The Digital Engineering Day of FCP.VCE on 7 November 2023 with a record of 200 participants in Kuppelsaal of the Vienna University of Technology focused on the future of construction. Under the motto “Just do it digital” it was impressively shown by means of practical examples how companies can take a leading role in the building industry thanks to digitization and the application of artificial intelligence, automation and laser scanning.
We have summarized the insights of the Digital Engineering Day 2023 in 5 theses on the digitization of the building industry:
1. Data is the new oil
This frequently mentioned quotation was taken up by Jens Hoffmann, central division manager of innovation & digitization with Strabag, in his keynote address in the context of big data and machine learning. He is convinced that companies using data effectively have a considerable competitive advantage and high-quality data further push sustainability in the construction trade. Although AI offers many chances, can help to optimize and automate processes and take over repetitive tasks, the human-being must still remain in the centre.
2. The digital twin is living
In his lecture Georg Köck of Leyrer + Graf describes which data are required when and from whom and how the digital workflow simplifies cooperation. Furthermore, he states that digital twins are reasonable for the various life-cycle phases and project participants. This can be an important contribution to the implementation of the circular economy and the increase in sustainability in building projects. Robot dog Spot is already used in many building sites offering support by state-of-the art laser scanning in the preparation of scatterplots.
3. The paperless building site
Big displays replace printouts of drawings. This is how employees see the future of building sites according to a survey in big companies like Strabag and Leyrer + Graf. Already today automation is used to automate processes on the building site, synchronize logistics or simplify communication. Construction progress can be documented more easily with a BIM model. The biggest hurdle for the introduction of new processes is insecurity of persons involved. Therefore, it is important to provide training on the new devices for employees and to take them along on the way.
4. Building permits with OpenBIM
In future around 13,000 building permit procedures per year shall be submitted digitally with Vienna’s building inspection department (MA37) applying BIM, artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR). This shall result in only half the duration of procedures and make the building negotiations more comprehensible for the neighbours. Within the scope of the research project BRISE (abbreviation for Building Regulations for Submission Envolvement) of the city of Vienna the pilot project Turnergasse of BUWOG together with KENH Architekten was already successfully submitted in OpenBIM format.
5. Structural engineers have been developing software
The digital project universe (DPU) revolutionizes the building industry and defines the cooperation in a completely new way. The DPU is a fully BIM-compatible project platform on the basis of Microsoft Teams and makes BIM accessible to all project participants by using all well-established solutions and therefore focusing on communication. The DPU is already successfully applied in some projects, for example the project Turnergasse with BUWOG. .
The Digital Engineering Day was packed with exciting insights, valuable discussions and inspiring keynote addresses and lectures.
We have prepared a small review summarizing the highlights of the building industry event of the year for all participants and everybody who missed it.
