Architecture, Engineering, Construction And Facility Management Research Articles

Integration of Industry Foundation Classes and Ontology: Data, Applications, Modes, Challenges, and Opportunities

Industry Foundation Classes (IFCs), as the most recognized data schema for Building Information Modeling (BIM), are increasingly combined with ontology to facilitate data interoperability across the whole lifecycle in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Facility Management (AEC/FM). This paper conducts a bibliometric analysis of 122 papers from the perspective of data, model, and application to summarize the modes of IFC and ontology integration (IFCOI). This paper first analyzes the data and models of the integration from IFC data formats and ontology development models to the IfcOWL data model. Next, the application status is summed up from objective and phase dimensions, and four frequent applications with maturity are identified. Based on the aforementioned multi-dimensional analysis, three integration modes are summarized, taking into account various data interoperability requirements. Accordingly, ontology behaves as the representation of domain knowledge, an enrichment tool for IFC model semantics, and a linkage between IFC data and other heterogeneous data. Finally, this paper points out the challenges and opportunities for IFCOI in the data, domain ontology, and integration process and proposes a building lifecycle management model based on IFCOI.

Assessment of the challenges influencing the adoption of smart building technologies

Introduction: Over the past few decades, there has been an increasing focus on Smart Building Projects (SBP) and the technologies associated with them. Numerous studies have been conducted globally to define smart building technologies (SBT), identify challenges, and explore areas for improvement. This study aims to examine the concept and terminology of SBT and the expertise and experience of participants in SBP in the Arab Gulf countries, specifically Saudi Arabia. The study also investigates the challenges faced by SBT throughout its life cycle.Methods: To identify and assess the challenges affecting the adoption of smart building technologies. This approach included a literature review, pilot-testing, and a questionnaire survey. The survey targeted a sample of 90 architects/engineers, managers, and contractors.Results: A total of 55 challenges were identified and categorized into four groups, corresponding to the key phases of the project life cycle. These phases include the programming and feasibility analysis phase, design phase, installation and commissioning phase, and operation and maintenance phase. The findings of this research expand the body of knowledge by providing architects/engineers, managers, and contractors in the architecture, engineering, construction, and facility management (AEC/FM) industry with insights into the influential challenges related to the adoption of SBT. In conclusion, this study sheds light on the concept and terminology of smart building technologies and explores the challenges faced by SBT during its life cycle. By identifying and categorizing these challenges, the study provides valuable information to AEC/FM practitioners, enabling them to overcome obstacles and improve the adoption of SBT.

Critical Factors for Effective BIM-Enabled Education: An Adaptive Structuration Theory Perspective

Educational systems of the 21st century require agility and flexibility for construction graduates to have the skills, knowledge, and abilities required for effective performance in the construction industry, especially with the global digitalization of the industry. With reference to adaptive structuration theory (AST) as a theoretical lens and a survey research design, this research examined the relationship between building information modeling (BIM) as an advanced information technology and educators’ attitudes toward implementing BIM for construction education to prepare local graduates for global relevance and employment. Data collected were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS Ver 25). The findings of the study showed that group internal system, structure of BIM, and task and organizational environment play important roles in implementing BIM for construction education in the architecture, engineering, construction, and facilities management (AEC/FM) disciplines. It was recommended that policymakers, academics, and curriculum developers pay attention to these factors for rapid development in the realm of BIM education. The development of a robust BIM education framework that considers these factors should also be studied.

Geometry and Topology Reconstruction of BIM Wall Objects from Photogrammetric Meshes and Laser Point Clouds

