This paper presents a comparative study of commercially available BIM-based estimating software, and an investigation of the changes in work practices and workflows incurred by the adoption of such software by a construction company. Due to the fragmentation of the construction industry and the linearity of the design process, cost estimating is typically performed at a time when the conceptual design is quite advanced or even completed, which is much too late in the design process to help the different stakeholders make informed decisions. Performing value engineering and cost estimation from the beginning of the design process would potentially enable a faster and more cost-effective project delivery process, higher quality buildings, and increased control and predictability for the owner. This research examines the changes in work practices and work flows within a construction company as they move towards adopting Building information Model (BIM) estimating process. To conduct this research, we: (1) tested several BIM-based cost estimating software tools to support different phases of design, (2) evaluated the benefits and challenges of working with this software, and (3) analyzed the work practices and workflows of a BIM-based estimating process within the firm. Finally, we propose a multi-stage technology adoption scenario.

As the use of autonomous Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV) for automated data collection from construction projects increases, construction stakeholders have become aware of a problem with inter-disciplinary semantic data sharing and exchanges between construction and robotic. Cross-domain data translation requires detailed specifications especially when it comes to semantic data translation. Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Geographic Information System (GIS) are the two digital building technologies used to capture and store semantic information for indoor structures and outdoor environments respectively. In the absence of a standard format for data exchanges between the construction and robotic domains, the tools of both industries have yet to be integrated into a coherent deployment infrastructure. In other words, the semantics of BIM-GIS cannot be automatically integrated by the robotic platforms currently being used. To enable semantic data transfer across domains, semantic web technology has been widely used in multi-disciplinary areas for interoperability. This paves the way to smarter, quicker and more precise robot navigation on construction sites. This paper develops a semantic web ontology integrating robot navigation and data collection to convey the meanings from BIM-GIS to the robot. The proposed Building Information Robotic System (BIRS) provides construction data that are semantically transferred to the robotic platform and can be used by the robot navigation software stack on construction sites. To meet this objective, first, knowledge representation between construction and robotic domains is bridged. Then, a semantic database integrated with the Robot Operating System (ROS) is developed, which can communicate with the robot and the navigation system to provide the robot with semantic building data at each step of data collection. Finally, the BIRS proposed system is validated through four case studies.

This paper presents some challenges of teaching computational geometry to architectural students, and proposes a multi-level pedagogical scheme introducing associative geometry and parametric modeling/design into architectural design education. It reports on two pedagogical experiences: one held in the context of a spatial geometry course in the first year of education; and another one, in a digital design studio with third-year architectural students. More specifically, it discusses the impact on design exploration of a library of interactive referents models introduced into the architectural studio. Situated in the ‘performance’ paradigm of digital design methods, they allow for design object explorations based on modification of architecturally meaningful features (structural, environmental, functional, etc.). The form of a design object can thus ‘follow’ function, structure, or even sustainability. The digital methods and the design knowledge transferred by the interactive models, together with their visual nature, are found to amplify the processes of ‘seeing-as’ and the ‘reflective conversation with the situation’ considered essential for creative design.