Industrialised, Integrated, Intelligent sustainable Construction - I3con

SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION HANDBOOK 2
82
• A complete methodology for procurement and collaboration of all stakeholders in building, as
well as a description of all relevant corresponding influence factors and the development of
relevant selection criteria.
• A complete methodology for risk management, with a clear distinction between strategic,
tactical and operational risk management.
• A conceptual contract matrix from which options can be chosen to enable dynamic interaction
between different parties, with contrasting interests, to achieve a common goal, in order to
increase benefit (the difference between value and costs).
The main themes for construction innovation that we have identified are discussed below.
Dynamic Control of Projects
Traditional construction projects rely on contracts based on the lowest price. The control of such
projects is usually very static; requirements and constraints are fixed, the price is fixed, etc. These
fixations become problematic when unexpected complications occur - or opportunities. In our view
construction projects can greatly benefit from what we call dynamic control of projects.
Dynamic controlled projects are those in which parameters such as price and quality are not fixed.
When something unexpected happens, the project participants can negotiate and decide how to
proceed. For example, if a significantly better quality can be achieved with a small financial
investment, then this can be agreed upon without renewal of all the contracts.
Supply-Driven Construction Processes
In traditional building projects the project specification is fully determined by the client. Clients
prepare a detailed design of what they want themselves, or hire a designer to do so. The supplier starts
his work with a detailed design and works from there. This means that suppliers of traditional projects
must be prepared to deal with all sorts of design proposals, and with all kinds of building methods.
This traditional way of working can be called a “client-driven” building process.
In a supply-driven construction process, the roles of client and supplier are quite different. In such
processes, the supplier is in fact the leading participant: the supplier develops a design based on his
own building system, which consists of a limited set of standard parts and connections. The client
only specifies in global terms what he wants, and approves or disapproves the result developed by the
supplier.
Such a process is to a large extend comparable with how the car industry works: client goes to
supplier, supplier shows product catalogue, client specifies in global terms, supplier develops a
proposal, client gives his approval and production and delivery processes get started (Nederveen &
Gielingh, 2008).
Industrial Building Enabled by Parametric Design
This theme is closely related to the previous one. In fact, parametric design is the key enabling
technology for supply-driven construction processes. A parametric design system for construction can
consist of standard parts and connections of the building system, as well as design and construction
knowledge associated with the parts and connections. In this way it is also possible to gain insight in
the consequences of the design proposal in a very short time, in terms of production and maintenance
cost, but also in terms of environment impact etc.
Furthermore, a significant advantage is the possibility of controlled industrial construction process,
with potentially a much higher degree of precision, performance predictability and lower number of
construction failures.