As the foundation for digitalization, building information modeling (BIM) technology has been widely used in the field of architecture, engineering, construction, and facility management (AEC/FM). Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) oblique photogrammetry and laser scanning have become increasingly popular data acquisition techniques for surveying buildings and providing original data for BIM modeling. However, the geometric and topological reconstruction of solid walls, which are among the most important architectural structures in BIM, is still a challenging undertaking. Due to noise and missing data in 3D point clouds, current research mostly focuses on segmenting wall planar surfaces from unstructured 3D point clouds and fitting the plane parameters without considering the thickness or 3D shape of the wall. Point clouds acquired only from the indoor space are insufficient for modeling exterior walls. It is also important to maintain the topological relationships between wall objects to meet the needs of complex BIM modeling. Therefore, in this study, a geometry and topology modeling method is proposed for solid walls in BIM based on photogrammetric meshes and laser point clouds. The method uses a kinetic space-partitioning algorithm to generate the building footprint and indoor floor plan. It classifies interior and exterior wall segments and infers parallel line segments to extract wall centerlines. The topological relationships are reconstructed and maintained to build wall objects with consistency. Experimental results on two datasets, including both photogrammetric meshes and indoor laser point clouds, exhibit more than 90% completeness and correctness, as well as centimeter-level accuracy of the wall surfaces.

Digital Tools for Revealing and Reducing Carbon Footprint in Infrastructure, Building, and City Scopes

The climate change issue has been striking and bringing pressure on all countries and industries. The responsibility of the Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Facility Management (AEC/FM) industry is heavy because it accounts for over one-third of global energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, the development of digital technology brings the opportunity to mitigate environmental issues. Therefore, this study intended to examine the state-of-the-art of digital development and transformation in the AEC/FM industry by collecting and reviewing the developed digital carbon footprint analysis tools in infrastructure, building, and city scopes. Specifically, this study (1) generated a review methodology for carbon footprint analysis results; (2) demonstrated the review results from the infrastructure, building, and city scopes, analysed and compared the results crossing the scopes from four aspects: carbon footprint analysis strategy, standards and protocols, rating systems, and general development level of digital tools; and (3) discussed the potential directions in the industry to address the environmental issues. This study indicated that the digitalisation level regarding carbon-related areas is still at an early stage, and efforts should be taken both academically and practically to drive the digital development confronting the harsh climate change issue.

Process View to Innovate the Management of the Social Housing System: A Multiple Case Study

All countries recognize the right to adequate housing for all human beings. Yet, in many countries, social housing is in a critical state: most buildings need to be restored and better services should be guaranteed. Such actions should be part of a larger plan aimed to overcome the organizational and technological backwardness of the agencies that manage the social housing system. With a not large, but old public asset, the Italian context may represent an interesting case to start investigating difficulties and problems in the management of the social housing system that, as it occurs in most Mediterranean countries, arise when the public housing rental model is adopted. In the paper, a multiple case study on five Italian regional public Agencies responsible for the social housing system is discussed. In particular, the theoretical lens of process theory and ambidextrous business process management are adopted to study the Agencies’ “problematic situation” and identify innovative solutions to address it. The paper contributes to research and practice on process innovation and digital transformation of public administrations: three important lessons are derived and discussed also taking into consideration Industry 5.0, the vision on the future of industry recently proposed by the European Commission. Finally, the adoption of process theory combined with ambidextrous Business Process Management is an underexplored research method in the field of Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Facility Management (AEC/FM) research. The results reported in the study reaffirm the potential deriving from its adoption also in such a field.

A Review of the Digital Twin Technology in the AEC-FM Industry

The Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Facility Management (AEC-FM) industry is increasingly affected by digital technologies that monitor sensor network data and control automation systems. Advances in digital technologies like Digital Twin offer a high-level representation of buildings and their assets by integrating the physical and digital world. This paper examines patterns, gaps, and trends in the AEC-FM sector and contributes to digitalization and automation solutions for building management. This work covers a broad range of research topics, from intelligent information management of complex models to building information management and the interaction of building systems, where researchers are increasingly interested in using the Digital Twin to manage their information and in developing new research lines focused on data interchange and the interoperability of building information modeling (BIM) and facility management (FM). After a complete bibliometric search of several databases and following selection criteria, 77 academic publications about the Digital Twin application in the AEC-FM industry were labeled and clustered accordingly. This study analyzed in detail the concept of key technologies, including “Digital Twin in Facility Lifecycle Management,” “Digital Twin-Information Integration Standards,” “Digital Twin-Based Occupants Centric Building Design,” “Digital Twin-Based Predictive Maintenance,” “Semantic Digital Twin for Facility Maintenance,” and “Digital Twin-Based Human Knowledge.” The findings show that information standardization is the first major hurdle that must be overcome before the actual use of Digital Twin can be realized in the AEC-FM industry. Based on that, this paper provides a conceptual framework of Digital Twin for building management as a starting point for future research.

