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“Artificial Intelligence, Digitization & BIM Will Redefine Efficiency and Opportunities in the AEC Industry”

By: Nikhil Parasuraman, SE Controls India

Sustainability and sustainable sourcing should be at the top of the minds of everyone in the building industry, from the developers, architects, and consultants to the vendors who support these projects. The project’s key stakeholders along with the vendors will be more conscious and work towards a more sustainable, fire-safe, and eco-friendlier façade and we will get to see products and systems in line with this goal.

We will get to see a more unique approach to architecture which leads to unique façade systems, to which engineers, fabricators and vendors in the industry will need to adapt, bringing new manufacturing techniques, and products to achieve these complex shapes and geometry.

We will also see biomimicry on façades since today we want to be closer to nature, as well as this makes for a standout design. With today’s architecture of having generic box-type glass buildings without an identity, I feel we will get to see façades that more represent a region, a feeling or a vibe of the locality.

FAÇADE & FENESTRATION MATERIALS – 2050

We will see more timber coming in, with more use of recycled aluminium. Generation of energy using different methods can be researched and implemented as this energy can be used to run certain building services, since these days, the goal is achieving Net Zero, or as close to it as possible. We will certainly see more green products with eco-labels going onto façade structures, as these products have been tested and certified eco-friendly with a cradle-to-cradle approach. With climate change taking over the way we live, we will see glass façade specifications change to meet this demand of extreme climatic conditions. And with unprecedented rains, storms, cyclones, and microbursts, we will require high-performance façade systems with the best possible water and air integrity to support this.

FAÇADE TECHNOLOGIES

Artificial Intelligence will be coming in a big way here, and one way I see is robots installing unitized panels, with which we can see buildings being at a much quicker rate with more efficiency. AI as a tool is already being used to design buildings as we speak today.

With Digitization being spoken largely today in our building industry, we will see things like the Golden Thread concept coming in, where each decision can be mapped back to its origin, this will give us a new level of transparency, and traceability with accountability for the end user and developer.

Our building industry today is already talking a lot about wastage from construction, and we will need to focus on designing with the least waste and how that waste can be reused or recycled either within that building or some other way. The industry is already focused on developing BIM models of buildings at present and we are reaching a stage where multiple services can be rendered into these BIM models, like facades, services, MEP, fire, plumbing, and parking, including cost estimates. This will help in engineering a more efficient design, with close to 100% accuracy in built drawings.