recommended Building LogBook data models in those functions. The results show that the contribution percentage of data models in different functions is low due to the lack of specifying the main requirements of each function. The findings of this research clearly demonstrate that to create a functional Building LogBook data model, determining the key specifications of each function is required.
Scheduling is critical in human-robot collaboration (HRC) in construction, including work-rest scheduling and task sequencing. However, previous research often examines the two scheduling components as distinct optimization problems, neglecting their interdependence. This oversight can lead to ineffective collaboration, resulting in human fatigue and underutilized robotic capabilities. This study presents two-stage methods utilizing a modified genetic algorithm (GA) to optimize HRC scheduling. By addressing the complexities inherent in HRC environments, proposed methods aim to balance safety and productivity in construction tasks. The study also discusses the effects of the order in which scheduling components are optimized on HRC performance.
This study establishes a framework for integrating Ultra-wideband (UWB) sensor data into Building Information Modelling (BIM) systems using Autodesk Revit API (Application Programme Interface) for real-time visualization and tracking of workers. The constructed system enables dynamic monitoring of worker positions in a BIM platform, by leveraging UWB technology and Revit’s extensibility to construct a digital twin environment for construction site evaluations. The research methodology encompasses sensor data acquisition, real-time visualization, and coordinate transformation for accurate tracking. The system was experimentally tested in a controlled environment. The gathered data incorporated into a BIM model demonstrates enhanced tracking accuracy.
The AEC industry generates vast unstructured data,primarily in the form of natural languagecommunications, complicating machine-interpretableinformation retrieval. While the focus of existing researchhas been on transforming unstructured data into structuredforms, few studies address the root causes of unstructureddata generation and the complexity surrounding it.Through semi-structured interviews and thematicanalysis, this study identifies systematic, not technical,issues as primary contributors. It highlights confusion inunderstanding structured data, structured data-sharingprocesses, and BIM’s purpose and definition. The studyemphasizes the need for education on data sciencefoundations and a universally accepted understanding ofBIM.
There is growing interest in Digital Building Logbooks (DBL) and Digital Building Permits (DBP) as these instruments are being positioned as game changers in modern construction. These are data-driven concepts and there is still a research gap and lack of awareness on how to implement them, namely by using existing data sources. Portugal and existing buildings in need of renovation works are used as case, where rReal estate activities with innovative tools are explored and analysed to provide perspectives on how the outputs already align and can be strategically worked to achieve quick wins for DBL deployment and permitting issuance.
This paper explores how model updates can be effectively facilitated for integration into models of foreign disciplines. Graph transformations are used to capture and describe the model changes introduced by one domain. These transformations are then interpreted to suggest appropriate updates for models in other disciplines. Repetitive and predictable model updates can be automated, with the necessary modifications presented to users as actionable alteration proposals. The proposed workflow reduces the burden on model authors by automating tedious yet essential tasks, allowing them to focus on solving complex design coordination challenges.
Mining construction in Chile faces significant productivity challenges, largely due to inefficiencies in equipment operation. Therefore, improving operators training is essential. This paper proposes the use of virtual reality (VR) technology as an innovative training tool for mining construction operators. This approach aims to enhance operator proficiency and ultimately improve productivity in underground mining projects. The proposed VR-enabled training program is implemented in two case studies covering two underground mining construction equipment. The results obtained demonstrated that the proposed program yield positive impacts on operator’s productivity, indicating that VR could be a useful tool for boosting job performance.