A Foreword from the Editor

Low-carbon and intelligent construction are two of the current research hot spots in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Facilities Management (AEC/FM) field. Green building, smart city, AI, BIM, and sustainable development have become high-frequency words in the field[1]. The lack of the adoption of digital technologies (e.g., BIM, AI, digital twin) will lead to project delays, cost inefficiencies, poor quality, and tedious management[2]. Emerging innovations of those digital technologies are bringing a new evolutionary process of engineering applications towards more sustainable and intelligent development[3-4]. In October 2021, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC) release the heavyweight report Global Status Report on the Building and Construction Industry 2021[1]. The report states that since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015, CO2 emissions from the buildings and construction sector have peaked in recent years and subsequently fallen to 2007 levels in 2020. This current decline is due mostly to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, this decline appears to be temporary as emissions pick up again with increasing economic activity. Whereas transformative, long-term progress in sector decarbonizing remains limited[1]. To achieve the Paris Agreement, the global buildings and construction sector must almost completely decarbonize by 2050. Collectively, stakeholders in the sector must seize the opportunity that the COVID-19 economic recovery period offers to foster transformation for decarbonizing the sector. The sector must simultaneously meet a projected near-doubling of global demand for energy services in buildings and at least a doubling of floor space as developing economies continue to respond to the growing demand for building floor space, access to energy services and economic activities. Therefore, to meet the future needs and developments of this fast-growing field, a brand-new journal, Journal of Building Design and Environment (JBDE) has been launched. JBDE is a semi-annual, double-blind peer reviewed, open access journal, dedicated to publishing original research articles/reviews—amongst other submission categories—on the research and application of sustainability and intelligence in the field of construction engineering and design. The scope of JBDE covers (but is not limited to) the following: Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Building and Structural Design Construction Materials Built Environment Construction Engineering and Management Computer Aided-Design and Simulation Energy and Buildings Sustainable Development Urban Planningand Resilience Architectural Aesthetics and Townscape To further encourage research in this area, our publisher, Omniscient Pte. Ltd. has decided to waive article processing charge for the first two issues of the journal’s first volume. Therefore, we strongly welcome all who are interested in building design and environment research to join us authors, reviewers or editorial board members. It is the hope of the entire editorial team of JBDE that this journal will fulfil the needs of those specialising in building design and facilitate discourses and advances in the field.

SeeCarbon: a review of digital approaches for revealing and reducing infrastructure, building and City's carbon footprint

Dealing with climate change and its consequences on the environment have been one of the biggest challenges nowadays, where reducing the carbon footprint has been the focus of most sustainable strategies. The infrastructure is the dominant sector responsible for the total carbon footprint, accounting for approximately 70% of global carbon emissions. This study aims to illustrate the state-of-the-art of digital development and transformation of revealing and reducing carbon footprint in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Facility Management (AEC/FM) sectors. The digital tools for revealing and reducing infrastructure's carbon footprint would be summarized and also compared with other sectors, namely the tools for building and city. Current challenges and future development are also included.

Building information modelling (BIM) – enabled construction education: teaching project cash flow concepts

This research explores the practical feasibility and effectiveness of BIM-enabled education in teaching the topic of project cash flows to construction management students. Using a participatory action research methodology, a BIM-enabled cash flow exercise was developed, carried out and refined in a construction investment course to simulate integrated practice. The results of the implementation demonstrate that BIM-enabled education can promote and infuse both BIM collaboration and professional practice experiences within an architecture, engineering, construction, and facilities management (AEC-FM) curriculum. Additionally, the teaching practice and method in this intervention demonstrate the capability to accommodate all levels of knowledge in Bloom’s taxonomy which is a standard requirement for educational module design. This study recommends that BIM-enabled education be embraced and explored by faculties in AEC-FM courses to improve teaching and learning of construction management concepts.

