, Head of Global Systems at Bryden Wood, has an engaging conversation with the 'Queen of Prefab', Amy Marks, the Vice President of Enterprise Transformation Practice at Autodesk.
These aren’t typically available in our sector so the use of AI in construction has been somewhat limited by that.Examples of AI are often narrowly defined and only really touch a very specific part of the overall process; the part for which large data sets do exist.. ‘Generative design’ means many things, but generally it’s an approach used in the industry to solve complicated problems; you use generative design to create loads of possible solutions or scenarios, from which you choose the best..
The Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) approach that we have in Bryden Wood – which is embedded in Creative Technologies – means that something like generative design can be more powerful, as it can be built around design rules and content that’s inherently more clearly defined..When people in the industry talk about cutting-edge construction technologies, these are usually buzzwords about things that are not widely in use, generally misunderstood and unlikely ever to deliver the advertised benefits – because they’re not appropriate solutions and our industry is too far from ready.It’s good that people talk about construction tech – that creates an environment broadly open to tech – but that’s not the same as being able to actually use it..
In our team, we only ever apply technology when it is appropriate to the problem at hand.We have never, for example, had to use a Machine Learning solution, because we’ve never had a problem that it’s been the right technology for..
Nor do we think that the future of robotics in construction is in building robots to do jobs that we, or they, shouldn’t be doing in the first place.
Technology is not fairy dust that you sprinkle onto a problem to sort it out.The development of localisation and local code compliance for standardised design is a key USP but a balance must be struck between standardisation, localisation, and the ability to pivot towards rapidly evolving technology and tenant demands.. What are the problems that need to be solved?.
The programme for delivering a new data centre is three to five years.Within this period a great deal of the time is taken in permitting processes and getting power to the site..
Different countries and regions have different regulations and bureaucracies.One of the reasons why there’s a big focus on projects in the US (other than technology development) is the relative lightness of the permitting and approval process.