CU1703

EVENTpreview
A seismic upheaval
David Chadwick considers the role of information in a future society and its relevance to the
building model, and looks ahead to the CAD User COBie Seminar in May
How many Internet connected
devices do you currently use?
That's quite apart from your home
computer and smartphones. Perhaps you
have had a smart meter installed to record
your electricity usage in real time, or you
have smart controls to turn lights on and
off while you're away from home, or
control burglar alarms and CCTV. If you
upgraded your car recently, you will have
anything up to full Wi-Fi capabilities so that
the kids can Google or play games while
you drive. You might even be thinking
about installing a smart fridge that will
reorder essentials when you get a bit low.
This article isn't about the perils of being
hacked - although that becomes a distinct
possibility when each new device comes
with a unique access code - but rather the
way the in which the information that
underpins the Internet of Things is going
to change the way we live, work and
breathe, a seismic upheaval that will
eclipse the replacement of the horse with
the car.
The attachment of information to a
building model provides more than a
means of sharing building models with
fellow project members and with those
responsible for maintaining the building
after it has been erected. It places it within
a context that can be used for many other
purposes. The information that is supplied
with the Building Information Model will, in
future, be used for more than just
providing details of how to service, fix or
replace a building's central heating
system. It will incorporate multiple sensors
that will record all consumable items used
within a building unit for either analysis or
billing purposes. We are halfway there on
that already.
With links to other government
departments, local authorities will have
access to occupancy levels of houses and
apartments, and will be able to analyse
and predict such levels and equate it to
the building's dimensions, assisting them
in planning the local infrastructure, vehicle
access (if we are still allowed to drive our
own cars in the future) and the provision of
schools, local shops, health facilities and
other public amenities.
Fanciful nonsense you might think, but
it's already in progress in some forwardthinking
cities. Helsinki 3D, for example, is
a 3D model of the entire city that does
indeed match housing units with
occupancy numbers. Singapore, as you
would expect, is also aiming to become
the world's first 'Smart City'.
INFORMATION IN THE BUILDING
MODEL
The information that underpins the Smart
City is not there merely to promote the
technical efficiency of those forward
thinking communities, but to enable them
to cope with the other pressing demands
that will dominate the planet throughout
the remainder of this century - and more
than likely into the next as well, if we
haven't cracked the problem by 2099!
The most urgent of these issues are
increasing urbanisation as fast growing
populations migrate to the cities, and
the declining of the Earth's resources.
Increased populations in limited space
increases the density of housing
occupancy, pressurises private and
public transport systems, and raises
problems with the supply and removal
of the necessities of life - food and
human waste.
Any government faced with these issues
will want to keep tabs on and leverage the
information available within Smart
communities, and, 'in extremis', legislate to
control excesses or wastage in any area.
That is already happening as well, with
excess charges being levied on users who
put out overfull bins, or need to dispose of
building rubble at the local tip.
COBIE OR NOT COBIE?
Perhaps you were thinking that BIM could
pass you by, as you only build single
housing units, and at most a small terrace
of houses or block of flats? You might
have to produce an Energy Certificate
when the building is sold, but that can be
achieved without all this rigmarole of
providing a full 3D model with building
materials and components specified
together with their performance
capabilities and lifetime energy usage
costs. Well think again!
It might take some time for rural
18
March/April 2017