AUTOMATIC SEGMENTATION OF POINT CLOUDS IN THE ARCHITECTURE ENVIRONMENT

Abstract. Correct and reliable identification and classification of different structures and infrastructures that make up a city (e.g. residential buildings, school buildings, hospitals, power stations, routes of communication, etc.) are of great importance for the AEC/FM (Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Facilities Management) domain and for seismic risk assessments, among others. For decades, the method of collecting buildings information has been through field campaigns. This practice requires significant resources in terms of qualified engineers or architects to identify the geometry of the different elements that constitute the structure, building materials and construction processes. Nowadays, there are different geospatial techniques that allow data acquisition on a massive scale in a short period of time. In particular, by means of laser measurements, it is possible to have clouds of millions of points with geometric and radiometric information in a matter of seconds. In this article, we present ABM-indoor, a LIDAR-based approach that automatically provides a three-dimensional models of buildings in vector format. Models include floors, ceilings, walls (up to five dominant directions), columns, elements located on floors and elements hanging from ceilings. Efforts are underway to transfer this model to a Building Information Model (BIM).

Investigation of AEC/FM practices in adaptive reuse projects

PurposeThis paper investigates the current practices of adaptive reuse projects, within the context of architecture, engineering, construction and facilities management (ACE/FM) industries.Design/methodology/approachA mixed research methodology, combining qualitative and quantitative techniques, was followed. Literature review was performed to comprehend various aspects pertaining to building adaptive reuse. Three questionnaire surveys were administered on 90 AEC/FM practitioners, to investigate the current practices of adaptive reuse projects in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire surveys were directed to 30 architects/engineers (A/Es), 30 contractors and 30 facilities managers, respectively, through face-to-face interviews. The qualitative and quantitative findings of each questionnaire survey were analyzed. Recommendations were proposed for each of the professional domains, to enhance the overall AEC/FM performance in future adaptive reuse projects.FindingsThe findings pointed out the necessity of accurately planning and designing the adaptive reuse in accordance with the spatial, technical, legislative, economic and functional considerations. The findings revealed the significance of contractors' role in conducting effective supervision over the managerial and technical processes during the implementation of the change of use. It also indicated the importance of the facilities managers' role in performing all daily operational activities, to maintain satisfactory performance of the adaptively reused buildings.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the relevant literature to the building adaptation, through investigating the perspectives of AEC/FM practitioners on adaptive reuse projects. The findings would enable AEC/FM practitioners to improve their professional practices in future adaptive reuse projects, in an integrated manner.

Automatic segmentation and classification of BIM elements from point clouds

Laser techniques are widely used to perform topographic building surveys by providing massive information and point clouds comprised of millions of points in seconds. Point clouds allow the creation of 3D models that represent information of significant importance to the AEC/FM (Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Facilities Management) domain. However, few tools exist related to the automatic modelling of point clouds. We present a method to automatically segment, classify, and model point clouds that were tested with two point clouds acquired via static and dynamic laser techniques. This approach generated accurate 3D surfaces of building elements, including floors, ceilings, walls columns, and content. A future study will involve transferring the 3D surfaces into Building Information Model elements.

An XML-based approach for geo-semantic data exchange from BIM to VR applications

Virtual Reality (VR) and Building Information Modelling (BIM) have been steadily growing over the past decade and found practical applications in project planning, design review and construction planning analysis particularly in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Facility Management (AEC/FM) industry. However, data exchange between BIM and VR is a complex and time consuming process, which has limited VR applications in practice. To address this challenge, this research proposes a novel method that enables an efficient interoperability of BIM and VR including geometry of each element along with required semantic data of the BIM model. In this method, geometry and semantic data are extracted from BIM models through an Extensible Markup Language (XML) file, which is then optimized to be efficiently imported and recreated into the VR environment. The backward communication is performed by converting XML file to IFC, which is then imported to the BIM application. A prototype was developed to implement the proposed methodology. A building case study was used to demonstrate the capability of the method including considerably short transfer time, high quality rendering and geo-semantic data exchange for design and construction. These capabilities promote VR applications in the AEC/FM industry as the required information for design and construction plan review including Architectural parameter (e.g., material, texture and dimensions), Engineering parameters (e.g., loads, R-Value), cost, schedule and clashes can be exchanged between BIM and VR in near real time.

