In its report released last December, international law firm Dentons examined the potential of AI adoption within various construction industry processes.
Among Dentons’ observations were that AI analytics trained on specialist architectural and engineering datasets could create better informed designs using sophisticated 3D modelling capabilities, while autonomous machines could improve site monitoring and safety. Other AI benefits included reduced construction site thefts and improved transparency to mitigate disputes concerning the performance of building materials.
In its conclusion, Dentons suggests while overall assumptions are difficult, “it is generally assumed that generative AI will have the greatest impact in ‘desk-based’ roles such as architecture and engineering.”
Writing for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, senior director for research Nora Wang Esram describes how research conducted at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates AI could help reduce energy consumption and building emissions by up to 19 per cent. It can do so by enhancing building operations, automating and optimizing architectural design processes and improving the efficiency of energy audits.
Importantly, the matter of using robotics to minimize construction waste was mentioned.
Catherine De Wolf, assistant professor of circular engineering for architecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, is looking into ways for AI to integrate into waste management from building demolitions.
De Wolf says approximately 50 per cent of the materials consumed globally goes into buildings. At the back end, this accounts for about a third of all waste worldwide. She says environmentalists are largely ignoring building material reuse as a way to cut carbon emissions due to the difficulty of making changes within the construction industry.
In a recent MIT interview, De Wolf explained she is attempting to employ AI and other technological innovations to take stock of building infrastructure and match new construction with materials from structures being demolished.
In a manner reminiscent of the “Material Passport” circularity discussion outlined in an earlier Inside Innovation column, De Wolf describes her idea as a type of dating app, “a Tinder for reuse.”
“Only it’s a bit more complex than that,” she explains, “because Tinder just matches you with one other date, while this needs to match architects, contractors, material suppliers, engineers, clients and more.”
De Wolf’s lab in Zurich is working on cataloging buildings in various contexts from around the world. Using computer vision and machine learning to analyze buildings through Google Street View images, archival records, public demolition information and auditing data, her lab associates are able to determine the reuse potential of materials within the buildings.
They have also been inventorying materials before a building’s demolition using robots and drones equipped with light detection, then combining that with AI to help architects construct building plans out of a given range of materials available for reuse.
Speed is of the essence, De Wolf says.
“The first thing that needs to happen is to share the right information with the people who need it. To really solve the problem of fragmentation in the industry, we must make the cataloging, reuse and assembly of materials faster and easier than the wrecking ball.”
A more specific area where AI could also be of use is in the reduction of wood waste materials during construction, an important issue as the use of wood and MTC components continues to grow.
Todd Thomas, CEO of climate impact start-up Woodchuck, writes, “wood is one of the most significant components of construction waste, yet it remains one of the least recycled materials.”
Woodchuck was founded with the goal to empower contractors, manufacturers, and biomass energy producers by streamlining wood waste diversion and biomass processing, Thomas said in a news release.
He explained the company’s proprietary AI platform addresses critical waste reduction and sustainability challenges by diverting wood out of waste streams by reducing landfill usage.
This will help produce a consistent reliable source of biomass, crucial to achieving net-zero targets across industries.
John Bleasby is a freelance writer. Send comments and Climate and Construction column ideas to editor@dailycommercialnews.com.
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