Green Building 2021 and beyond

BY TERRY BEAUBOIS

The new year is a good time to take a look at the direction of Architecture and Green Building as we move forward into 2021 in a world that is not the same as past years.

The recent months, during the Covid pandemic, have been challenging for families and businesses all across the U.S. In some areas it may continue to change some businesses for ever. The Covid pandemic is not resolved or over yet. 

While it may be affecting various areas of the U.S. and other nations differently, and affecting various businesses differently, the Covid pandemic has had a considerable effect on the AEC industry and the Green Building Industry. 

Economic changes

As we all know, the pandemic has had significant effects on the U.S. economy. Some areas of the Building Industry are projected to continue to be effected more than others. Recent reports show that many restaurant businesses are among the most severely impacted businesses and having to adapt to delivering meals or creating “streeteries” so customers can eat outside. Office buildings use have been significantly reduced and some office projects have been delayed. Major companies have already announced that their employees will continue to work from home well into 2021.  

Working From Home (WFH) has significantly increased and while opinions differ, some economist see continued strength in the residential market for 2021 for additions, remodeling and new home construction to reflect current trends in people making their home environments more suitable for working, studying and living with everyone more frequently at home.

Lifestyle and design changes

The pandemic shutdowns have certainly created a significant increase in people working at home and more students studying at home. This has heightened the awareness and interest in residential building and design solutions that are different than in previous years. These may result in design changes and increased use of technology to reflect some of the limitations that the pandemic has brought to light — including changes in business practices, such as businesses requiring their employees to work remotely. Also, many people now have a significantly increased interest in health-related issues in the home, due to the Covid pandemic.

The increase in the use of online conferencing technologies for working and meeting from home is significant.. It has become quite common now, for people in the building industry to meet with clients and business associates to discuss projects and even building designs online and from our homes.  

One example of this is the recent conversation I had with a couple who want to build a new house. “We both are working at home now and we like it, but we each need to have our own offices in our new home”. This is one example of how the design of some homes are and will be changing. 

Increased awareness of health as it relates tp Green Building design has people asking “We’re concerned about air quality, allergies, and outdoor air pollution. What kind of air filtering systems are available for our new home to protect our health?” … is another question I’m now asked. Another area is technology — “how can I make our home function well technologically, with adults working from home and our children studying at home?”

From homes to public buildings, new designs are being considered and existing building designs are being reconsidered. An interesting example is a design firm that has a specialty of designing Children’s museums. They are currently studying how to redesign many of their existing projects, as well as how they would design new museums. A building like a Children’s Museum, where everyone has been encouraged to touch many things and pushing many buttons are now being reimagined and redesigned with considerable thought for the increased health and safety of the many children, adults, and older adults who visit these museums with their families. This includes having the exits separated from the entrances so that visitors have reduced exposure to others. Building design issues such as these are currently being considered in all building types, from homes to office buildings.

Technology changes

The awareness and use of technology in the AEC is definitely increasing.  A client recenlty said to me, when I asked about getting site data for their project. “We can get someone to do a drone survey of the property if you like, and provide you with photos, video and topographic data” I was pleased and impressed. During a zoom call with a another client, they gave me a tour of their current house on their cell phone and pointed out what they liked and didn’t like about their existing house. All of this due to advances in technology unheard of a decade ago. And this is all without anyone having to drive to meeting or drive back when it was over, because of the use of online conferencing technology.

AI in the AEC

The idea of AI (Artificial Intelligence) being used in the Building Industry may be new to many of the participants in the AEC and the Green Building Industry, but AI will have far reaching implications in the near term and in the future. I say this because of two reasons. 

First, it is already happening. In doing the researching for a talk I am giving at a conference later this year, “AI in the AEC 2021”, I’m finding numerous examples of where AI is already being used by innovative companies in the AEC to create more efficiencies and effectiveness in some very specific niche areas. I’ll be including more information on this topic in subsequent articles in Green Builder this year. 

And secondly, because it will come to us rather seamlessly on our smart phones we are already using and in much of the software we already use — from spreadsheets to remote site viewing.

The topic of AI in the AEC has been included more in recent and planned conferences

and I’m also seeing the beginning of major industry-wide initiatives in the AEC to connect the separate silos of software used across the AEC with the goal of making it easier for the end-to-end transmission and use of data (both visual and text). This will allow information to flow and be more interoperable between between the design process, the engineering processes, the processes of review and approving proposed buildings, and to be conveyed onsite during construction and to the trades. These are all areas that have functioned quite separately in the past. Increases in efficiency will benefit those incorporating these advances, as they come along.

The kinds of AI I am interested in, is AI that “assists us” in doing our jobs better and more efficiently. The AEC will become more of an AI-assisted Industry, like so many other industries have become in recent decades, and we will each experience the increases in efficiency of our own businesses.

By no means has AI made inroads in every aspect of the AEC yet, but we’re beginning to see some significant “digital transformations” that incorporate AI and which promise to increase the needed improvements and advances in efficiency and effectiveness throughout the AEC and the Green Building industry. 

One example of AI-assisted work in the AEC

Helios Visions partnered with Thornton Tomasetti’s T2D2 to provided Artificial Intelligence-Powered Drone Solution for Facade Inspection and analysis of existing buildings. 

https://rew-online.com/thornton-tomasetti-pushing-ai-to-new-heights/