Review and assessment of factors affecting adaptive reuse of commercial projects in Saudi Arabia

PurposeThis paper intends to review and assess the factors influencing adaptive reuse of commercial projects, throughout their life cycle, in Saudi Arabia.Design/methodology/approachA mixed approach of literature review, pilot-testing and questionnaire survey was utilized to identify and assess the factors affecting adaptive reuse of commercial projects. Thirty-eight factors were identified and categorized under four groups, corresponding to the key phases of the project life cycle. The questionnaire survey was administered to a targeted group of 90 architecture/engineering, construction and facilities management (AEC/FM) practitioners of building adaptive reuse, in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The relative importance index (RII) for each factor was calculated. Three levels of agreement, based on the ranking of the factors, among the respondents were determined.FindingsThe most important factors affecting adaptive reuse of commercial projects are: structural integrity of the building, municipal approval for the land use change, enforcement of safety procedures at the project site, compliance with health and safety measures and accuracy and completeness of the contract documents. A high level of agreement was observed among the three groups of respondents, on the ranking of the factors.Originality/valueThis research expands the body of knowledge, through providing AEC/FM practitioners, with the type, importance and ranking of the influential factors on adaptive reuse of commercial projects, throughout their life cycle.

A study of Building Information Modeling (BIM) uptake and proposed evaluation framework

Although BIM provides various benefits to the architecture, engineering, construction and facilities management (AEC/FM) industries, it lacks wider and comprehensive utilisation. This study assesses the understanding and perception of BIM uptake in UK architectural offices. The aim is to analyse and compare BIM adoption at the organisational level for the years 2011, 2014 and 2018 as well as to form the basis for an evaluation structure of its utilisation. The objectives of the study are to examine the level of BIM adoption and capability of UK architectural offices and to investigate the drivers and barriers to BIM usage. The research is based on online questionnaires made available to all Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) chartered members. The data are analysed through descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA), regression and cross-tabulation. The results are discussed in terms of BIM usage and BIM readiness with regard to the company profiles. Companies are motivated to utilise BIM technology due to its facilitation of effective teamwork and project efficiency. However, the need for extensive training, a general lack of demand and its perceived sophistication in relation to day-to-day tasks are reasons why the use of BIM is avoided. The study concludes with key learning points from the questionnaire depending on three different years and the proposed evaluation framework to achieve improved utilisation of BIM.

Rules and validation processes for interoperable BIM data exchange

Abstract Diverse industries have recognized the significance of a neutral data standard for seamless building information modeling (BIM) data exchanges and adopted commonly agreed schemes such as the industry foundation classes (IFC) schema for enhancing BIM data interoperability. To selectively employ domain-specific data exchange requirements, the AEC-FM (the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Facility Management) industries have developed their own schema with a subset of the IFC schema, named a model view definition (MVD). However, because of latent human errors, inadequate MVD definitions, and error-prone data mapping problems, the adoption of IFC for exchanging and sharing BIM data is frequently limited with severe data integrity issues. This challenging situation requires the detailed examination of the limitations of the heterogeneous IFC translation processes of the current BIM authoring and application tools. To accomplish this objective, the authors thoroughly investigated the two MVDs, the Coordination View Version 2.0 and the Construction Operations Building Information Exchange, broadly used as an international standard for developing the IFC translation processes, and then identified their intrinsic requirements/rules and developed rule-based data validation processes. These new intrinsic knowledge of the two MVD specifications will be fundamental foundations to create coherent BIM data exchange systems that are currently scattered and dispersed in heterogeneous IFC translation processes and structures. Newly revealed rules pertaining to these two MVDs have been executed with IfcDoc, which is the IFC documentation tool. This BIM data validation process is expected to not only accurately evaluate the translation processes between BIM native data and IFC ones but also help industry professionals ensure the integrity and the accuracy of their BIM data according to the BIM data exchange standards using the two MVDs. In addition, the outcomes of this research study are expected to bolster the interoperable BIM adoption and offer the values of greater consistency of BIM data exchange.

Removal of occluding construction workers in job site image data using U-Net based context encoders

In the field of Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Facility Management (AEC/FM), job site surveying is critical for tasks such as construction progress monitoring and quality assurance and quality control. Moving obstacles often occlude the sight of view, and sometimes block the view of interest. However, images are often collected for documentation and analysis of the building under construction or operation. The occluding objects, such as the construction workers, compromise the collected image data. On the other hand, the capability of the Context Encoders model took the pioneering step providing the opportunity of image inpainting. This research applies Context Encoders to remove redundant objects in images and inpaints the background context. The original Context Encoders model, a deep learning model, requires a large training dataset for a decent image inpainting. In the model, the region in need of context inpainting is constrained to be a predefined area, fixed in size and position in the image. In this work, we adapted a deep learning architecture, U-Net, for a direct image-to-image translation for context inpainting, and thus relaxing the fixed size and position constraints in the original Context Encoders model. Simultaneously in a single framework, the proposed model not only erases redundant objects but also inpaints the missing content in the pixel scale, based on surrounding semantic clues. Employing the U-Net yields encouraging results for cases in operating buildings and those under construction.

Digital twin-enabled anomaly detection for built asset monitoring in operation and maintenance

Effective asset management plays a significant role in delivering the functionality and serviceability of buildings. However, there is a lack of efficient strategies and comprehensive approaches for managing assets and their associated data that can help to monitor, detect, record, and communicate operation and maintenance (O&M) issues. With the importance of Digital Twin (DT) concepts being proven in the architecture, engineering, construction and facility management (AEC/FM) sectors, a DT-enabled anomaly detection system for asset monitoring and its data integration method based on extended industry foundation classes (IFC) in daily O&M management are provided in this study. This paper presents a novel IFC-based data structure, using which a set of monitoring data that carries diagnostic information on the operational condition of assets is extracted from building DTs. Considering that assets run under changing loads determined by human demands, a Bayesian change point detection methodology that handles the contextual features of operational data is adopted to identify and filter contextual anomalies through cross-referencing with external operation information. Using the centrifugal pumps in the heating, ventilation and air-cooling (HVAC) system as a case study, the results indicate and prove that the novel DT-based anomaly detection process flow realizes a continuous anomaly detection of pumps, which contributes to efficient and automated asset monitoring in O&M.

A design review session protocol for the implementation of immersive virtual reality in usability-focused analysis

Research and applications related to Virtual Reality (VR) in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Facility Management (AEC/FM) industry are steadily increasing, being considered as one of the current trends in digital innovation. A convergence is currently on-going between Building Information Modelling (BIM), VR implementation and the soft landings principles, which highlight the need for a smooth transition from design to operation through the early involvement of clients and end-users. In particular, immersive virtual environments could allow stakeholders to experience the full-scale representation of a virtual facility prototype in an intuitive and engaging manner through immersion and sense of presence, promoting feedback collection during usability-focused design review meetings. On the other hand, despite the renewed interest in immersive VR, both technological and procedural challenges to its effective implementation still exist. The latter are within the scope of this study, which aims to address them in a systematic way as a comprehensive guideline for clients and design teams. This study describes the development of a VR-aided usability-focused design review session protocol for implementing immersive VR when clients and end-users are involved in design review meetings. It is the result of an inductive approach associated with qualitative research methods for data collection and data analysis. A case study has been selected as a main research method for facing the first step into the research problem. A further iteration of data collection and analysis was adopted to guarantee the validity of the research, including talks with experts and literature comparison. Finally, the session protocol has been developed in the form of a process map representing all the necessary phases and activities to consider for the effective adoption of immersive VR to evaluate design intents with clients and end-users. As a comprehensive summary, the session protocol fills a gap in the research on the adoption of virtual reality in the AEC industry, which was lacking a prescriptive and structured process to drive the effective use of this technology in collaborative meetings and decision-making processes.